By Peggy Frye

As someone who suffered from religious trauma, those who profess to be Christian and preach a gospel justifying hate and discrimination using scripture? Gross.

I was raised in a Christian home. Expected to be who and what that religion expected. I was made to read and study the bible and other church writings, from birth through college. I have heard things from the pulpits that were filled with hellfire and brimstone. I was indoctrinated and told that I’d be damned to eternal separation from my family and those I love unless I conformed to the rules and laws of a god who would never accept me as I am. Luckily, I have been able to find some peace in my life in spite of my trauma. But you?

You “love the sinner, hate the sin” folk? Don’t you know that you are simply continuing a rich heritage started by the white, wealthy, powerful, elitist, racist, sexist, and greedy men who funded and founded your particular brand of religion?

I thank God that I am someone who can be still in the presence of the Divine each and every day and see the beauty of love, acceptance, and diversity. I am grateful that my eyes have been opened to see the error of mere men who bastardized God’s words in order to manipulate the masses in their quest for more wealth, power, control, and to feed their twisted sexual needs.

I may not have all the answers, but I know that you are no representation of the Jesus I know.