It's no secret I'm Catholic - I'm pretty open about it but recently I've been talking with people about how my faith is represented and how frustrating it is for me. While I'll make reference to Catholicism, I'm sure this applies to many believers of Christianity in general. Let's begin.

Many people criticize the Catholic Church because of scandals surrounding it. I'm not here to defend those scandals, but to defend God and my faith. Yes, some of these scandals were originated by the clergy and yes they are supposed to represent God, but we can't forget that men are still men - they err and they sin, even the clergy. Again, I'm not here defending them. My point with this is that what they do should not be a representation of God or of my faith but of their own weakness of character. That is not what the Catholic church is about.

Now that I've gotten through the issue of {bad} priests taking advantage of children - yes, I'm not afraid to recognize it, let's get to the more general issues. This will be a long one so strap in:

1) Suicide:

I know people who've been suicidal, and as many of you may already know, I've been suicidal myself. Now, I can't say for certain what God really does with people who comit suicide, but I don't think we should build the dialogue of suicide around the fear of hell. There are so many people out there hurting and condemning them doesn't help. For the souls we've already lost, let's pray for them and for the ones still living their suffering let's embrace them. Let's remind them of Christ's own suffering, but let's also remind them that the community is their family. That we are all brothers and sisters and that they are so worthy because they are made is God's image and nothing is more beautiful than that. Let's remind them of God's grace and forgiveness - of His love. More importantly, let's remember that nothing is ever completely lost to God and that he can heal all.

2) Homosexuality:

Get out of here with your Leviticus quotes. Now, I'm not going to put my own input here about the LGBTQ+ community and my belief on their rights to equality (I mean, if you're really curious, I say just treat them like normal human beings because it's what they are - just be decent, whether you agree with them or not). I'm here to talk about the Church's reaction to the LGBTQ+ community. Y'all are turning them away! Why? We need to embrace all our brothers and sisters - especially those marginated by society. Let's not cast them out and treat them as if they were sick or inferior (which they are not!). They, just like us, are God's beautiful children - they're made in his image too and we do not have the right to judge or condemn. The LGBTQ+ community faces many challenges in today's world, let the Church be a safe haven for them as well.

3) Teen/Out Of Wedlock Pregnancies:

So someone is expecting a baby and they're not married or they're young. Man, these people are already strugguling. They're probably scared and already facing problems with their family, their partner, their friends, and society as a whole. Why do we push people out of the Church when they most need it? We are asked to take care of the widows and the orphans so let's open our doors (and our resources) to help instead of hinder.

4) Biblical Manipulation:

Now this really grinds my gears! The Bible is not a salad bar where you get to pick and choose what you like and ignore the rest. The Bible is also still a book (not taking away it's holiness or the fact that it was written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit but...) and like any book it has a setting and a societal context. Now, if you read a book that takes place in a country remote from your own and in a significantly distant time in history, guess what, not everything's going to match up. I say this for people who question certain aspects of life in the Bible (like women treated as property for example). This was written in a time and place quite different from modern day US, for example, so stop arguing against the Bible because of the societal/hisorical context around the message of the Gospel. While we're on this, if you're going to quote Leviticus like there's no end, then you need to abstain from mixed fabrics, and I better see you rallying against those who are partial to the rich (that's also in Leviticus 9:15 in case you were wondering). You also better hold no grudges, don't you dare plant different seeds in the same fields and forget about trimming that beard (I could go on, trust me, Leviticus is a weird book). Also, there's more verses against divocre than homosexuality and I don't see y'all rallying against that when it comes to the sancitity of marriage...aaaaanywho. This point could go on forever but long story short: be a decent person, love everyone, and be forgiving that's the gist of the book if you didn't read it.

5) Popularizing the Bad:

Seems that most of the Christians that are known and put all over the media are the bad ones. That's not to say they never show the good, the Pope gets loads of media coverage (and well deserved because Pope Francis is a blessing we do not deserve). However, while the scandals make first page of newspapers, a lot of the good is ignored. Or, they focus on people who have strayed yet do things 'in the name of God' but ignore the charity and love that is central to the lives of many Christians. I promise we're not all crazy extremists. Many of us try to live a life that reflects God's love and the Gospels so please don't judge us all by the actions of few.

I could probably keep going but I'll leave it here for now. All of this is to say that to those who have left the Church or are considering it because you're disillusioned, I promise you that you are loved and welcomed into the community that really embraces God's love. We are all His children and we should all work harder to live as authentic Christians and embrace and love all.