Dear Christians,

In America, many churches have ignored the hypocrisy of their own members, deeming anyone who dared to speak about the harm they endured in the name of God an enemy of religious freedom. They stayed silent as the so‑called moral majority rewrote the culture, declaring whole topics off limits to keep any questions that threatened their comfort and assumed authority out of sight. All the while, they used mottos like Focus on the Family as a shield, something to point to so no one would look too closely at the reality of what was happening inside their own house.

And we can see how well this method worked. When anyone from any other group slips, the entire group is condemned and left to fend for itself. But these churches work to protect the reputation of Christianity, smoothing over the harm, forgiving the right people at the right time, and folding the offender back in once the moment has passed. Even Jim Bakker returned from a disgrace that would have buried anyone outside the faith, because inside the circle there are endless chances and outside it there are none, a pattern that exists because preserving the faith’s image always comes first.

Now that this alignment has hardened into something else entirely, a force that uses religion to justify its politics and politics to justify its religion, closing itself off so completely that nothing from outside is heard. Which means the few people who can break through this pattern are those inside the faith itself, people like you, the real believers, the only ones they might not immediately dismiss. Because if you do not step up, both this nation and the reputation of your religion will be defined by the same force that now claims it will Make America Great Again.

Thank you for taking a moment to listen to my observations. Whether you have been one of the few already flipping tables, or are just now beginning to hear this message, we are grateful you are here now. I hope that when the day comes, you’ll show that you’d treat someone like me with the compassion your faith teaches. 

With gratitude,  

A neighbor