What Broke In Me

The Vox article about Trump’s damage to Christianity( Link here) is something I agree deeply with, even if I don’t agree with every word they say in thearticle.

Even if Trump did some good, the cruelty he delivered it with and the lack of compassion that he delivered it with deserved to be pointed out by Christians aka at the very least, “I am grateful for what Trump is doing to prevent abortions, but what he said about x, y, z is not ok.”

But we didn’t get that.

We got unconditional adoration at a level I have never seen, with no specifications only excuses for anything he did no matter how obviously evil it was.

What is worse is that many of the supporters of Trump were obviously and profoundly cruel to anyone who disagreed with them. People I respected ganged up on me and insulted me, speaking in ways I would never speak to my worst enemy let alone someone who was supposedly a friend. I have felt cast out in most of the Christian communities I have been in lately, because I speak out against racism, against cruelty, because I speak about God and His abundant Love, for EVERYONE.

Trump destroyed something in us, he brought forward something that was already there. I had already lived it, but he made it bolder and meaner and crueler and took away the grounding that maybe it wasn’t okay to treat others this way.

That’s what Christianity lost, and for me, it’s terrifying. How can I argue to you for treating others to love, when you have decided I am evil because I don’t believe it is ok to hate the way he did? So it is ok to tell me you don’t want me to speak about how I feel anymore, because I am calling you to speak in love, and call others to speak in love.

Is that so awful?

Is that horrifying?

It is hard to write and participate in Christian communities when the weight on my heart is that I don’t belong, and the reason I don’t belong is because I don’t believe it is ok to be cruel.

-This is a little window into what Trump and his Christian followers broke in me, as I grieve the friendships who have shut me down and shut me out, because I think we should all treat others with the kindness we would like to receive. I post it because I know some of you don’t believe these articles when you read them, but I am still hurting, and I know I’m not the only one.

Here’s to the part of Christianity that fights to heal and help the hurting, and stands up against those who would hurt the lowly and the vulnerable.

Love,

Me