FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2023 I WANT TO BE A DOORMAT

 FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2023 I WANT TO BE A DOORMAT

On Friday, I write about spiritual things.  Today, some musings from last week.

Hope United is a small “open and accepting” church in Georgetown Texas.  Their pastor is a transgender man.  He told his congregation that he will be leaving Hope United and leaving Texas at the end of June because Texas has more anti-transgender legislation filed this session than any other state, with 57 bills.

A lesbian friend indicated she also is looking to leave the state. With the Supreme Court revoking Roe v Wade, the Texas legislature has enacted some of the most stringent abortion laws in the country.  

I started reading “Jesus and John Wayne”.  Here is an opening to that book:

“Jesus and John Wayne is a sweeping, revisionist history of the last seventy-five years of white evangelicalism, revealing how evangelicals have worked to replace the Jesus of the Gospels with an idol of rugged masculinity and Christian nationalism―or in the words of one modern chaplain, with “a spiritual badass.”

"As acclaimed scholar Kristin Du Mez explains, the key to understanding this transformation is to recognize the centrality of popular culture in contemporary American evangelicalism. Many of today’s evangelicals might not be theologically astute, but they know their VeggieTales, they’ve read John Eldredge’s Wild at Heart, and they learned about purity before they learned about sex and they have a silver ring to prove it. Evangelical books, films, music, clothing, and merchandise shape the beliefs of millions. And evangelical culture is teeming with muscular heroes, mythical warriors, and rugged soldiers, men like Oliver North, Ronald Reagan, Mel Gibson, and the Duck Dynasty clan, who assert white masculine power in defense of “Christian America.” Chief among these evangelical legends is John Wayne, an icon of a lost time when men were uncowed by political correctness, unafraid to tell it like it was, and did what needed to be done."

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But, first - a historical look at Jesus.  You have to understand that I see Jesus through the eyes of the twenty-first century United States - (and, maybe with biased eyes as a transgender woman in a crazy world).

Israel was looking for the Messiah.  They wanted a leader to overthrow Roman rule.  They wanted a “King David” type ruler - a leader from their people (aka Jewish), steeped in the glory days of Israel - conquest, victories, a full treasury (offset by other nations paying Israel tribute money), a dynamic, maybe even handsome leader.  

Then Jesus comes along - he heals the sick, attracts huge crowds and followers, he even throws the moneychangers and poultry sellers out of the temple - a real Jewish leader.

About time - the Jewish people think.  

But after that triumphant entry into Jerusalem (aka “Palm Sunday”), things changed.  

First, he didn’t ride into Jerusalem on a mighty steed, or on a chariot - but on a donkey. Second, he wasn’t dressed in armor, third, he said things like “render to Caesar what is Caesars” - he wasn’t standing up to the Romans.

And, boom, by the end of the week - the people (and leaders) labeled him as a fraud, a weakling - and had him killed.

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Okay, Karen - I know that story, so why bring it up today?

Well, in reading “Jesus and John Wayne”, it seems as though some white evangelical Christians have forgotten the Holy Week message.  Seemingly they want to establish a ‘white evangelical Christian society’ and they are pushing hard to get it.
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Religion attitude research says:

“In the latest important, if entirely unsurprising, news we learned this week that white evangelicals are more opposed to transgender rights than any other demographic in the United States.

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One article says:

“The pattern noted above also holds here. 72% of white evangelicals oppose equal bathroom access for trans individuals, compared to 28% of nonreligious Americans.”

I have disagreed with my previous pastor who said I couldn’t use the women’s restroom.  I’m not sure why - when I use the restroom it is for one (important) reason.  I’m not there to “groom”, “attack”, or “push” an agenda.  It may seem to be a little matter, but it has loomed big in my mind.  The God that I love seems to say “Love one another”, but humans are making rules to divide us, to push me (and others) out of the state. I see “Love your enemies”.  But, I seem to hear “Hate your enemies”, “Hate those that are different”, “Hate LGBTQ People, Hate Blacks, Hate Muslims, Hate immigrants, Hate those that oppose you”.

AND - the white, evangelical Christians found their Messiah and elected him to office.

Politics and religion make strange bedfellows - and when coupled with GIGO (Garbage in, Garbage out) - where the person gets indoctrinated/brainwashed to ultraconservative or ultra-liberal by watching conservative or liberal media all day - you get people that are almost “zombies” for their political/religious beliefs.  

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It seems as though those white, evangelical Christians didn’t read the statements about turning the other cheek, going the extra mile, loving your enemies, loving your neighbors, and letting LOVE WIN.  

I don’t want to be a doormat.  If I get slapped, I don’t want to turn my other cheek to be slapped.  I don’t want to take in and pay for an unknown person who gets mugged on the road to Jericho.  I don’t want to give food and drink to the poor, I don’t want to visit those in jail and those who are sick.  

But, maybe it is my lot in life - to walk that narrow path -  and not exactly a “doormat”, but a person who yields to others, loves others, and shares with others.  

God, grant us wisdom, to love every person with your supernatural love, to accept and honor them even if we disagree with them, and to “love my neighbor as myself”.  Amen

LOVE WINS
LOVE TRANSFORMS
KAREN ANNE WHITE, ©, MAY 12, 2023