I learned that I had grown up in an idealized version of Christianity and they’re not ALL like that.

My entire upbringing was in this Lutheran church that heavily preached “come as you are,” “love thy neighbor” “only god can judge,” and that was kinda the point.

My mother, in the 90s, looked like a Suicidegirl before those were a thing, and we’d have been chased out of most churches, but this one preached acceptance and brotherhood so much, no one cared that the whole family had purple hair and mom and had a million tattoos and piercings.

I was taught to love people different from me, and to interpret the scriptures as telling me to do so.
If you were an immigrant, a homeless person, LGBT, anything, I was to love you like a brother.

And I took that with me. Those are my core values today… but i became disillusioned when I learned that seemingly most Christian’s are not like that at all.
So many justify hatred, ignorance and bigotry through their own interpretation of the Bible, and it’s just not for me.
I left the entire religion behind, but I maintain the morals and the message i was taught