Dear Christians: The Republican Party has abandoned Christianity, and you should abandon the GOP. Also, they are making you look kind of batty.

I’m an atheist from a Jewish family, so I don’t have a God in the fight. But Christians ought to be aware of the perceptions non-Christian observers are forming about their faith.

Suffice it to say, Jesus of Nazareth couldn’t win the GOP presidential nomination. Even with a haircut, a nice suit and rough-yet-charming Southern drawl, Jesus would have been booed off the stage at any of the 2012 presidential debates.

We don’t have to guess what the response would have been to, “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 7:12)

The crowd at a Fox News debate in January shouted down Ron Paul for advocating the Golden Rule, despite his avoidance of the elitist “ye.”

Christians didn’t invent the Golden Rule, but they tend to claim it as their own. And that’s a good thing—we want a society where people fight to be identified with compassion.

The thing is, compassion is a sure sign of heresy to the religious right. The doctrine of “I am my brother’s keeper” is now the dogma of “Keep the brothers away from what’s mine!”

Audience members at a September GOP debate apparently own the Ayn Rand Version of the New Testament, which reads: “I am my brother’s keeper, unless my brother is dying and needs health care. Society should just let that guy die.”

I find a majority of Christians are kind and compassionate and practice a faith based in love and forgiveness. They are proud of its rich history of social justice and worldwide volunteer efforts. Those Christians have lost control of the message.

The religious right has been a powerful organizational force over the past 30 years, exploiting issues like abortion, gay rights, feminism and science education to win major political and cultural influence. At the same time, increasing numbers of Americans have rejected Christianity. According to Gallup polling, the number of Americans with no religious preference went from 6 percent in 1998 to 16 percent in 2010. This trend is particularly apparent in young Americans, according to a Pew poll in 2008: “Young adults ages 18-29 are much more likely than those age 70 and older to say that they are not affiliated with any particular religion (25 percent vs. 8 percent).”

The religious right is a major factor contributing to the youth exodus from the church because it brands the most inane, offensive culture-war issues as Christian issues. Here are a few things my generation is coming to associate with Christianity:

− A perverse, angry obsession with the sex lives and reproductive systems of others, from Dark-Age “Personhood” legislation and furor over contraceptives to the bigoted battles against gay marriage and the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Polls have shown that Americans, young and old, religious and non-religious, reject these positions and are disgusted with the primitive polemics used to justify them.

− A complete denial of scientific evidence and a strong desire to push God into the classroom through prayer, creationism or both.

− A particular taste for pre-emptive war in Muslim-dominated countries based not in a devotion to women’s rights or secular democracy, but in a perceived history of war between Christians and Muslims.

There are moral issues facing America that Christians could and should invest themselves in solving. One need not cherry-pick the New Testament to discern Jesus’ stance on wealth inequality.

So, sane Christians, for the good of the country and of your faith, please get a handle on things. Reclaim Christianity and tell the zealots to zip it. They might listen to you.

Dave Balson is a senior journalism major.

He can be reached at 581-7942 or DENopinions@gmail.com.