Quid caritas est?

"You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your might, with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like unto it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Upon these hang all the law and the prophets." (Matthew 22:37-40)
I find it perplexing how often this one small passage is ignored (by the way, St. Luke includes a similar passage whereby we get the parable of the "Good Samaritan") by those who would claim to be Christians. Jesus himself states "Upon these hang ALL the law and the prophets." There is nothing more important than these two commandments.
But what kind of a name has Christianity earned for itself within the last few years. Better yet, what of the last few decades? Last few centuries? Last thousand years? It is true that Christianity has a lot of atoning to do for the acts committed in the name of the Prince of Peace.
However, there is no way to change the past. The most we Christians can do is apologize for our past mistakes (viz Vatican II, In Eo Tempore) and pray that we make no more such egregious decisions. We must start now. The true Christians of today must work hard to shine brighter than the darkness brought upon us by such groups as the Westborrough Baptists and Randall Terry and his squad of fetus crusaders.
I use the term we, but I by no means wish to exclude any non-Christians from reading this. As a theist, and one who has had a very real struggle in finding my faith, I adhere to the Muslim notion of "لا اكراه في الدين" meaning "there is no compulsion in religion." Jesus commanded us to be lights on the hillside, not torches in people's faces.