I was raised Catholic, went to Sunday school and eventually attended Catholic high school. Once I graduated, I walked away from the Church and faith and haven’t looked back. It was the most liberating and satisfying decision I’ve ever made.

In recent weeks, outspoken Catholics have voiced their disapproval of the clause in the health care reform law that would require Catholic hospitals and universities that provide their employees with health insurance to include birth control coverage.

It’s funny how Christians are quick to claim they are victims every chance they get, but make a reference to the Crusades and suddenly all you hear are crickets chirping.

Now they claim forcing Catholics and other Christians to subsidize birth control is in violation of their First Amendment right to worship freely.

That’s interesting, though, because they never say how subsidizing someone else’s birth control will infringe on their right to practice Christianity or how allowing gays and lesbians to marry will destroy the “sanctity of marriage.” They’re merely regurgitating what the pope says and what they read in a 2,000-year-old storybook, so long as it fits their moral code.

These are not real Christians. They are Cafeteria Christians, people who pick and choose different aspects of a religion that they like, while ignoring the parts that aren’t as appealing. They are the ones who are staunchly opposed to the thought of gay marriage because of

Leviticus 20:13, which reads, “If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death.”

The Bible is pretty straightforward about a lot of other things, too. People are forbidden to wear clothing made of two or more materials, get tattooed, wear gold, eat shellfish and, for men, shave.

Oh, and you can’t eat pork. Would you rather burn in hell or never eat bacon again? Choose wisely.

Many critics of gay marriage say there are two different versions of “God”: the Old Testament’s vengeful deity and the loving one of the New Testament. Two different testaments, two different gods, right?

Wrong. There is only one God in Christianity. A new testament isn’t a fresh start, and what is divine can’t be rewritten.

It may sound twisted, but I can respect the convictions of Christians who oppose gay marriage more than those of the cafeteria variety.

You’ve got to give someone credit for being OK with putting down an entire group of people just because they’re told to.