American Christians, can we talk? I’m tired. Really tired. I have identified as a religious person for most of my life but I feel more and more pushed outside of the group that I claim to be part of. So before I end up being pushed out of this group all together, I want to try to have one last chat.
I know 2020 has been an incredibly long year for all of us and I know everyone is on their last nerve. I see that and greatly empathize with that. The thing is, a lot of the things that have made this year really hard didn’t start this year. Instead we are seeing several hundred years of history seemingly converging into this one unprecedented year.
Our obsession with the cult of individualism is creating a public health crisis of extreme proportions. Wearing a mask is not taking away anyone’s rights or religious freedom. Wearing a mask may protect you or your neighbor from a highly contagious disease. For the sake of argument, maybe the mask does absolutely nothing. I know it’s summer and masks are kind of ugly and uncomfortable but can we all just try it for a few weeks and see what happens? (Think of it as one big nation-wide scientific experiment.) And isn’t giving up personal comforts for the sake of a friend (or enemy) one of the central teachings of Scripture?
Related to this is our obsession with the cult of persecution. American Christians are not being persecuted. Churches rights are not being taken away. Our freedom to worship is not being rescinded. When we are asked to take a break from gathering for worship in large groups in person for the sake of our friends, this is just another opportunity to practice personal sacrifice on the behalf of another.
(Small side point: critical theory ≠ Marxism ≠ Communism ≠ end of religious freedom. Please stop conflating all of these things. It just makes you look ignorant and frightened.)
Our refusal to confront racism in ourselves, in our country, and in our history is one of the ugliest things about American Christianity. This year is another opportunity to do the right thing and actually begin the process of true repentance and change (both personally and systemically). Instead we are arguing about the validity of an organization called Black Lives Matter because some of us don’t agree with some of the political affiliations of the organization. (I should note that there is nothing inherently more religious about one political party over another.) But the point remains that BLACK LIVES DO MATTER and a large portion of this country can’t seem to agree on that one sacred point. Once Black Americans have the same life expectancy as all other Americans, we can talk about political affiliations. Racism is not a side issue in America. It is what built America. And our refusal to admit that is continuing to daily threaten the lives of Black, Indigenous, and other people of color in this country.
We claim to revere hospitality and fellowship as gifts and important religious practices but we regularly turn the immigrant away at our borders and vote for political entities that daily work to expel those who seek refuge in our neighborhoods.
We claim to love justice and mercy and yet continue to uphold an unjust justice system and argue that violent actions perpetrated by that system are somehow justified and jeer at concepts like “restorative justice”.
I am too tired to engage in debate about any of these things. I don’t believe that debate about these things are even helpful at this point. I understand we all have different perspectives. I am not asking you to just accept mine. I am only asking you to dig a little bit deeper into your own perspectives and ask yourself where they originated and how you feed them? Try to separate your religious beliefs from your nationalism and interrogate both of them individually.
As a religious person, I believe my primary calling is to do justice, to love kindness, and walk humbly. If 2020 has brought anything, it has brought us ample opportunities to do justice, to show kindness, and to walk with humility. There is so much we don’t know and will probably never know. We will not get this perfectly. All we can do is try better than we have.
Becoming Bethany 
From one Christian to another, thank you for your words, Bethany.
You are so wise my friend. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with us all.