OurLadyJ

palin’s church

September 24, 2008 on 3:48 am | In queer, politico |

I’m on my way to sleep

but thought i’d check in first…

i’ve never felt so blessed to have had my particular upbringing than i do now.

a cavalcade of religious monstrosities pelted at me

day after day

week after week

year after year.

it gave me the tools to survive any weather

and to understand the current political climate.

sarah palin is a member of the assembly of god church,

the church of my own upbringing.

my parents, brothers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins

are all “upstanding” members of the church.

i’m pretty sure they’ve dropped my membership by now.

and in this church, here are some things I learned:

i learned to identify the ways of the world community

(the UN was considered a nation constructed by the ‘evil’ world),

and to identify this world community’s ideals as “other than” or “wrong.”

i learned to be ready for a spiritual war that was brewing,

a war that would come soon and one that we would lead.

they taught me to be ready to die for the church,

to kill for the church,

and to teach others to do the same.

i was taught to not question authority.

i was taught that the gay community is to blame for AIDS.

i was taught that condoms don’t work.

in my early teens, the entire youth group was brought up onto the platform (stage)

and persuaded (forced) to sign a contract with god,

stating that we would save ourselves for marriage.

my sex was exploited. my life was expendable. my identity was raped.

in this church, i learned to hate my queer-self along with the world around me.

fast-forward through years of great friendships, wonderful support groups, an amazing therapist

and a career that’s allowed me to see the world for it’s diverse beauties…

now i can say i love who i am, and i love the world around me.

but what about those who weren’t able to escape

the pelting cavalcade of religious monstrosities

know as the ‘assembly of god’ church?

what about those who fit into the tidy teachings of their ‘conservative values’?

sarah palin seems to have gone from one of their victims to one of their leaders,

as most abuse cycles turn-out.

a woman who will unleash this mental un-health onto the rest of the nation

if she gets into office.

god, assembly or not… help us all.