Christian Institutions vs. My Faith

I was in Jiffy Lube the other day while getting an oil change, and there was a commercial on the TV in the waiting room for some random church in the area. They had a background of clouds and several different voiceovers asking questions in smooth wondering tones about the issues of today.

Most were standard fare, but then there was this passage that essential went like this (I'm paraphrasing, italics mine): "Abortion? Gay Marriage? School Violence? How are they related?"

WHAT?!?

A state of DHP immediately installed and has been at least smoldering under the surface since.

I don't want to turn this post into something really long, but I just want to say how hard it has been for me over the past 5-10 years in reconciling my faith with a particular religious institution because of crap like this (plus, The Wife is Catholic while I am Presbyterian, so that complicates things as well).

Why do that have to be so virulently retarded? Why do they have to have soapboxes that are so much bigger than everybody else's? They simply turn off people to Christianity... heck, I am a Christian, and nothing is going to shake that, but these people have gotten me so touchy that I get irritated by seeing religious bumper stickers of even innocous variety. That concerns me on multiple levels.

Via our conversations, I know bpi has also had some issues with this, and I am hoping he will post more substantively on this subject than I have. I look forward to any comments that my readers may have on this issue as well.