I’m Coming Out of the Christianity Closet

Last updated on: December 11, 2015 at 12:58 pm by Kerry Connelly

I’m Coming Out of the Christianity Closet 2015-12-11T12:58:21-04:00 Kerry Connelly

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This one’s a video, guys! If you can’t or don’t want to watch it, the transcript is below.

Hey guys, I’m Kerry. It’s no secret that I’m a Christian. Anyone who knows me for about 20 minutes knows that, and I am an unapologetic Jesus freak. I have been called an idiot for my faith, I have divided rooms by simply stating I am a Christian. I have been told to read more. We won’t even acknoweldge the trolls that are surely posting disgusting things on this recording as I speak.

But one thing I haven’t really done publicly is to merge my business with my faith. People told me I would lose business, and even I have struggled with whether I wanted to enter into the public sphere in a bigger way, and add my voice to the politically and religiously charged conversation. I write my blog, Jerseygirl, Jesus, and for the most part keep that very separate from my business, although I do only use the She’s ELEVATED handle for some of my social media.

I don’t seek to make anyone uncomfortable with my faith, but my faith isn’t going away. In fact, I thinks it more important than ever to claim it, despite how uncomfortable that might make me and you, because lately our nation’s rhetoric is terrifying me, and it’s being done in the name of Christianity.

There are bigger and better thought leaders out there in the world who are leading the charge against bigotry, hatred and now, even violence. People who have much larger platforms, more followers, more likes. Authors and theologians, Bible scholars and pastors. People like Nadia Bolz-Weber, Rachel Held Evans, and Brian McLaren, just to name a few, are calling out leaders like the president of Liberty University, Jerry Falwell, who as I’m sure you’ve heard, recently called his students to carry guns and teach Muslims a lesson. The extreme right-wing wants to classify me as a “lunatic liberal” who is apparently also a jihadist sympathizer because I have an issue Mr. Falwell’s statements. (You can click on a link in the transcript of this recording to read that little gem.)

I do have an issue with Mr. Falwell’s statements. And I have a really big problem with Mr. Trump’s recent statements. And I’ve realized that it is my responsibility, first as a Christian and secondly as an American to lend my voice to the thought leaders who are raising the alarm and say I agree. I need to lend my voice to theirs because a great many people are cheering for the Falwell’s and the Trumps, and by doing so, these people are cheering for violence and the foundation for another holocaust.

Forcing members of a different religion to wear identifying badges, fear mongering and calls for violence are not Christian, nor are they American. And it’s when lots of us come together — you and me, the people with not so many followers, not so many likes are willing to step up and out, and say, I am a Christian, and you do not represent me, that we can actually stop our nation from becoming the very thing we fear.

I’ve held back from being this vocal out of a fear of being seen. I’m not in the mood to deal with the trolls, to be called an idiot for my beliefs, or to piss people off. I’m really not in the mood to be the target of some of the absolutely disgusting things I’ve heard the people who disagree with me say. But I believe we have crossed a dangerous line, and when our children read about this time in history, I want them to be able to say, “My mom was on the right side. She chose peace. She chose God. She chose the higher road. She was part of the resistence. And she was part of a Macro-Miracle.”

So I wrote a blog post the other day, and I’m sharing it again here, in the transcript of this recording. I’m asking you to pray with me. Every day. The way Jesus would have done — the way he prayed for the people who persecuted him. So together with me, if you are the praying sort, I hope you’ll read the post, sign up for the newsletter, and join me in praying for serious change.

Thank you.

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