Let me first say this - I am not a religious person, but do appreciate the fine qualities that truly loving religious people really want others to feel and live by. 

One of the most wonderful people I have ever met was a genuine, loving Catholic man.  This man was the best homicide detective I have ever known and through his genuine love for God, he was able to do things for the good of all of us that many could not. 

He could sit and discuss the wonders of religion with the non-believer or those who question a God and not offend anyone.  And when he said he prayed for people, they knew he meant it and felt it for what it meant.  And to me, this man is the epitome of what religion and its proponents are supposed to be about.   In other words, he fucking cared about people. 

With that, this is what I want for Christmas....

I want the end of homophobia and division in America over homosexuality to cease.  I want violence and hatred over race and difference to end and cease.  I want people to be seen as how they are and as MLK said, to be seen for the content of their character.  I want us to become truly compassionate people; to understand how hard it is for poor people to raise a family and get by (one time I caught holy hell from a fat, white racist boss because I had the audacity to tell him that 75 bucks was too much of a fine for some broken headlight in the part of town I was assigned). 

I want those who try to place wedges between us for purely political reasons to be seen as unpatriotic and dangers to democracy as they try to make those who question our government and its policies. 

I want art and creativity to be placed upon the mantle above cheap mind numbing materialistic meaningless objects.  I want places like the DBIS to thrive and prosper with good, important conversation and for people to connect and act as people.

And lastly, I want those "Christians" who grab the main attention of the American people to go straight to Hell.  I want Falwell and Robertson and Swaggart and Dobson to receive the sort of treatment they want all others who don't "live" like them foisted upon themselves.