God is an asshole and we're all just living in his world

I’m kind of dogshit at making blog posts and setting aside time to write well thought out things, so I think I'm going to start using this as a place to write short and somewhat incoherent ramblings.

I went on a date this weekend with someone who went through really bad shit at a church they used to go to, and fully deconstructed from christianity. They grew up christian and put all of their time and energy into their community and following god, and had some bad experiences that made them leave all of that and decide they don’t even think god exists. The date was super fun and I had a good time, but hearing this person’s experiences with church made me deeply sad. I know too many people who have had similar experiences with christians and churches.

About two years ago, I was super involved in the church I was going to. I had what I thought was a community of people who loved me for who I was, I was playing the drums there weekly (sometimes in front of 1000+ people), and life felt good. Except I was bisexual and had to hide a large part of my identity just so I could be around my church friends and play the drums, because openly gay members had been barred from being volunteers there in the past. And then my church that claimed to care about social justice took zero stances on Trump’s harmful policies and police brutality. And then two of my dear friends who worked at this same church went through insane abuse at the hands of some people I used to really admire. And I decided to give up on church for good, because that hadn’t been the first time I'd experienced bad shit at churches and I decided it wasn’t worth putting my effort into trying to belong to a place or religion that wouldn’t accept me and constantly made me feel like shit.

I know so many people who have been hurt by christians. We’ve watched mainstream evangelical christians spend the last seven years supporting a fascist. I have close friends who have been looked down on by their churches for leaving abusive marriages (because divorce is a sin no matter the context to these fucking clowns). Several pastors made headlines this year for abusing their power and preying on women (Carl Lentz and Brian Houston). Is god even real? This is the question I keep coming to during recent months. So many christians and church institutions continue to steamroll over people. If god is real, if the god of the bible who went into fits of righteous anger whenever someone was being mistreated is real, then why does he continue to let people get hurt by those who claim to follow him? If I was god and my followers were being dickheads, I would immediately set them straight. But I don’t see that happening. The people at my old church who hurt me and my friends are doing great. The abusers of the person I went on the date with are still doing well. 

I consider myself to be Spiritual these days. I think there’s a god that exists, but I think they’re an asshole. Nature and the dirt and plants and human beings are too intricate and complex for me to think we all came into existence by happenstance. So I think there’s some omnipotent figure chilling in heaven but they don’t really care and just let their followers treat everyone like shit, and post racist boomer memes on facebook, and vote for fascists, and yell at women at their churches for trying to divorce their emotionally abusive husbands. Who knows.



Leaving Cities

Leaving Cities

The reason why the “leaving cities” discourse bugs me is because I think a lot of it can come from a place of ignorance and expecting people to stop complaining and just suck up bad situations.

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What Would Jesus Do?

I've been struggling with my faith as a Christian for the past year or so. I'm not looking for a pity party, I just want to share how I'm feeling. I've been feeling overwhelmingly unsatisfied with the Christian church and how it has related to current events. Specifically, I feel that as a Christian, the Christian church is generally out of touch with the world. As I get older, I feel myself becoming more and more isolated with fellow Christians and finding it harder to connect. For example, based on my personal experiences, most days it feels like Christians my age are more interested in things like finding someone to settle down and build a life with, and I have a hard time relating to that.

The tipping point of my frustration was the 2016 Presidential Election, where 80% of White Evangelicals voted for Donald Trump. Over the course of 2016, I watched many Christians voice their support for Trump. Meanwhile, Trump ran his entire campaign on hate. He promised to "build a wall," to ban Muslims from entering the US, to force US Muslim citizens to join a registry, and to bring back Stop-And-Frisk (a method ruled as unconstitutional because it solely targets minorities). These are only an incredibly small fraction of the things he has planned to do. He mocked a disabled reporter, was found to have sexually assaulted women multiple times, and doesn't believe in reproductive rights. Mike Pence is equally horrifying, as he supports Conversion Therapy and helped to create an HIV spike in Indiana by slashing public health spending.

I don't understand how a majority of Christians could vote for someone like this. Someone who promised to make the lives of those he opposed a living hell. 2016 was a frightening year for many of my friends and I because most of Trump's proposed plans directly impacted us, and watching them become more and more accepted was horrifying to experience. I'll never forget hearing about the hate crimes over the past year being done in Trump's name. I'll never forget the night of November 8th, as I sat with a few friends and watched state after state go red. I remember waking up the next morning, hearing the news, and being sick to my stomach. I remember hearing on social media that many people I personally knew were being targeted by hate crimes at my school. I remember being so distressed that I seriously contemplated calling the suicide hotline. I remember going on Facebook later that week and expecting to see my Christian friends denouncing Trump and the hate, but almost every post I saw was normalizing his presidency and simply promising to "pray for him."

I refuse to believe that the God I know would support the terrible things occurring in the world right now. Just this past week, Trump signed an Executive Order banning citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the US. This is horrific on just about every level, but no one seems to be talking about it. Nothing was said at church. Most of my Christian friends are completely silent. How can you profess to follow Christ but support someone like Trump, who has who promised to do all of these terrible things? How can you be silent when refugees are being persecuted for their religious beliefs and their country of origin? I've been sickened as I've watched people I used to respect, people who I would have considered to be "champions of the faith" support Trump. Every Sunday as I sit in church, I can't help but wonder how many of the people around me voted for Trump.

My Mom has reminded me this at least two million times while I was growing up, but my faith isn't supposed to be based on what others do, say, or think. However, it is incredibly frustrating to see professed followers of Jesus supporting someone who represents the exact opposite of everything Jesus stood for. In fact, it's disgusting and shakes me to the core. I refuse to normalize Trump's presidency and the current events that are unfolding. I'm far from perfect and far from having my faith figured out, but instead of ignoring current events and blindly devoting myself to praying that a heart as egregious as Trump's would change, I'm going to focus on living by and doing what Jesus considered to be the greatest commandment: 

‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
— Matthew 22:36-40 NIV

We are all terrible at addressing sexual assault

On June 2nd, 2016, Brock Turner was sentenced to only six months in a county jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman behind a dumpster. After originally facing a maximum sentence of 14 years, Judge Aaron Perksy decided upon the lighter sentence because "a prison sentence would have a severe impact on him…I think he will not be a danger to others." Unfortunately, Brock's Father wasn't satisfied with the light sentence, as he claims his son is paying a steep price for "20 minutes of action out of his 20 plus years of life." During the trial, Brock Turner was portrayed as a good kid with great swimming abilities and good academics. During the trial, Brock Turner never acknowledged that he sexually assaulted his victim, and blamed the alcohol he consumed that night. Brock Turner gets to sit in a county jail for six months, register as a sex offender, and then live the rest of his life as a free man, while the victim will continue to live with the pain and memories of that night for years to come.

This sums up rape culture in America.

Our society is absolutely terrible when it comes to addressing sexual assault. There is so much miseducation, ignorance, and general laziness surrounding this huge issue affecting scores of men and women. It is assumed by many that sexual assault isn't as big of a problem as it is made out to be. However, 23% of female college students experience unwanted sexual contact. Society places the problem of sexual assault solely on women. Current Ohio Governor and former Presidential candidate John Kasich had the audacity to suggest that women can avoid sexual assault by simply not going to parties where alcohol is involved, as if it's only the woman's job to avoid being assaulted, and as if parties are the only places where sexual assault can take place. The truth is, half of sexual assaults occur within 1 mile of the victim's home. I find it horrifying whenever someone is misinformed on something like this, especially someone in such a high seat of power as John Kasich, who makes decisions everyday that affects 11.59 million Ohioans. With his logic, maybe women shouldn't even live at home?

People don't see the point in getting serious about addressing sexual assault. This Op ed suggests that harsh sentences for sexual assault perpetrators isn't necessary because it won't make a difference in getting more women to report assault, and harsh sentences end up damaging yet another person in the process (the perpetrator). What this letter completely misses is that the reason why many women (and men) don't report assault is because most of the time there is no incentive. In the rare case where a victim comes forward to report assault (only 32% of sexual assaults are reported to the police), they can face backlash such as retaliation and disbelief. Most of the time, the perpetrator receives a slap on the wrist and faces little to no punishment (98% of rapists will never spend a day in jail/prison), continuing the cycle in which victims don't come forward. Cracking down on assault and holding people accountable will make a difference, and the reason why we don't see this difference right now is because as a society America is not serious about addressing sexual assault.

Universities are failing to protect victims and punish perpetrators. Examples of this emerge time and time again, with the most recent being Baylor University covering up allegations of sexual violence by football players, and even retaliating against someone who reported assault. As of May 1, 2014, there were 55 Universities being investigated for Title IX violations.

We don't support women. For example, women at Ohio State have been lobbying for a Women's Center for years. Having a Women's Center is important because in 2016 women are still dealing with huge issues such as gender discrimination, sexual assault and equal pay on a daily basis. Having a place where women can receive resources and support is vital. However, administrators continue to drag their feet and offer excuses for not having one, such as funding. Meanwhile, Ohio State has the money to spend $42 million on renovations for Ohio Stadium, $700,000 on renovations for Browning Amphitheatre, $200 million on a new arts district, and continues to support a culture of big bonuses for administrators.

The thing about sexual assault is that it's everyone's problem. Every 107 seconds, someone is sexually assaulted in America. This means by the time I've finished writing this blog post, there will have been 364 people assaulted today. It takes each of us to get serious about assault, from no longer laughing at rape jokes to believing and supporting a friend or relative who comes to you and confides that they have experienced sexual assault. Unfortunately, unless we educate ourselves and start addressing this huge problem, nothing will change and we will continue to hear more and more stories like Brock Turner's. It's up to everyone to do something about it.