If You Want To Know Why America Is Broken, Go To An Evangelical Church
I live in Michigan, a state cleaved neatly in two by its political differences. It’s a place where presidential voting has run blue seven out of the last eight elections, where our senators are both re-elected Democrats, yet our statehouse is often fully red. Idiosyncratic is probably not too strong of a word. Things are different right now, though, as we head into statewide elections this year. The executive offices are all led by strong Democratic women, and the legislature is fighting on new terrain, a nonpartisan map drawn up by our independent redistricting commission. It will still be a close fought election.
This past weekend, the state Republican convention was held. While such conventions are manned by diehard activists in most years, this year was stunningly different. More first-timers than any other convention in living memory attended and participated, with the defining feature being that of deeply suspicious, paranoid people who fear repression is around every corner, lurking in every dark room and alley, waiting to take away their guns, their religion, their freedoms, and their children. There’s no evidence for any of this, of course, just random bits of life conflated together by people looking for trouble and creating it when it doesn’t appear as predicted.
So, as to my title, some explanation is likely required, especially if you happen to read this in a place that is not America. The evangelical church in America has been undergoing a facelift in the past decade. Knowing full well that the word “Christian” has left a bad taste in the mouths of too many, churches are rebranding. That word gets excised, replaced with titles that simply read “_____ Church.” Anything that gives away a hint of being conservative and Christian, such as First Assembly of God or _____ Christian Church, is gone. These places speak of their desire to welcome all, of no discrimination towards anyone, of meeting you where you are. Most of them are still very white, of course. Most of them don’t do the work to bring in people of different skintones, and even if they do, it’s only a matter of time before the indoctrination begins (and yes, I’m choosing this word because they know what it means, and they know how falsely they wield it against educators).
The indoctrination I refer to is the persecution complex of American Christians, and it drives me insane. I am a straight, white male Christian, and I am not persecuted, not like Christians are in Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan or China or Iran. I am as safe as it gets in this country. I know this, I recognize it, and quite honestly, I am ashamed of it and I am deeply worried for our country’s future. Why? Just ask most of these Republicans who were at the state GOP convention or CPAC or the latest Trump rally. These are people who were radicalized in church by a pastor who preaches weekly about how it’s so hard to be a Christian in America right now and that the “culture” is persecuting Christians. Actual examples are usually left out of this preaching, and when they do appear, they are isolated incidents or false stories spread by social media or email. Given the composition of these churches, though, persecution gets conflated with being a white, straight, conservative Christian.
That belief structure does not end when they depart through the church doors. It blends into everything else in their life. They view losing anything, societally or otherwise, as persecution, all while committing ACTUAL PERSECUTION against marginalized people who fear to go out in public or show any affection towards their partner or spouse. Feeling persecuted because you are not allowed to terrorize minorities or LGBTQ people must result in some exhausting mental gymnastics. Feeling persecuted because you can’t spew words of hatred at those who “violate” your faith is deeply offensive to the persecuted. This is a mindset that goes back all the way to the Puritans who left England for the New World not because they were persecuted, as we all got taught in elementary school in one of America’s oldest myths, but because they were not allowed by King James to attack Catholics on the scale they desired. Not verbally, mind you, but physically attack them. Tell me how that is any different than today’s typical GOP politician, who screams about how persecuted they are for being a Christian, while remaining blissfully and ludicrously ignorant of the harm they’ve caused by their persecution of others.
Our religion and our politics are deeply broken in America. I am exhausted from having to fight for equal treatment of my friends and family who aren’t as I am. I know I have privilege on a scale most don’t enjoy in America, because I was born a straight white male and then indoctrinated into the Christian faith. Straight Christian White Men (SCWM for short) have held power in America for centuries. I am ashamed of that privilege. I am ashamed that we are living in a regressing society determined to return to an unscientific, superstitious, feudal way of life, one that is dragging the world down with it. This societal meltdown has made me question my faith and my trust in loved ones. The behavior of our modern-day Pharisees, making themselves seen to the point of obnoxiousness, has taken away the joy I’d rediscovered in going to church every Sunday. It is emotionally exhausting to be around people who think this way, who act this way, and depending on the week, to listen to more words from the pulpit about our imaginary persecution by American culture.
Living alongside people who believe differently, who worship differently, who are Jews and Muslims and Buddhists and Hindus instead of Christians, that is not persecution. No harm is being done. No Christian is being sent to prison for not being an adherent to one of those other faiths. American Christians see toleration of anything that doesn’t fit their narrow, un-Christlike mold as injustice, as wrongs inflicted upon them. It is stunningly selfish behavior, seen time & time again. To those people, Christianity is a vessel for power & repression, just as it was in the Middle Ages. The faith is wielded like a cudgel to divide and conquer anyone who opposes. It does not resemble Christ or any of His teachings in any way. That, above anything else, is the most shameful part of all.
