This will be an incredibly vulnerable and raw blog…discretion is advised.

I grew up in a religious household…extremely religious. We’d have to wear skirts over our pants (now that’s a look). We couldn’t wear earrings, makeup, nail polish, or cut our hair (which is why I love short hair).

Our little Pentecostal bubble was strong in numbers. My oldest siblings had it worse than me. By the time my brother Joey and I came along, my parents had eased up on the religious rhetoric, and I was allowed to pierce my ears and paint my nails by the time I was 17 years old. Yet, there was still a very clear understanding of them vs. us in our religious home. We were supposed to be different. However, the only difference I saw was in our attire because the secrets we kept and the behavior I witnessed had nothing to do with who Christ was asking us to be.

So, therein lies the rub.

With time and a lot of life’s heartache, I witnessed my mother become a gentle, accepting, and kind soul. She accepted in others what she knew she could not change. She loved with a fierce love in her later years. She had recognized that her harsh judgment of others was unacceptable when the rejection of those she loved the most became evident.

She changed.

I, unfortunately, took on her self-righteous tutelage and ran with it to a crippling fault. I judged those who were different and didn’t even offer them a seat at the table. Until I, too, began to see the world differently. I, too, saw brokenness that was not reparable by hate, judgment, and admonition. I, too, needed to accept what I could not change.

I changed.

With that knowledge, I still sat with folks who were participants in my religious ideology but did not live a life reflective of those ideals. You see, they cheat, lie, gossip about each other, have affairs, have abortions, steal from the government, are addicted to pornography, lie, abuse alcohol, use drugs, will not sit with folks who are not like them and refuse to forgive.

These are the same people who go to church on Sunday in hopes that their hearts, minds, and souls will be cleansed by the “religious” attendance instead of experiencing a “spiritual transformation.” There’s a word for “hypocrites” and even a greater one, “Pharisees.”

Why is this the case? Because allowing yourself to be transformed and renewed will cost too much of your self-will. Each time I sit with them, it costs me because “What would Jesus Do?”

Yet, in this climate of political unrest, folks have chosen to look away from themselves and towards a human savior. I said it once, and I’ll say it again. What you worship is what you will become.

So, if this blog offends you, that’s precisely its’ intention. To awaken your heart to compassion for those who are NOT like you.

What has offended me the most in this last week is not that the Presidential candidate of my choice lost but the behavior of those who have weaponized scripture, judgment, and hateful words when the “others” grieve due to their disappointment.

This is a direct quote from a DM I received from a Christian family member who was offended by my post.

All your posts.. are hypocritical and judgmental… respectfully….. God allowed this for a reason.. how and who are you to judge because we view and vote differently..  what happened to love thy neighbor as he has loved.. I guess that only applies if someone agrees with you and your views… sorry Annette.. I will respectfully disagree and unfollow… your judgement of others is way too much… god bless 🙏🏼

What I know for sure is I can keep your secrets, but what I won’t keep are your moral unconscious or conscious rhetoric and disrespectful behavior. I have had enough of the “Christians” who choose to weaponize the loving, kind, inclusive faith that I have grown to embrace and love. I refuse to embrace this ideology, and I refuse to accept that this is what Jesus Christ died for.

For every scripture you recite to defend the indefensible, there is another to contradict that posture. This is not what we are called to do. And for anyone that stands in that truth, you’re mistaken.

In 2020, I wrote the following: Test the spirit, feed the poor, care for the widow, welcome the alien, and love one another. Be careful what you fight for, what you die for, and what you stand for!

I have been here before; this is not my first rodeo with family berating my opinion, but that’s the beauty of the First Amendment: Free speech.

The difference is I will demand respect.