For Rachael Denhollander, and Abuse Victims, The Cost of Following Jesus is Apparently Being Silenced, Exiled and then Isolated by His “Followers”… 

Exiled: “Left alone and isolated…”

Let’s call this what it is… it’s strategic and political; it’s convoluted horseshit from self-preserving sociopaths too afraid to allow themselves to feel (read: acknowledge) the wrongful abuses happening beneath their noses. As it’s been said before, you can’t change what you don’t acknowledge.

What most recently stood out to me was Rachael Denhollander’s testimony after Larry Nassar’s conviction as, according to CNN, “she was the last of more than 150 women and girls to confront him in court…” while she was also the first to make a public accusation.

If you’re like me and have disconnected from much of the mainstream media, you may or may not know who Rachael Denhollander is; in short, she’s a former USA gymnast, now attorney, who was the first of 150 other young women to publicly accuse Larry Nassar of sexual abuse. Nassar was later convicted and will most likely spend the rest of his life in prison. The judge did something, seemingly, but, amazingly unprecedented.

Her testimony echoed throughout Christian media because, within her statement, she ever-so-boldly stated that speaking out for victims of abuse “cost me my church and our closest friends.”

She heartbreakingly and courageously went on to say “Three weeks before my police report I was left alone and isolated…”

This seems to be the common mantra echoed throughout those of us “de-churched” folk.

It’s so routine, the responses have become far too predictable: people so blinded by their love for this institution (commonly mistaken as the Church) are quick to rebuttal with empty claims that this is somehow a single isolated incident that’s not reflective of the Church they’ve come to know. They’ll lay out accusations of one being far too generalized; this will then turn into you being the one at fault, and, they’ve effectively turned the tables. People who do this (knowingly or not) are disgustingly dismissive. But, let’s unpack this though…

Christianity Today recently sat down with her, and, she didn’t hold back there, either…

She spoke for and from, not just her experience, but, stated on a larger platform what many, not just women but, also men, entire communities of color, LGBTQ, and all of our allies alike have been silently internalizing for decades on end…