Gaslighting Us All to Death

I have been told
time and time again
that because I am a person who follows Jesus

I should either have no political views

or they should comport to a narrow bandwidth of opinions 

supported by a mere handful of biblical references.

I have been told

time and time again

that because I am a woman

my value to society is less - 

67 percent, on average - 

and that one day my husband will be able to get me under control.

They say if I just take the bible seriously

it will all become clear.

I have been told

time and time again

that heaven is for those who claim Jesus

and hell is for those who don't

and that I should spend more time

learning about substitutionary atonement

and wait for the Rapture to save us from the wrath to come.

I have been told

time and time again

that there is a small corpus of writers 

who I'm allowed to read and teach

and that any book

or quote

or author

who deviates from "the way it's always been"

will only lead people astray.

And to all of this I say,
"Stop gaslighting me."

Stop trying to make me feel guilty for having questions 

about why the world is the way it is.

Stop trying to make me feel crazy when I see the world in a different way...

one that respects the rights of people

to control their own bodies

to marry the person they love

to have all people enjoy the same protection under the law

to wear a mask in public and stay home when it feels best.

Stop trying to make me unbelieve the things that God has shown me

through my own study and living in the Word - 

that loving God and loving people is the most important thing

that compromise is a biblical principal

that sometimes the answers to our questions only come after the pain

that selling out to power by our leaders will drag us all under.

Jesus came not just to save humankind, but the whole creation.

It's the reason I can believe in the story of creation 

and the reality of climate science.

It's the reason that I can love the people who think like me 

and the ones who don't

It's the reason I can find joy in my mother's good health 

even though I'm not sure she remembers who I am

It's the reason I get up and start every day with a good cup of coffee

and not a flask of whiskey or something else to numb the pain 

I stand as a citizen of a particular country,

living abroad

listening to foreign news 

with the not-so-sudden realization

They are gaslighting us all to death.

And the only question left is

what am I going to do about it?

Deb Luther Teagan

(c) October 6, 2020