Can I get a Hallelujah!! As one of the Jesus-following, organized religion-avoiding people to whom you reference, the reasons for doing so that you outline are precisely my own. Christian nationalism should be an oxymoron.
Sarah, I applaud your perspective and wish more Christians shared your tolerance and love. I still belong to a Presbyterian church and attend for community and for the role model of Jesus’s radical love and service to others. But my whole life—starting as an adolescent witnessing the televangelist scandals, then as an adult seeing so much violence in the world and repression of women carried out in God’s name—I’ve always been wary of the fundamentalist or orthodox wings of any organized religion. Now what used to be considered extreme is becoming more mainstream in religion. The rise of Christian Nationalism and Trump’s cynical harnessing of Evangelicals for their support terrifies me, as does the anti-science/anti-intellectualism (e.g. teaching creationism and banning books). Your voice is so refreshing and needed, thank you.
Thank you for saying so. Having been criticized for taking such a clear stand by family and people who I thought were friends sometimes makes me wonder if I've been right to be consistently saying the same things for the last eight years. It's nice to know that I'm not alone, you know?
Until 2016, I was able to keep my students on their toes. They had NO idea what my political leanings were because I gave them material that just challenged all of their thinking. After 2016 it became SO hard. How do you teach Night and talk about refugees without sounding political when babies are being taken from their mothers at the border? And it wasn't just that. It was EVERYTHING. Anything I said that appeared to criticize the administration was seen as me being a liberal, even though I've always been a reasonable moderate! (One of my close college friends calls me a militant moderate 😂) I'll eventually get to that part of my faith journey in my monthly series, but I still have about fifteen more years of shit to sort through in that series 😉
Same! It's been so hard after 2016. I'm about to teach the history of Israel-Palestine (which I've done several times in the past) and I am VERY nervous about it in a way I never have been before.
Currently writing a dystopian novel with hints of religion in it and this helped to shape out some characters more so thank you for that! I don’t have an opinion on it, since politics are beyond me at this point but kind regards nonetheless
Can I get a Hallelujah!! As one of the Jesus-following, organized religion-avoiding people to whom you reference, the reasons for doing so that you outline are precisely my own. Christian nationalism should be an oxymoron.
Yes, it should be. We've never been a Christian nation and pretending that we have been in the past has caused far too much hurt in the present.
Sarah, I applaud your perspective and wish more Christians shared your tolerance and love. I still belong to a Presbyterian church and attend for community and for the role model of Jesus’s radical love and service to others. But my whole life—starting as an adolescent witnessing the televangelist scandals, then as an adult seeing so much violence in the world and repression of women carried out in God’s name—I’ve always been wary of the fundamentalist or orthodox wings of any organized religion. Now what used to be considered extreme is becoming more mainstream in religion. The rise of Christian Nationalism and Trump’s cynical harnessing of Evangelicals for their support terrifies me, as does the anti-science/anti-intellectualism (e.g. teaching creationism and banning books). Your voice is so refreshing and needed, thank you.
Thank you for saying so. Having been criticized for taking such a clear stand by family and people who I thought were friends sometimes makes me wonder if I've been right to be consistently saying the same things for the last eight years. It's nice to know that I'm not alone, you know?
Thank-you for continuing to speak out!!
For as long as I have to.
I have such a hard time dancing around teaching world history and trying to be respectful of evangelical Christians in my classroom. Oof
Until 2016, I was able to keep my students on their toes. They had NO idea what my political leanings were because I gave them material that just challenged all of their thinking. After 2016 it became SO hard. How do you teach Night and talk about refugees without sounding political when babies are being taken from their mothers at the border? And it wasn't just that. It was EVERYTHING. Anything I said that appeared to criticize the administration was seen as me being a liberal, even though I've always been a reasonable moderate! (One of my close college friends calls me a militant moderate 😂) I'll eventually get to that part of my faith journey in my monthly series, but I still have about fifteen more years of shit to sort through in that series 😉
Same! It's been so hard after 2016. I'm about to teach the history of Israel-Palestine (which I've done several times in the past) and I am VERY nervous about it in a way I never have been before.
Eek. Good luck.
Currently writing a dystopian novel with hints of religion in it and this helped to shape out some characters more so thank you for that! I don’t have an opinion on it, since politics are beyond me at this point but kind regards nonetheless