Why I Walked Out of Church: The Hypocrisy I Couldn’t Ignore
Choosing My Transgender Child Over Empty Promises of Love
I knew visiting this church was going to be hard. The denomination had recently adopted a statement opposing same-sex marriage and outlined hard-line pastoral “advice” for parents of transgender youth, in my opion, that was going to get children killed and families torn apart.
I was only there for my 83-year-old mom, who’d just got out of the hospital and couldn’t drive herself. My mom was confused and perplexed about having a transgender grandchild but still managed to embrace her in love and get the name and pronouns right more often than she remembered her own address.
“I can do this for Mom,” I told myself as I settled into the pew. Then the pastor announced the next song: “They’ll Know We are Christians by Our Love.”
I had to walk out.
“We are one in the Spirit.
We are one in the Lord.”
I’ve believed this since my earliest days. Christians disagree on many details, and some of those details matter, but as long as you believe in Jesus, the rest fades away.
But are we one? Do we even aim to be one? On balance which is the church sowing more these days? Love or hate?
