I want to believe in James Talarico, but I'm so, so cynical.

[Easterncedar]

18. The Christian thing, well, that brand is some tarnished

I personally know a few who are genuinely good and decent people, but they don’t make a show of it. The ones who go about proclaiming their religious devotion so often are self-serving hypocrites.

It may be unfair, but I am suspicious, too.

Tracy Uhlmann on her sketch series has a recurrent bit about a woman who is, for example, on a date or at a job interview that is going really well, the guy is interested, they are about to offer her the job, and she mentions that she is a Christian. The guy suddenly has to leave, the job is no longer a good fit. It’s an odd, pointed commentary. In some places, like in American politics, you have to profess a religion, preferably Christian, even if, as in the case of the Mango Menace, it’s sheer, blatant, ugly dishonesty. Americans won’t accept an atheist. The comedy suggests that the Brits find self-identified Christians off-putting, a little contemptible, maybe embarrassing, definitely to be avoided.