Being a Good Person

What does being a good person mean to you? Does it mean you are kind to others? Does it mean you never make mistakes? Is it determined by your religious affiliations? What factors do you take into consideration when you decide whether or not someone is "good" or "bad"? I ask this because I am often surprised by how quick we are to judge someone based on such minimal amounts of information.
I read an article this morning about several Atheist groups who attempted to volunteer their time and money to help out the less fortunate. They reached out to some Christian organizations to offer their assistance, and were turned away. Not because they weren't needed, but because of their lack of similar beliefs. Apparently, these Christian groups think that in order to do good, you must have the same exact views as they do. That makes exactly zero sense. Just because you see the world with a different perspective, does not make you more or less "good".
A person's religion (or lack of) is a very personal matter. Most people, including Atheists, do not go into these things lightly. There are many factors that can determine how someone chooses to view the world. For one to assume that you are not capable of kindness, or to deny someone the chance to do something selfless, based solely on one part of their makeup is insanity.
These same ideas apply to many different areas where people are quick to judge.
Is a person's value determined by their skin color? There are certainly people who think so. Why? Because it is different than theirs. And different is "bad", right? It sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? But it happens every day. We make snap judgments about others based on something as trivial as that, all the time.
If you're Gay, you can't be a good parent. If you're a woman, you can't be strong & decisive. If you're a man, you can't have emotions. If you're a black man, you must be good at sports, but be a terrible father. If you're blond, you must be stupid. Do any of these sound familiar? They should, because we see and hear them all the time.
We live in a world filled with amazing, brilliant, wonderful people, but many of us never discover that, because we are too busy assuming we know what kind of people they are, without knowing anything worthwhile about them.
Being a "good" or "bad" person isn't determined by your skin color, your hair color, your sex, your religion, your sexual orientation, your financial status, or any of the like. What makes you good or bad is how you treat others. Do you care about the well being of the less fortunate? Do you reach out to those in need? Do you treat people with the same level of respect, kindness, and compassion that you want in return? Judgment is a two way street. If you don't want to be judged harshly, then don't judge others harshly. If you want to determine how good or bad another person is, get to know them first. You may be surprised. We preach "Only God can judge." but we don't live it. We quote the Golden Rule, but we don't practice it. We mistakenly think the only "good" people are the ones who think, dress, look, and act just like us, because of course, WE are good people, so they must be too, right? Not necessarily.
Whether you agree with someone's beliefs, share their core values, or follow the same moral guidelines, does not mean they can or can't be a good person. We need to stop making these things mutually exclusive.