Jason, I'm just going  to shout a big AMEN to this: "If we’re feeding the homeless with the left hand, and building walls to keep people out with the right what is gained? There are plenty of Christians out there telling the world how great everything is but far too few dissenting voices that stand up to the power structure and publicly say 'open your ears and hear!'" Maybe it's not fair that I'm backing you so enthusiastically, seeing as how we're married, but I suppose that's one of the reasons I married you—we so often seem to share the same brain. :)

Blackwasp19, you bring up a good point, about how the picture of American Christianity is too focused on people like the Falwells rather than those like John Perkins. And you're right, being actively against something can be easier than being actively for it (although the easiest thing of all is to just be indifferent, which is the real problem in our country). When it comes to the issue of stereotypes, and whether we should bring them up, I still have to disagree. I don't think they would eventually die if we just stopped mentioning them. They're very deeply rooted, and there's no shortage of news feeding them. Just today, a story came out about a Pew Research study that found "The more often Americans go to church, the more likely they are to support the torture of suspected terrorists." I can't begin to describe how upset this makes me, and how determined I am to do all I can to both fight against that while showing there's a different way to be a Christian.

Jason—the one I'm NOT married to :) —your comment gives me a lot of hope and encouragement. Thank you for saying what you said. Sometimes I wonder what I'm doing here with my blog (a question I'm sure most bloggers periodically ask), and then certain readers pop up and remind me what it's all about.

Angela, I could just say "ditto" to the comment above, but that might seem lazy. :) Talking about "what's real in all of us" is just about my favorite thing, although I can't say I do it fearlessly. As you must know well, writing what you really think and feel stirs up much trepidation and doubt. Thanks for being who you are and saying what you think in the face of all that.