"Hello, I'm Rayne, and I'm a lapsed Catholic. I fell away from the Church over a period of time, beginning roughly with the Reagan years and the uptick in Christian fundamentalism's influence on politics. It didn't happen all at once but I finally had enough when the Church became little more than a crypto-fascist mouthpiece for right-wing ideology, focusing almost exclusively on anti-abortion efforts instead of what I was taught were Christ's teachings."
"And yet more than 10 years of Catholic catechism shaped my values and morals, underpinning my Democratic identity. In hindsight I don't think I left the Church so much as it left me. Perhaps I should have nailed a thesis to the the Church's doors in protest but when the entire Church has been subsumed by a political movement, it didn't occur to me as an effective option."
"Now we may need to figuratively nail a thesis on fellow American Christian citizens who've lost their way. They have forgotten altogether what Christ taught while forcing on us their corrupt vision of a white Christian nation. If a nation is truly Christian, it's not identified as white; the supremacy of whiteness is not what Christ taught. It's certainly not what I was taught."
Catholic catechism shaped values and morals and underpinned a Democratic identity. The Church's increasing alignment with Christian fundamentalism and right-wing politics led to a sense of abandonment when the Church prioritized anti-abortion efforts and political ideology over Christ's teachings. Many Christians have adopted a vision of a white Christian nation that contradicts teachings to love God and neighbor and to regard fellow humans as God's handiwork. Matthew 22:35-39 teaches loving God with all heart, soul, and mind and loving neighbor as oneself, implying that loving God entails loving his works and people.
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