As I waited outside building seventeen for my mom to pick me up, I began talking to a girl standing near me, and what started as meaningless chitchat eventually shifted into a political debate.

It turns out the girl is quite religious. We touch on the same tired topics: a woman’s right to choose, gay rights, the war, morals in general. It’s becoming increasingly difficult for me to use my logic with her because every time I attempt to make a point, she starts talking about what “the Bible says.” To these remarks, I have no response. As the conversation progresses from political to spiritual, it transforms into a discussion about my lifestyle.

“Do you go to church?” The girl glares at me as if I am the filth of the earth as she spits these words at me. Which is a little ironic because in asking this question, I believe she is gauging how good of a person I am. And here she is, giving me the evil eye.

I am not an excessively religious person, but I think religion is lovely and I greatly admire those who can put their entire faith into something so insubstantial. What I do not think is lovely is the rather large group of people who, like the girl who was overly concerned with my spiritual life, believe they are good simply because they go to church. Of course, good people do go to church. It is not my intention to say otherwise. However, I have met some truly dreadful people who consider themselves good Christians. Many of them go to services every week, but outside these services, they can be beastly. These “good Christians” aren’t necessarily good people. Some of these “good Christians” call my brother a f***** to his face, just because he doesn’t play sports and listens to weird music. Some of these “good Christians” are rude to me when they find out how liberal I am. These “good Christians” enjoy telling other people their way of life is wrong.

You’ll go to hell if you do that.

Being gay is against the Bible.

If you don’t accept Jesus Christ as your savior, you will be eternally damned.

I know so many people to don’t center their lives around God, and yet they are still good people. Some of them are atheists. Some are gay. Some are Buddhist. Are these people destined to spend an eternity being punished simply because they have not dedicated their lives to the Lord? And do the cruel boys who call my brother a f***** have a one-way ticket to paradise because they have done so? It seems to me that some of these “good Christians” need to start practicing what is preached to them. Not only spreading the word that abortion is wrong and that gays are sinners, but also practicing the kindness and tolerance that Jesus Christ passed on during his time on earth.

If this is God’s logic, that one must believe in him and serve him to gain a spot in heaven, I fear for what awaits so many of the people I love in the afterlife. I like to think that Jesus really does love all the children of the world, regardless of what they believe.

So, although I was tempted to call the girl out on how rude she was being, I politely explained to her my beliefs, my way of thinking. She still had a look of disgust on her face as she walked away. Obviously not a pleasant person, but I’d bet anything she was a “good Christian.”