This diary has been stirring in me for a long time, and it’s time I put it out there. It may possibly be one of the last things I write on this site. Call it a pre-GBCW diary.
I "came out" to this community back in the fall of 2008 as an Evangelical, Pentecostal, tongue-talking Christian who also was an Obama supporter/Democrat. It was not too long before the election, and the conventional wisdom during this time was that most of the folks like me were squarely in the McCain camp. I came out to dispel that notion. I took a risk. I had lurked for a long time and knew that being a fundamental, evangelical Christian would not win me a "miss popularity" prize. But I felt it important to give voice to my situation. I was warmly welcomed by many of you here. Some of you were, shall we say, "less than welcoming", but many of you rallied to defend my existence as both a member of this community and the Party. There was lots of "This is a big tent...all are welcome here" talk back then.
Well, that was then...
But Now? Well, the DKos community is showing its true feelings. What some of you have said here over the last few months about Fundamental, Evangelical Christians and our beliefs has been all manner of mean-spirited, condescending, hateful, and hurtful. I am going to resist my urge to call-out specific diaries and specific comments. Frankly I don’t think I need to offer up "hard evidence". Go to any diary that references Teabaggers, Glenn Beck, Michelle Bachmann, or Evolution. My chest tightens every time I wade into one of these diaries. I swallow hard when I read the comments. You know the one’s right? Comments that refer to Christians like me as varying degrees of crazy, fanatical, stupid, lazy, "living in a dreamworld", unintelligent, un-evolved – well, you get the point. If you were to change the "context" of your comments and, let’s just say, they were dropped into a diary about Black folks, oh the outrage that would ensue! But it’s not Black folks. It’s Evangelical Christians. And it seems that "Evangelical Christian Bashing" is so "IN" this season!
Now, I completely understand that there are some crazy folks out there with the same beliefs as me. The aforementioned Mr. Beck and Ms. Bachmann immediately come to mind, but we all know there are more (Ms. Palin, of course). But you know what? I’m also a Black woman. And I have some CRAZY sistahs out there! They say and do things that make me cringe! (yes my dear Frankie and Neffie. I’m looking at you two, my sistahs!) Sometimes I just want to slap them silly! But at the end of the day, I realize this important point: I’m still a proud Black Woman IN SPITE of my crazy sisters! There actions don’t diminish me. The antics of the "crazy wing" of my faith are not a "faith" error, but a personal character error. As much as many here would like to blame the belief in the Holy Scriptures and the tenets of the Christian faith as the reason these people do the things they do, it simply isn’t true. My beliefs are pretty much the same as theirs, yet I’m not a teabagger or a conservative right wing crazy. I’m a Democrat.
Goodness, this reminds me of when I was in middle school and was bussed out to the White school across town during the desegration days. Because many of the images of Black folks portrayed on television were largely degrading and stereotypical, we constantly felt like we had to explain how we were different from those images. There was always this pressure to "prove the stereotype" wrong. Alas, here I am going through the same thing again.
I can hear the blowback already. "You can’t compare being Black with being a Christian!" Sure I can. This is probably what so many people do not understand. My faith is JUST as much a part of me as my race. Both heavily inform my worldview. They are what make "me" me. I can’t separate them. Some of you would never in a million years call me a "shiftless pick-a-ninny". Yet you see no problem with calling me a "fundigelical asshat". Most of you know that the old racist belief that Black people were intellectually inferior is patently false, yet because believe the world was made in 7 days, you look down your nose at me and applaud your "higher evolved" selves.
So, at the end of the day, I have to ask:
Am I and other Fundamental Evangelical Christians who consider themselves Democrats (and there are many) welcome here at DKos or not? Not "tolerated" here, but "welcomed" here?
Yes, I take the scriptures literally (and know when scriptures are metaphorical). Yes, I believe in Intelligent Design. Yes, I believe in the rapture? No, I don’t believe in evolution. Can I be respected for my beliefs as I respect you for yours?
Will this community repudiate Christian Bashing or continue to not only tolerate it, but embrace it, stoke it, and herald it?
I don’t ask you to believe what I believe. I rarely wade into theological discussion on this site. I don’t feel the need to "substantiate" why I believe what I believe. I will never proselytize here.
Am I welcome here or not?
Thanks for listening.