Officially A Christian No More

Two days after Donald Trump was elected as president of the United States for a second time, I made the difficult decision to renounce the religion that I had identified with for all of my life. I was 54 years old when I would, for the first time, not identify as a Christian. My theology had not changed, but my identity with the institution and title of Christianity did. The feedback I received, a blend of support and solidarity, motivated me to do more. I believe there is a community and movement who may not even know that they are already a community and movement. I’m hoping to inspire. And I’m aspiring to motivate. We can do more when we know we are not alone doing it.

Here is the post I wrote:

I am a person of faith. My faith is founded on and seeks to know both divinity and humanity through the life and teachings of Jesus the Christ. I have, since I have had the words to define who I am and how I believe, called myself a Christian.

For thirty years I have been told by people who have chosen the same title that I am on a path to hell. This accusation flows easily from the mouth of those who are so certain that there is no room in God’s kingdom for a lesbian. I’ve been surprised at how easily this difference in theology has prompted others to dehumanize and condemn me without one word from the mouth of Jesus (just a reminder, he is centric to my faith) about sexuality.

What Jesus did do a lot of talking about – I mean and undeniably lot of talking about, was how we treat the poor, the hungry, the prisoners, the indebted and even the disabled. In fact that was part of his mission statement, which he read from the book of Isaiah (Luke 4). It was also part of what he believed the church should be about Matthew 25). And, in fact, although he talked about a myriad of issues throughout his teachings that had to do with morality, it was the immorality of neglecting the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and the imprisoned that will lead to God’s rejection of one’s faith.

For years I have been perplexed by the stance of “the Christian church,” especially in the political realm. I have watched Christianity be taken over by people who present this dichotomy of moral superiority, while espousing judgement over the people who don’t see it the same as they do.

In the political realm, it seems like the main stance of “the Christian church” (and, yes, I realize that is a broad spectrum of thought – but I am referring to both how the Christian church is perceived by the world and how the mainstream evangelical church in America has presented itself) has been a theology of taking care of one’s’ own kind and the rest of the world be damned. I mean, of course there are missionaries who will try to convert, but there is very little try to love. Where Jesus’ words are “whosoever believes” the Christian church has whittled down what that belief must look like. And, from my viewpoint, it looks very little like the Christ is was named after.

And now the main force behind the re-election of Donald Trump is the conservative Christian church. Faith named after someone who said welcome strangers is backing a man who says he is going to institute mass deportations immediately. Faith named after someone who said, “I was sick and you did not visit me… depart from me I didn’t know you,” is thrilled at the thought of getting rid of any kind of program that will make medicine affordable to the less fortunate. Faith named after a man who said, “The spirit of the Lord is on me to preach deliverance to the captives” is ok with a man who declared in his campaign that part of his mass deportation plan will include detainment camps. The church who bears the name of the man who said, “I was naked and you did not cloth me,” has joined in their fandom for a man who talked about walking backstage in the Miss America pageant to see the half naked girls. The church that bears the name of the man who said, “The world will know you are my disciples by the way you love one another,” has joined in with the rhetoric of a man who calls anyone he doesn’t like names, who cheered on the assault of a congresswoman’s husband, and who pepper sprayed a crowd of peaceful protesters so he could be unincumbered as he held up a Bible (that I doubt he’s ever read) in front of a church that he never attended. This man has said he doesn’t ask for forgiveness, because he would rather rely on himself as he tried very hard to never make mistakes.

The church that declared me immoral thirty years ago, laughs with joy at a man who is an adjudicated rapist, a serial liar, and one who dehumanizes anyone not like him. The people of this same church, in fact, have jumped in with both feet, to follow the patterns of this man over the life and teachings of Jesus the Christ. They laugh at Trumps antics, wave his flags, and join in on the violence of name calling, dehumanizing, and hating.

I am broken-hearted. I am angry. And I am resolute.

Christ came in a time where the leaders of his faith and the government were in bed together to dominate and oppress. Not much has changed there, I guess.

So, in an effort to remain true to the founder of my faith, I am calling it out, and I am making a stand against it. From this day forward, I am not a Christian. I will not use the label Christian. I will not categorize myself with a people that have become so clear about what it means to be a Christian – and it feels anything but Christ-like. This does not change my theology. I seek to be Christ-centric, but the title, “Christian,” means nothing to me but hate and power blending together in the name of the man who came to make a way beyond such a thing.

If you want to support me with your kindness, please feel free. If you want to ask questions out of your own struggle to walk in faith or understand faith, I’m open to the questions – DM me, I will respond. If you want to name-call, criticize, or argue – save it. I’m not into having a debate with you. That is not the point of my declaration. Feel free to unfriend me or just simply leave your response to yourself. If you want to argue or call name, I will simply delete your response and unfriend you. I’m not seeking debate. I am just making a declaration. And if you want to pray for me, I welcome it. I hope you pray for our nation too. I hope you pray for the people of Ukraine who are, I am certain, terrified for their lives right now. I hope you pray for the people living on the streets, terrified for the policies that will make the rich richer and the poor poorer. I hope you pray for the trans people too – whose lives are going to be ripped apart by permissive violence and by the violence of having their treatments revoked after years of living with the hormones that have helped them normalize. But, sure, pray for me too, because I am broken hearted.