I left the church behind a long time ago. I was taught a lot of things within the church that kept me from being my authentic self. Religious trauma is real, and I’ve spent a number of years unlearning those toxic teachings and finding my truth. I wish I could write a letter and send it to my little self and tell him not to believe all of the lies. Being LGBTQIA+ is not an abomination. Loving another human being is never a sin. No child should grow up endlessly trying to “pray the gay away” or hating themselves for having feelings that they didn’t choose to have.

I survived. And don’t get me wrong. I never doubted the love that my family has for me. They did the best they could with the information they had (and the information they didn’t have was that I was hiding all of the gay). But, because of what I was taught in the church, I never felt safe coming out. I had no idea how they would react. They were, after all, learning the same things I was in church. They never questioned it, so how could I?

I made it through childhood and and my teen years. I left for college and started my coming out process in 2010 confiding in my close friends and co-workers. I wouldn’t go on to come out to my family until three years later. And, in all that time, I damaged some relationships with people for trying to make myself straight. I dated girls and strung them along knowing that I could never truly give them any of the happiness that they deserved. I can’t take any of that back, and it sucks. If I had ever made it around to adopting kids of my own, I’d want them to know that it’s ok to be exactly who they are and to love who they love.

And, spoiler alert: Jesus made no mention of homosexuality in the Bible. Not even once. In fact, homosexuality wasn’t even added to the Bible until 1946, and many scholars today believe it’s a faulty translation that’s misused.

With that being said, there are churches out there getting it right. There are churches out there teaching love and acceptance for everyone. The churches getting it right don’t cling to the old mantra: “Love the sinner, hate the sin.” That’s garbage. Love is unconditional. If you truly love someone, you love the good parts of them and the not-so-good parts. And the “not-so-good” parts aren’t just the parts of them that YOU decided are not-so-good (like being gay). They’re the truly harmful parts that harm the individual or those around them.

If you’re a Christian and you’re truly giving it your all to be a Christ follower–kudos. If Christianity makes you feel fulfilled, and you’re not using the Bible to harm others then by all means keep doing you.

That was more or less a side ramble. What I came here to write about was those that claim to be Christian and continue to support the current regime. MAGA Christians are not Christ’s Christians. Let’s be 100% real right now–if Jesus showed up in the United States today, MAGA Christians would not feed, house, care for, or welcome this man. He’d be in the back of an ICE van so fast you wouldn’t even realize that the second coming had happened.

MAGA loves to label Democratic Socialism as Communism. The two are not the same. I don’t know if it’s truly that MAGA doesn’t know those two things aren’t the same or if they intentionally label DS as Communism because Communism is…well…Communism. Jesus was much closer to being a Socialist than he would ever be to identifying as a MAGA Republican. Why? Well, let’s have a little looksie at that!

Jesus all but condemned the wealthy. Mark 10:25 states, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.” Jesus spent more time with the poor. He flipped tables over in the Synagogue, because he was pissed that people were trying to make a profit in the temple and exploiting those that had come to worship.

Jesus was an advocate for the poor. In Luke 4:18, Jesus, in his first public sermon, declared his mission to “bring good news to the poor.” He wasn’t advocating for taking free lunches away from children in the school, kicking people off SNAP benefits, and making massive cuts to Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare while advocating for huge tax cuts to billionaires.

Jesus made his expectations fairly obvious and straightforward in Matthew 22: 37-40 and Matthew 25: 34-46:

In Matthew 22: 37-40:

37: “Jesus replied: ‘Love your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

38: This is the first and greatest commandment.

39: And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.

40: All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.'”

In Matthew 25: 34-46:

34: “The the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.

35: For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,

36: I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'”

37: “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?

38: When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?

39: When did we see you sick or in prison to go visit you?'”

40: “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'”

41: “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

42: For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,

43: I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'”

44: “They will also answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'”

45: “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'”

46: “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

That’s pretty freaking straightforward, yeah? If you believe Jesus would stand next to Trump and all of his MAGA cronies and not have a few rebukes to give them…well, you’re might want to go back into the Bible for another deep dive. I haven’t been a regular church attendee for over 20 years (gods, I’m old), so why am I up here on by soap box talking about all the ways that MAGA Christians are giving Christianity a bad name?

Let’s be real here:

Trump has no place in Christ’s Christianity (unless there’s some major enlightenment that causes him to turn a new leaf, make reparations for all of the ways he’s screwed this country ten ways from last Sunday…but, we’re not really holding our breaths for that, are we?)

ICE has no place in Christ’s Christianity. Pass me by with all the bullshit about “well they should have come here legally…”, because if you’re not descended from indigenous people or your ancestors weren’t forcibly dragged into this country to be slaves for rich, white men, then you are descended from immigrants who came into this country and took it as their own by force, or you are descended from immigrants who came into this country to make a better life for themselves…just like today’s immigrants. Jesus said, “Welcome the stranger.” Period!

While I’m talking about ICE: Fuck you, honestly with every fiber of my being. You’re heartless murderers. You murdered Renee Good. You’ve murdered and kidnapped and tortured who knows how many others. Let me just say that, if there is a higher power out there, I hope they treat you on your judgment day as you’ve treated others.

Cutting free lunches for school children, SNAP benefits, Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security while giving the ultra wealthy massive tax breaks has no place in Christ’s Christianity. Jesus was clear when he said feed the poor, care for the sick, clothe and house the needy, visit the prisoners. Jesus wasn’t out there interviewing everyone and their mother to make sure they weren’t just too lazy to work or trying to play the system.

We have to do better, y’all. We have to be better than this. I don’t consider myself a Christian anymore, but for all of Christ’s Christians out there trying to get it right, thank you–truly! And also, sorry that you get dragged through the mud with all of those out there giving y’all a bad name.

I hope we all find ways to make 2026 the best that it can be given the current state of where things stand in this country right now. During my MSBR training, we sat several times for a loving-kindness meditation, meditating on the following affirmations:

May you happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be safe.

May you live with ease.

And, may you be free from suffering.

That’s the kind of world that I want to live in. Not the one that the current regime has turned it into.

With love and light,

~Joshua

“My wish for you is that you continue to be who and how you are, to astonish a mean world with your acts of kindness.” -Maya Angelou