Hear, hear! You know, I shed more than a couple tears this morning reading a particular news story.

A state senator in Oklahoma stood up three days ago in front of a community group consisting mostly of self-identified Christians. A reporter stood up and asked the senator about the bullying death of Nex Benedict, a transgender 16-year-old who died after being beaten in their own school by three girls shouting anti-transgender slurs.

Many people are suggesting that Oklahoma's hostile anti-LGBTQ political/Christian climate contributed to the atmosphere that made the beating possible. The reporter wanted to know the senator's take on that.

After some proforma hand wringing about the tragic death, the senator got to the point. He said (paraphrasing) that Oklahoma is a moral, Christian state.

I hoped for a half second that he was about to call on Oklahomans to exercise the Christian values of kindness and compassion.

That's not what happened.

Instead, he said that Oklahomans don't want "that filth" in our state.

About half the room stood up to cheer and applaud him.

By *that filth," of course, he was referring to Nex, Nex's queer friends, and to all queer people, including me and my family.

So I cried for a few minutes. Then I asked myself what it is about Christianity that so often turns people into such evil, repulsive persecutors.

What is it about the religion that elicits cheering and applause over calling us filth, even in the face of the bullying death of a child?

I don't know, but I do know that increasingly nasty behavior by Christians is making me fearful and making it much harder for me to think of U.S. Christians as potentially decent people.