I appreciate your comments. I'm sorry others have apparently tried to silence you. I'm not one of them.

I'm sorry you consider my articles nothing more than "pseudo intellectual word salad." I don't claim to be a brilliant intellectual. I'm just an average, ordinary guy.

But, in spite of the insult... I appreciated reading your story.

Yes, there are many professing Christians out there who don't help the name of Christ. I agree and have said that repeatedly myself. And I truly regret the pain these people have caused you and others.

It must be said, though, that you are painting with a very wide brush, being frankly universal in your indictment of Christians. "There is no hate like Christian love." Really?

Only critics of Christianity can get away with such universal caricatures and sweeping generalizations. If anyone tried that toward any other group or community, they would be shouted down as a bigot -- and rightly so.

As for who I "follow," I try to follow Jesus. But I'm of course quite imperfect at that. I assume you are referring to authors, preachers, influencers, etc. I read and listen to a variety of voices from various perspectives -- Christian and non-Christian. The list is long.

As for my feelings being hurt, I'm okay. :-) I don't expect anyone on Medium here to care about my feelings. I'm not speaking up for myself so much as I am for Christians in general who get more than their share of slander and abuse on this platform. You see, I know a lot of Christians and most of them are kind, decent, caring, conscientious people (imperfect as they are -- as we all are).

And they deserve better.

All the best!