How is this possible? What drove me away from the miasma of the place where I grew up in Alabama?! Mostly it was local politics and proselytizing "Christians" who think they need to defend or confirm their faith by trying to "indoctrinate" others into their religion. It's the same kind of extremism fought against all over the world. "Christian" extremism deserves the same scrutiny as extremist views associated with any other religion. Extremism and its negative fallout are EXTREMISM, whether rooted in Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, or Christianity. People are fucking stupid and hate-filled all over, and some of the people I grew up around are dumber than all of them.
I was called unpatriotic a while ago because I was not on the "train" of a self-serving, scene-whore like Donald Trump. This came from someone I thought paid as much attention in history, civics, and economics classes as I did. This was someone I thought I knew in high school. I did not take it well. This individual is no longer someone I will have any contact or communication with, and I would choose to ignore them if I met them someday.
Is patriotism a curse word if you do not agree with your government? Forgive me, but questioning the government sounds like a healthy part of our country. Reminding our elected officials whom they serve is of paramount importance. I served my country in the Armed Forces. I love my country. Yet I am unpatriotic because I speak out against a bent, self-aggrandizing ass clown like Trump and his hateful administration.
Too many are deluded into thinking everyone should follow their "Godly" direction. Separation of church and state should not be just a suggestion.12 The true strength of our nation should be—and is—our mutual respect for one another: our beliefs, our identities, whom we love, and where we come from. That respect should bind us together as a nation. White Christian Nationalists do not speak for God; they speak for themselves or those they think are deserving.
Why are morons like our phony-fuck of a president telling the rest of us what we must accept? When it comes to our futures and our pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness, those choices should belong to each individual!3 I am amazed daily that there are people in this country still defending the bullshit this administration has wrought. Hatred, racism, self-enrichment, and hunger for power are dressed up in words like "patriotism" and "Christianity" but are just window dressing for the self-important and ambitious.
Elected officials in this country need to realize that public service is a motherfucking calling to which they should aspire, not a path to personal wealth and adulation. You should not be allowed to serve if you are not up to the task. You should not be in government if you aren't worthy. You are there to serve the people of this nation and our way of life. No elected official has a mandate to impose personal religious beliefs—phony or righteous—on the people they are supposed to serve.
It is very telling, to me, that so many self-proclaimed Christians think hatred and forcing everyone else to believe as they do is the right direction. There are many supposed Christians who think they know better and that their way is the way for everyone. Didn't some of our ancestors come to this country to escape just that? God, gods, and faith are matters of individual choice—at least they are supposed to be in this country. Too many of the "faithful" are blinded by their own righteousness.
My list of TRUE Christians can be counted on ten fingers, and a few of those are not around anymore. There is one I am honored to be the son of, though she would likely say she is not a good Christian.
Another is a high school friend whom I was fortunate to reconnect with in adult life. My wife and I got to know his family, who opened their home to us during a stressful time. They are a beautiful, good family with solid parents, great kids, and remarkably Christian people in this ridiculous time of despots and hate. This family LIVES their faith, as everyone should if that is what they believe.
Someone who is scathingly negative, critical, and dismissive of others and their religion may be revealing their own insecurities or unresolved struggles, using criticism to mask those insecurities. That is the way it has presented itself in my experience and life. Not everyone in this world believes the way you do. Be respectful and kind to others. That is simply my “humble” opinion, but it rings true to me.
You think America belongs to your Christian God?!
WELL HE CAN'T FUCKING HAVE IT!
Historical and constitutional footnotes
First Amendment — religion clauses. The Establishment Clause prohibits laws respecting an establishment of religion; the Free Exercise Clause protects religious exercise. Both apply to state and local governments through Fourteenth Amendment jurisprudence. These provisions form the constitutional foundation for church–state protections; they do not contain the exact words “separation of church and state.” Congress, Constitution Annotated and Congressional Research Service, Constitution Annotated, incorporation table.↩
Origin of the phrase. Thomas Jefferson used the metaphor of a “wall of separation between Church & State” in his January 1, 1802, letter to the Danbury Baptist Association. The letter is an influential historical interpretation, not itself constitutional text. Library of Congress — Jefferson's letter; Library of Congress — historical discussion.↩
Founding document. “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” comes from the 1776 Declaration of Independence, rather than the Constitution. The sentence in the essay is your own opinion about personal autonomy, not a quotation or claim that all individual choices are legally unrestricted. National Archives — Declaration of Independence.↩