Christianity Lite

Mainstream churchgoers like Christianity Lite.
It fits comfortably into American culture.
It emphasizes love and good feelings.
It relieves us of guilt and fear of judgment.

Our pastors preach uplifting sermons,
Telling us to feel good about ourselves,
Urging us to do good, as it were,
To our unfortunate neighbors in need.

Jesus figures in Christianity Lite
As a kindly and loving teacher
Who was misunderstood, and met a bad end
At the hands of evil authorities.

But we can brush aside the sad story
And concentrate on how he returned to love us all
No matter who we are, or what we do.
We don't really have to believe in him as a god.

Sin is a pejorative word that we never use.
Some of us may engage in inappropriate behavior
At times, but so long as it does not hurt others,
It may easily be forgiven.

We like to hear excerpts from the bible
That give us peace and comfort.
Other than that, we are not likely to
Read any of the stories by ourselves.

We have heard some quoted passages
That are harmful and just plain wrong.
Jesus and the saints could never have said such things.
They must have been added by narrow people later.

We like to read books by scholars
Who tell us what aspects of Christianity
Are false and useless, and need not be believed,
So that we may feel free to pick and choose.

The only problem with Christianity Lite
Is that there a whole lot less of us,
Whereas those bigoted megachurches
Seem to pack in hosts of new believers.