Was It Worth It? My Post-Election Prediction

This was my post on Facebook the day after The Narcissist Who Shall Not Be Named was elected. 

Since that time, me and my family have left both our long time church (for hate group related reasons) and Evangelicalism as a whole. We have not attended church since. I know of a number of others who have left. In many cases, we are those who have spent literally decades in dedicated service. The reasons we left our church were specific to that situation. The reason I am not inclined to try again is that politics have poisoned things, and the benefits do not seem worth the risk.

Actions - and votes - have consequences. I’ll be here (Lord willing and the creek don’t rise) to remind you all of that.

#wasitworthit?

#whitenationalismisnotachristianvalue

#socialdarwinismisnotachristianvalue

#misogynyisnotachristianvalue

#seriouslywasitworthit?

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If you want, here are my posts before and after the election. Sadly, it has become obvious that Le Toupee and the GOP were not joking when they promised to exclude immigrants and refugees, retaliate against civil rights protesters, gut healthcare for the poor and disabled, and generally implement the KKK platform of the 1920s.

Looking Away From An Assault: An Election Tale

Aftermath: A Way Forward For Those Of Us Who Still Believe In Basic Human Decency

And also:

Since When Is Exclusion of Immigrants a "Christian Dream"? 
Hate Groups And Why They Matter
Why Young People are Leaving Evangelicalism


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Update November 16, 2017:

Miguel de la Torre wrote this outstanding piece for Baptist News (of all the unlikely places.) I feel like I could have written it myself.

The Death of Christianity in the United States

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2018 update:

In just the last year, it has become even clearer that a major priority of white Evangelicals is to stop brown-skinned people from immigrating to the United States. Many people I know - and some I am related to - have lined up to defend even the most heinous of Trump's policies, including the separation of children from their parents (often permanently), stripping citizenship from US citizens if they can't prove that the midwife who delivered them didn't lie, and more. In short, Evangelicals seem determined to prove that they are the cruelest people in our nation. This makes me achingly sad.

Also: still haven't attended church since we left. 

Update 2024:

It has now been more than 7 years since or family participated in organized religion. Having spent this much time away, I understand that while there are things I miss, those things would no longer be there for me.

Most white “Christians” in this country are all-in on open fascism, and I cannot feel safe around people like that, so church is pretty much a non-possibility. At this point, I cannot envision a scenario that will bring our family back to church.

PRRI just released its 2023 survey, and religion – particularly white Christianity – continues to decline. “Unaffilliated” is now not merely the largest group, but larger than all white protestant groups combined.

Those two things are related: as white Christians see their power and privilege (and their right to abuse others in our culture) decline, they are lashing out in fury and hate and desperately seeking to restore their power. At the same time, their embrace of fascism drives more and more from their churches and religion.

2025 update:

 

Nearly 9 years since we left organized religion. And we are clearly not the only ones. The United States has had a precipitous decline in religion - and it really is the Trump Effect in action.  

 

Additional interesting information from the latest Pew survey:

While the decline among young people has leveled off for now (probably because most of the Trump Effect is already apparent) young people remain far less religious than even 10 years ago. The claims of a "revival" among young people isn't supported by the evidence. Furthermore, while the gender gap has narrowed - traditionally women are more religious than men - this isn't because men have become more religious, but because women have become less so. This is particularly apparent in young people.