I grew up as an indoctrinated Republican who believed with my whole (bless my) heart that Republicans were the true Christians and Democrats were godless.
I wrote an apology to Democrats in 2011 on my blog and voted Democrat for the first time in 2012.
So I understand the brainwashing. But I will never ever (ever) understand the cruelty and hate.
I was an ignorant Republican Christian but I was loving (as loving as you can be when you don’t realize your beliefs are actually harming people).
These days an ignorant, loving Republican seems rare. Most seem to be either ignorant and hateful or informed and hateful.
Or they don’t think racism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, and misogyny are hateful.
I want people to wake up to the truth. And I want everyone to flourish in freedom and wholeness. All of us.
Every day feels more and more impossible, but I will never give up.
Love,
Marla
Publisher's Note: You can read Marla Taviano's "an apology to Democrats (and Jesus)" in her book unbelieve.
you lied to me
hey pro-life politician
when given the opportunity
to truly care for life, to prevent
abortions even, you said
no, no, no, never, no
no support for single moms
no free birth control
no safety net
no affordable healthcare
no gun laws to protect kids in schools
no mercy for immigrants
no no no no no
you don’t care about life
you want to control people
you exploit the unborn
for your political agenda
you picked the most vulnerable,
helpless, the only literally
voiceless group there is
so you can win seats and
elections and money and power
I voted for you three times
and never ever again
one nation under god
the colonizers were christians
the scalpers were christians
the enslavers were christians
the rapists were christians
the confederate traitors were christians
the residential school teachers were christians
the KKK were christians
the lynchers were christians
the segregationists were christians
the war criminals were christians
the mass shooters were christians
the insurrectionists were christians
on evangelicals as the “persecuted minority”
human nature has us identifying with the bible’s
oppressed but an honest assessment shows we’re
actually the Egyptians / Babylonians / Romans
the story of US christianity is not one of persecution
no matter what we tell ourselves / it’s one of power
and wanting our religion to be the law of the land
“I’ll admit I was disappointed,” Rachel Held Evans
writes, “when I learned that something like
85 percent of Americans identify themselves
as Christians. Knowing you’re in the majority
makes the whole thing a lot less dramatic and sexy”
i.e. hate to break it to you but we’re the bad guys
All poems excerpted with permission. "you lied to me" is from jaded: a poetic reckoning with white evangelical christian indoctrination; "one nation under god" and "on evangelicals as the 'persecuted minority'" are from unbelieve: poems on the journey to becoming a heretic. Photo above by Cody Otto on Unsplash
Marla Taviano is into books, love, justice, globes, anti-racism, blue, gray, rainbows, and poems. She reads and writes for a living, wears her heart on her t-shirts, and is on a mission/quest/journey to live wholefarted (not a typo). She’s the author of unbelieve: poems on the journey to becoming a heretic, jaded: a poetic reckoning with white evangelical christian indoctrination, whole: poems on reclaiming the pieces of ourselves and creating something new, and other books. She lives in South Carolina with her awesome kids and adorable cats. Find out more at marlataviano.com.
