Love... Or Is It?

What is unconditional love? Is it a "Christian" trait - something only followers of Christ can experience and give? That is what several preachers have told me, citing Christ's love as the only true and pure love. If that were the case, then all the love of all the non-Christian people in history was tainted and false, incomplete. I find that conclusion disturbing. I have seen many kinds of love from many different people in my short lifetime - both Christian and non-Christian - and the love I've seen from non-Christians far exceeds that of the Christians. How many times have I witnessed the rejection of anything or anyone non-Christian, and how many times have I now experienced the shame of being an ex? My decisions are now wrong, my love is a mistake, and my truth is now a lie... all because I ceased to claim Christianity. I am a disappointment to all those Christians who once praised and lauded my good character and sound judgement. I fell to the wayside and have been choked like others before me. I left the faith. I am a failure. I thought too much for my own good, and am now trusting in my own wisdom and thereby am foolish. This is my story, but it is also the story of so many other people who have gone down this path before me. I will not be the last.
Rejection, expulsion, exclusion, disappointment, laying guilt, and shame - these are how many Christians show their love to those who are not in the flock, but particularly to those who have left it. It is all a heavy burden to bear, but the freedom of the soul is beyond any load or oppression.