Trying to stay positive is something I want to do and am trying to do. In times past, I’ve always looked to my faith in Christ and those who share a love for Him. Devastatingly so, it’s been difficult to find other Christians who oppose the increase of fascism and the toxicity of our current political climate. In all honesty, finding Texas Christians who oppose Trumpism, the rise in fascism, and want what is best for the Common Good of all people in society is a difficult task in Texas. A calculated plan to usher in right-winged fascism over decades, which is the dangerous melding of Church and state, is finally here.
I could not publish the content I do and serve in religious trauma recovery for the Catholic Church full-time. It’s the most difficult and loneliest work I have ever done. My primary work in Educational Therapy and Vocational Rehabilitation gives me a great deal of fulfillment and life purpose, the strength I need to continue publishing the writings I do and help Catholic families fully-accept and reconcile with their LGBTQ+ children because their lives truly depend on it. Three of my upcoming articles outside of Patheos will be published to larger audiences within the next three months, and in all three pieces, both secular and ministerial, they will undoubtedly invoke the heat of the Religious/Catholic Right. I am also scheduled as a guest speaker on a national podcast again next week.
For repeated clarity, the Religious Right/Catholic Right is not all conservatives, for I know many good conservatives who love and serve others. The Religious Right/Catholic Right is a faction of the Republican party who wants to endanger and/or eliminate anyone who is not “White, straight, Republican, and “Christian,” and this faction is powerful and deadly. The mere mention of oppression, marginalization, endangerment, and pain that LGBTQ+ and Neurodivergent individuals and their families face sets the Religious/Catholic Right on-fire in anger and revenge. They use their religion as a political weapon to target, hunt down, and destroy anyone who is not like themselves. I believe this is also true when mentioning similar hardships for racial minorities, religious minorities, and other historically marginalized populations. We have to ask ourselves why. Why would the mere mention of historically marginalized groups create an igniting effect? Simple, the Religious Right/Catholic Right are responsible for these groups’ endangerments, they know it, and they don’t want to be exposed for who they truly are. They are a variation of Hitler’s regime.
Currently in Texas, genocidal threats are a grim reality that you can read about in my last Patheos piece. I can’t handle another negative word or thought right now, so let’s move to the positive. How do I stay positive through this? It’s not easy, but I believe the answer is found in serving in a different area of justice which is not so coetaneous, like in my profession. I once looked to my faith in Christ and the Christian community for strength and purpose. Now I have to seek the underground for Christians who truly seek the Common Good of all humanity, not just people who look and act like themselves.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In