Understanding Christianity?

So... I've had this problem with religion for a while. I try, I do, and I remember a time that I truly could feel God's presence (except now, that phrase sounds so... corny... to me).

One thing that has always (and I mean always, even before this wilderness experience) bothered me about Christians is the ease with which they judge and condemn others. I will be the first to tell you that not all Christians are like that and I am fully aware of the fact... but many of them are.

I read this piece yesterday (yes, I do still try to read the Bible... sometimes it feels like my lifeline. I may be half-drowning in the ocean, but at least I'm holding on to a lifesaver that is connected to some stability, however far-off it may be):

"And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, 'The old is better'."
Luke 5:37-39 (NIV Life Application Study Bible)

Right, so if you are anything like me, you have a big blank look on your face right now and are thinking, "Uhm. Right. Wineskins. Meaning?"
So, from the annotations in my study Bible:

"Wineskins were goatskins sewed together at the edges to form watertight bags. Because new wine expands as it ages, it had to be put in new, pliable wineskins. A used skin, having become more rigid, would burst and spill the wine. Like old wineskins, the Pharisees were too rigid to accept Jesus, who could not be contained in their religions and rules. Christianity required new approaches, new traditions, new structures. Our church programs and ministries should not be so structured that they have no room for a fresh touch of the spirit, a new method, or a new idea. We, too, must be careful that our hearts do not become so rigid that they prevent us from accepting the new way of thinking that Christ brings. We need to keep our hearts pliable so we can accept Jesus' life-changing message."

Got me thinking... Christianity was kind of a rebel-religion. Don't sue me for blasphemy - I'm not saying it was wrong. I'm just saying it was the "new thing" and the greater part of society strongly condemned it. It was new. It dared to break the boundaries of societies, it dared to be different.

So how come we are so rigid today? How come we are so serious about dogma and paperwork and tradition when clearly being a follower of Christ entails SO MUCH MORE?

It reminded me of something a member of the site http://www.christianforums.com/ said in response to an atheist teenager's tale of persecution at school for his lack of religion. Paraphrased, it was something like this: "Tell them they are being ignorant and not following the principles of their religion. This is the problem with religion becoming culture. Religion is not supposed to become culture, because then it becomes grounds for discrimination."

Just sideways, I find it mildly entertaining and terrible tragic that America is quick to judge abuses of human rights in other parts of the world, but just as quick to judge Islam, atheism and homosexuality. Because Americans base their laws and lives on Christianity. Which, if you understand what Christianity is about - love, mercy - is not an altogether bad thing. Except, very few people get it.

If you are going to be non-judgemental, loving, merciful... by all means, call yourself a Christian.

But if not? If you are going to persecute those with different beliefs, if you are going to be a rigid wineskin...

...please, don't give the rest of us who are really trying a bad name.