The problem I have with Christianity is that I have never met a priest who is Jesus Christ. In the bible I read about saints, God, the Holy Spirit, but I have never met a priest that behaves like them. Recently I was at a Russian Orthodox Christening, and the priest lectured everyone present for about an hour on what bad Christians they were because they came to the church without a cross hanging around their neck, because they didn’t come everyday to pray, because they were proud and knew nothing about Christianity and christenings. He ranted about how a christening wasn’t a show, but a serious choice in ones life and how the godmother and godfather were supposed to be the spiritual guides of this infant and how we live in degenerate times etc… I was exhausted listening to him and kept remembering that in the bible it was clearly written ” my father’s house has many doors and everyone is welcome”. The priest checked everyone’s knowledge of the bible chastising their lack thereof and I sat there in the back fuming, thinking whether I should leave or pray. I decided to Pray. I felt the priest’s attitude was anti Christian, embarrassing and so common that if I removed his frock he could be confused with a truck driver. At some point he looked towards me and asked if I was sick. I didn’t reply because I was sick. Sick of his mannerisms, sick of his arrogance, sick of him and his overbearing faith. At the end of the ceremony he apologised and I found that even more pathetic. Having humiliated everyone, he humiliated himself. After leaving the church I thought about where this man came from. He probably had a criminal background and fell in priesthood as a way to vent his anger at the world and attempt to redeem his self loathing. The event made me think about how religion shapes a culture and how the orthodox religion in it’s Russian form, is often used erroneously as a medium of pagan mysticism, violence and obedience. I mean really, some priests don’t seem to understand anything at all about the words of Christ and his message which is fundamentally about loving thy brethren and compassion for all.