Christians: You aren't hated for your Christianity, just your religiosity.

We've seen you complain, and we've heard you scream from atop Mt. Olympus to all the way to Australasia. While your concerns of being crucified each time you voice or share a dissenting opinion on a subject matter or a group of people is valid, you need to understand that these opinions are subjected to (hopefully) objective criticism and consequences. You also need to take on board the understanding that no matter what your religion has taught you or continues to teach you regarding said group of people or subject matter, and about people's livelihoods, you need to live and let live as the old saying goes. Bear in mind that you yourselves have your own lives to life. Adding to societal pressure is what you'd be doing should you continue to impose what you perceive to be an acceptable life or because you believe you have a higher standard on this. I'm not generalizing when I say this in this article, but I am speaking to those who take it upon themselves to not just make it known what they believe and the standards that they live by, but also act on it through violence and abuse (both physical and psychological).

You may find this difficult to digest, but god's true plan is for us muggles is simple - and it does not have anything to do with pure obedience or him having a positive impact on our lives through the teachings of various scriptures. That plan is for us to be born, fulfil or serve our purpose on Earth (our destinies if you will), and when done, return to him. It is definitely not the reason you are hated by the general public or the skeptics, or at the very least loathed by the progressive public.

Amongst your congregations, there is always that one individual who will interpret what is written in scripture and what it has to say about a particular subject matter or a group of people and decide that the only to handle (or correct) the situation concerning said group of people or subject matter is to use threats of eternal torture - or intimidation even. They refer to parts of scripture and argue that god hates a select group of people while sinning themselves. This explains why the world has seen book publications from non-theologians or non believers (as some of you may refer to them as) such as Sir Richard Dawkins and the late Christopher Hitchens. These henchmen (the religiosity kind) often believe that god has chosen them as missionaries to deliver what is again perceived to be divine justice, when it isn't the case. They have a 'holier than thou' mentality or a "I have to delete you to save you" complex. Yet, we still allow them to live free or die hard with no consequences to them.

What these religiosity individuals fail to understand or grasp is that there are other more pressing issues in the world that demand our attention than worrying about how Joe Bloggs next door is conducting his life. Examples of such individuals include, but aren't limited to the minister or pastor of your local church or may be the country's pope even. There are certainly red flags that are so obvious that are frequently overlooked. I will discuss this later in the article.

Rest assured that most of us are as respectful as they come. However, we know for a fact that there are those in every group that ruin for the entire group. It is up to us to ensure and or uphold the integrity of the groups while not allowing power hungry demons or monsters go all righteous on us and use it as weapons for our psychological destruction.

It is for the religiosity that you are hated for and not for your belief system per se. You can make a difference and get into god's good graces by putting those power hungry demons in their place and promote god's true plan for us. You cannot get your morality from a book but by connecting with god directly.

While it is pretty natural for followers of any religion to look up to a figure of authority when said authority figure deploys their charisma and irresistible charms, we cannot allow these chumps to overrule our sense and sensibility just because they believe that god wants them to eliminate a certain percentage of the population. And for what you may ask: because they are either believed to be inferior or not worthy of god's love or his kingdom - or them for that matter. This form of righteousness should not only be condemned, but also be met with applied consequences.

We cannot stay silent simply from fear of negative consequences or succumb to threats of eternal torture of our souls from these demons. That's how they trap, psychologically bully is and get away with it.

On to the red flags I mentioned earlier. Look for these in your congregations, your place of worship, workplaces and educational institutions:

1. They can't help talk negatively about a specific group of people or a topic of controversy and continue to complain about it.
2. They keep using buzzwords like: "the right path" or "straying away from god" to get us to pay attention to them.
3. They won't stop bringing Lucifer (aka the devil) and how he's causing all the problems of the world or place blame on the devil when they observe changes in the world that they don't like - changes that they'd rather not see.
4. They will most likely resort to unconventional, unproven or frequently dangerous methods to force people into giving in to their way of thinking and believing, which often leads to psychological damage to their victims. Perfect example of this is conversion or reparative therapies that have been denounced by the medical professions of all areas - and they show no remorse or signs of atonement when their dirty deeds are exposed.

Mahatma Gandhi one said - and I quote: "I like your Christ, but not your Christians." If you truly believe in the son of god and what he stood for, you cannot just rest on your laurels and preach about him. Your true Christianity shall shine when you are still able to retain your belief in god without the assistance of a book that contains old and rusty laws, or a figure of authority in your congregation telling you otherwise. 

God's love can be shared without any judgement from any scripture or religious authority. Others may disagree and claim that those who aren't worthy of god and a place in his kingdom do not deserve it, but you need to beg to differ. Let's change the narrative and prevent hostility to anyone in the community. To do this, society will need your help and your effort in this journey. I hope you take the first step.

Your Story, Your judgement - trust it.

A producer or a screenwriter's greatest asset is the story that he or she conceptualizes and uses their creative flair to shape the story.

Then why on great Zeus' Olympus would they not trust their own judgement when it comes to the stories that they create and have to share? Why do they need to heavily rely on someone else to decide whether these some of the most amazing stories that are floating around are any good or worth the viewer's time? And why do some professional decision makers in the industry give up their power to these unqualified and sometimes inexperienced individuals? And why are professional producers and showrunners in the industry of today apprehensive when it comes to taking risks?

We can understand from a producing standpoint that a lot of money is being invested in making a blockbuster movie and that a lot of thought and design work goes in during the pre-production stages, and that a producer or a showrunner does expect a healthy return on their investments when all is said and done. However, the issue is the over reliance on critics and the giving away of too much of the power in the hopes that these critics may help the screenwriter, director, producer or the showrunner produce better quality content - but alas, they've been duped.

Let's begin our discussion with why on Earth would the professionals in the mainstream film industry not trust their own judgement when it comes to the stories that are told and or are produced for the viewing audience? After all, they are relentless when it comes to the proposals submitted by aspiring content creators. I would argue that because of the amount of money and time that needs to be invested in a movie or a spec script as the industry professionals would like to refer to it as. The producer or the showrunner's natural expectation of a healthy return on this through the sales and promotion of the movie once it is has undergone the production and post production stages, and the strain it places on the filmmaker plays a huge part in this equation. I would also theorize that the goal of saving on costs and having the content or movie produced has certainly not only entertained the minds of the producers, but they may have also made it a standard practice in the industry. It can be good when done right, but this particular hydra seems to have produced some new heads that makes it difficult to deal with.

For the purposes of this article, I want us to set aside these expectations and practices in the industry and ask ourselves this simple question: "Are producers incapable of trusting their own judgements? If the answer is a Yes, then they shouldn't continue with the project. If the answer is a solid No, then they shouldn't be needing to heavily rely on unqualified and inexperienced Joe Shmoes to determine the quality of their work. This goes for every other screenwriter and filmmaker on the planet. That's for your target audience to determine. They do not need to rely that heavily on anyone who is clearly not qualified or even under qualified for the job. It'll be like the hire manager of a company or a business hiring someone who doesn't even know what they're doing and expecting that person to deliver a quality product/service to their standards. It doesn't work like that.

Critics of today have positioned themselves as gods of the industry and they will lash out against anyone that challenges their power. The producers and showrunners, out of fear may have essentially given away their power to these (dare I call them) smart a$%es.

Another possible reason why professional producers and showrunners are heavily relying on unqualified and often inexperienced individuals is due to either plain laziness or in an attempt to save costs. I would argue both only because they don't do their due diligence in picking these questionable individuals, and or want to get to the production and the post production stages faster than a speeding Valkyrie. I've observed this happen one too many times with my classmates in film school: they were to eager to get to the production and post production stages and did not bother with the entire rewriting process of the project that we were assigned. This didn't surprise me as they were too impatient. I on the other side enjoyed the whole rewriting process every single time a project was assigned.

Why the article then? Why do I believe this is the biggest issue since the American civil rights movement? When you allow your story to be critiqued by questionable people or individuals, you are basically:

• Taking the easy way out
• You don't trust yourself when it comes to your own story, or your characters even.
• You are sacrificing the quality of your creations.

You need to set yourselves an affirmation every single time you engage in a new project or submit your work for critique. Believe in your characters and your story. And as part of that affirmation, tell yourself that this is your story - and you are the only one who is allowed to judge your own creations. If you feel you need a second opinion for whatever reason, find yourselves a well established critic who may or may not charge an arm and a leg for their services, but will provide you with constructive criticism. Only seek them out if you feel that your story is way too important for you to self critique.

If you strongly believe in your story and in your characters, you will find within yourself to be the judge automatically until you know that the story is perfect. To quote filmmaker S.S. Rajamouli: "Don't make films just for the money. Do it because you believe in your characters and your story". That is the key to producing or making quality films, TV shows or other content in the mainstream or independent cinema world.

Also remember this: No pain, no gain and No risk, no reward.