Dear Representative Ryan,

How dare you call yourself a Christian.   I was raised a Christian, and was a devout Christian until a few years ago when people like you made me look at the Church in a different way.

The Christianity I knew, the Jesus I knew, taught aide for the sick.  The Jesus I grew up with preached compassion for the poor.  He fed the masses, freed the suppressed, and believed in being the voice of justice for those who couldn’t speak for themselves.

I was taught of a Christianity that invited everyone to the table.  Of a faith that believed the ultimate demonstration of love is the giving of oneself for another.  That if my neighbor is cold, I invite him in, and if she has nowhere to sleep with her unborn child, you give her a bed.

You, and those who believe as you do, have perverted Christianity.  You have hi-jacked a religion and used it to manipulate a constituency.

You are in no form, a Christian.  Using megaphone buzz themes like pro-life, religious freedom, and homosexual marriage, does not make you a follower of Christ.  You have admitted to a belief that we are in a fight for “individualism versus collectivism.”

And that, Mr. Paul, is not the Jesus I grew up with.

Most Sincerely,

Brandon Hewitt