Many Americans, particularly people in their teens, twenties, and thirties, have a virulent negative reaction to Christianity as they understand it. It seems to them to be too narrowly focused on piety and individual salvation, too judgmental and homophobic, too directly identified with a particular far-right political agenda. And while I don't believe we should ever focus-group spirituality, I think we can acknowledge that these polls may actually be pin-pointing what is wrong with mainstream American Christianity. The qualities they identify describe the tradition in which I was raised -- and the tradition I fled.
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