My walk with God has placed me in front of truths; it also has placed me in front of a lot of lies, including lies made in the name of God. And it is important to see through these lies. If someone claims that New Agers practice Satanic ritual abuse of children, or that Jews drink the blood of Christian babies, or that there is a Satanic conspiracy among world leaders, or that Internet is a tool of Satan, or that 9-11 was God’s punishment for America, these lies discredit Christianity. And then many honest people make the mistake of equating the creed itself with the lies made in its name.

There are many people in Christianity who spit on the world even as they enjoy the benefits of the world. They do this with nature; they also do this with science. The reason they have clean air to breathe and clean water to drink is owed to nature. The reason they have their trucks, their air conditioning and their flat-screen TVs is owed to science. They have appropriated a very profitable position: That of benefiting from the world while damning the world. That is not righteousness. That is being a pig.

I knew a man from a socially conservative background who was with a very beautiful and intelligent woman of liberal persuasion. He saw her as a bad person and mistreated her; meanwhile he got vast things out of being with her.. He got an income. He got a house to live in. He got a son. He got sex, counselling, companionship. Yet his belief that she was a bad person justified him in treating her like dirt even as he was gaining from all the great things that she had to give.

This, once again, is not righteousness. It is being a pig.

The dishonest behaviour done in the name of Christianity discredits Christianity. And if Christians are honest about their stated values, they will do away with such behaviour. Telling lies in the name of God discredits God, and doing ugly things in the name of God tarnishes God. And there will always be people to notice such things, however hard you may try to demonize them.

A man who truly respects the Christian creed will not be doing wrong things in its name. He will realize that wrong things done in the name of God discredit the name of God. And if he truly loves God, then he will avoid doing things that discredit God and show by example what it means to be a person of God.