My Problem With Christianity

 
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Written and Illustrated by Katie Herrick, Culture Editor

When I tell people I went to a Catholic school for almost 11 years, it normally shocks them.  Maybe it is the piercings or the tattoos, the blue hair, the way I dress, speak and act. Maybe it’s the fact that I am no longer religious. 

Growing up with a single mom, my mom worked her ass off to put me through private school—the better option for schooling in my hometown—and didn’t finish paying it off until I was already four years into public schooling.

When I started private school I was four-years-old, I had no opinions, couldn’t read and probably didn’t even know left from right (all those years of private school and I still have to hold up my hands to distinguish left from right). Everything they taught me I believed because I was 5, or 8, or 10 and didn’t know any better. 

As I grew older and moved to a different city and a public school, I realized some of the aspects of my private school were a little… off? My science teacher was also my religion teacher, so I was never taught the concepts of evolution. The Dioceses of LaCrosse would send home notes with students warning parents of “bad” movies that were made to aid Satan, most notably the Golden Compass—which my mom promptly rented and watched with me. 

No, I didn’t have any scary nun teachers that beat me with rulers, I don’t know where that stereotype came from. In fact, I loved all of my teachers, and all of the nuns, and all the teachers that were also nuns. 

I got to dissect frogs instead of worms, learned from a young age how to dress nicely (no cookie monster pajama pants allowed) and I got to work on my memorization skills by learning all 32 Beatitudes and all 12 Commandments word-for-word. 

I got to make close friends and get specialized attention from teachers because of my small class size of 12, which grew to 16, and then 40 in sixth grade. Which, by the way, I thought was massive until I joined a class of almost 200 for high school, which I thought was massive until I joined a class of almost 32,648 at UW-Madison. 

And overall, it was good, except for the shame I felt most of middle school for being poor when all my private school friends were insanely rich, but that isn’t the point of this story.

I remember religion class vividly. Never once was I taught to hate someone for who they were. Never once was I taught that someone who sinned was going straight to hell. Instead, we learned the history of Jesus—even now I could probably tell you his life and that of all 12 apostles from memory—and most importantly, we learned to love everyone. 

So, WHY do some Christians think that they can hate people for identifying on the LGBTQ spectrum? As a matter of fact, the same passage that says that “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination” (the verse most commonly used against homosexuality) also says “Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.” 

Take a look at most Christian men—including the Pope—and notice the clean-shaven faces, trimmed beards/stubble and the short haircuts. Maybe the refusal to have long hair is to avoid looking too “feminine” or just out of personal preference, but still, according to Leviticus 19, that’s a sin. Not very biblical, huh?

Why do some people get to pick and choose? If you choose to interpret that verse as against homosexuality—even though it has been proven otherwise due to 1. translation issues, 2. many cases of homosexuality in the bible being rape or incest and 3. the tie-in with politics surround gay marriage, among many other reasons, (see: Matthew Vines, Brandon Ambrosino, Jimmy Creech)—then you must also not shave, not eat meat with blood, wear clothing made of two different materials or sleep with your “female slaves.” 

That’s right, slavery is A-OK in parts of the Bible, so we should definitely stay true to what it “says” about homosexuality.  Granted, the part about slavery is in the Old Testament, but so is the part “about” homosexuality—if you’re going to take part of it, you have to take all of it.

And, to be clear, I am not saying that being Christian or religious is bad. I myself believed in God growing up, and I support my friends who do so now and in the past. I have a problem, however, when people use their religion to condemn other people. That isn’t okay, and is the exact opposite of “loving thy neighbor as you love yourself.”

There seems to be a divide between people who are religious, though. More specifically, in my opinion, distinct types of Christians. On one end are really incredible, accepting people who spread God’s love and support to many diverse communities of people. On the other end, however, is a more prejudiced group of people, people who are plagued with a complex that they’re better than everyone because they’re “pure” and heterosexual.

There are people all over the spectrum between these two polar ends, though.  There are people with buried homophobia, people who use others hate as a way to make themselves feel okay with their complacency and ignorance and people who commit microaggressions daily.

I went to visit my close friend—let’s call them X—and was vibing with their friend—let’s call them Y. Y was hilarious, however, X stopped me that same night and said, hey just so you know, Y thinks being gay is a sin. As someone who identifies as bisexual, with close friends and family identifying all over the LGBTQ spectrum, I was upset. 

I confronted Y, saying “Wait. Homosexuality is a sin. I’m gay.” 

“Damn yo let’s relax there are lot of sins. None greater than another. But this is a debate for not over text though” Y responded.

I simply said “Nope. I won’t” and never responded again. 

Y, not taking a hint, countered with “I won’t what? I’ll debate that is my fav thing”.

Now, this conversation was friendly. This person was friendly. I don’t hate them, they are genuinely hilarious and I did think they were cute and nice. However, I cannot excuse the last sentence they said. 

“Debate.” How can you “debate” someone’s whole lifestyle and being? 

The fact of the matter is, homophobia is still homophobia, even if you dress it in a Holy white robe.

Maybe if I was a better person I would have debated with Y, texted or had a phone call like two adults and explained my thoughts. Instead, I’m writing a whole rant online that they probably won’t see and never responded to their last text. Yeah, I know, real mature. But I am tired.

In today’s climate, openly hating communities of people is okay. Being homophobic, transphobic, racist, sexist and xenophobic is just called someone’s “opinion” instead of what it really is: hateful rhetoric in a shitty disguise.

I am just a straight-passing white woman. I don’t receive much, if any, discrimination or hate, and yet I am so tired of arguing.  Arguing why gay people should be allowed to exist, why you have definitely shared a bathroom with a trans person already and don’t know (hi Gun Girl!), why what anyone does in their life that affects you in no way is not your problem nor your responsibility to oppress. 

There is ample proof that homosexuality is not a sin (again, see: Matthew Vines, Brandon Ambrosino, Jimmy Creech), yet people continue to use someone else’s “sins” as a way to justify their feelings and actions of supremacy. 

These Christians are arguing that heterosexuals are somehow less guilty of their sins—cheating, lying, getting drunk, swearing—than the simple act of a homosexual person accepting their sexuality.  There are no levels to sin, the Bible even says so: “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.”

And, look, I know that my best friend Gylf will come for my neck and say that I hate Christianity because I have complained about it pretty harshly in the past.  I will own up to that, in the past I have been harsh, but I truthfully, genuinely don’t have a problem with Christianity. 

I DO, however, have a problem with the Catholic Church, with Christians that use their religion to justify hate crimes and with people who judge others to make themselves feel better.

People are gay. People have sex. People drink, do drugs, steal, lie, cheat and use the Lord’s name in vain. This will always be true no matter the laws, judgment and punishments passed. What can change though, is our response to it.  The real way to make Jesus proud and live in his example, it seems, is to love one another unconditionally.

So why is the community that claims to be the most loving and accepting isolating a group of people? Or if not isolating, at least shaming and labeling as “sinners”? It’s hard for me to accept that Jesus, if he is as thoughtful and purposeful as Christianity makes him to be, would turn a blind eye to LGTBQ people if he were around.

All of my citations are great resources for learning more so I have left the URLs in the citations below, but I especially like this pamphlet if you are religious and looking to improve yourself in 2020 and learn more: The Bible Doesn’t Say That Homosexuality is a Sin – An Analysis of the Seven Scriptures Sometimes Claimed to Refer to Homosexuality🌈

Sources

Quote from Matthew Vine that I like: 

“Being different is no crime. Being gay is not a sin. And for a gay person to desire and pursue love and marriage and family is no more selfish or sinful than when a straight person desires and pursues the very same things. The Song of Songs tells us that King Solomon’s wedding day was “the day his heart rejoiced.” To deny to a small minority of people, not just a wedding day, but a lifetime of love and commitment and family is to inflict on them a devastating level of hurt and anguish. There is nothing in the Bible that indicates that Christians are called to perpetuate that kind of pain in other people’s lives rather than work to alleviate it, especially when the problem is so easy to fix. All it takes is acceptance.”

 
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