I had a conversation via Facebook yesterday about the issues surrounding Christianity's Public relations issues: the topic was mainly about why are there so many "bad apples" in leadership that taint the name of Jesus. Here is a brief excerpt from the conversation:
  

• Western Christianity is probably the worst example of how the ideals of Jesus are put into action. Yes, Christianity has a major PR problem. The majority of the millennial generation has begun to see Christianity as bigoted, homophobic, and beyond hypocritical (see the two books, "UN-Christian" and "You Lost Me"). While I agree that a lot of Christians do not portray correctly the ideals in which Jesus came to breathe into a dire world, there is hope in how a new breed of believers are challenging the status-quot of the modern church. It took me so long to reconcile the man of Jesus (His title is Christ, not his name). No other person who has walked this earth has monumentally shaped and changed the course of human history as He did. Humanity does have to deal with one main issue: free will. We, as humans, can choose to follow a path that leads to transcendence, or we can choose a path that dances to DNA's music--as bleak as it is; however, this choice is the capacity to have love, and, also, the ability to do great evil. Without having the capacity to do evil we could not also have the capacity to love.I am not trying to defend or justify those that miscarry the name of Jesus, but I would like to convey the hope that is available to those willing to be the hands and feet of the Christ. I used to be angry, bitter, and resentful of the church because of the hypocrisy and absolutist attitude many Christians hold, but I made a choice, not too long ago, to be the answer to my prayers regarding the hypocrisy. Our generation has an ability to re-shape the way in which Christianity is viewed; we have a choice to help the cause, or we can become cynics through and through.
• That's beautiful Dan. It really is. And I don't mean to take away from that at all. I agree with everything you said really. But it takes away from the subject. Why the preists and pastors? Why the leaders? Is it really just a numbers thing? Is it just because there's so many priests that by the law of averages o few of them have to be bad apples?
• To condense a complex issue into a simple statement, yes, the law of averages kill the message by the falling of the messengers. Much like how the CIA and FBI state that " their success' remain hidden while their failures are made public," so is the same with spiritual and religious positions. The deep seeded issues of pain, loss, abuse, and hopelessness will always come to surface if not properly dealt with. While i can wax eloquent about how " God is the answer," putting this ideal into practical application is the real hard part. I have seen first hand the pain that a falling from grace can cause to friends. There is no pain higher than the things one thought to be true and they turn out to be a mere charade for indulgence and self-centered apathy. My world view is based on the fallibility of all humanity; thus, there will always be people who let us down--even great leaders who were supposed to be above reproach. The key to this issue, for me, is how we respond and not how we react. Reaction is based around emotion and hurt while response is based around methodical contemplation (you helped me learn that by the way).