Writer’s note and TW : It took me most of the afternoon and evening to write this post. There’s so much I wanted to write, but I found myself deviating from the core topic, since the current events I’m referring to have multiple topics interwoven. So to avoid this post becoming dissertation-length, I’ve tried to keep it to my regular post length. I talk about religion and religious extremism, and their involvement in current events. Please protect your mental health. Being a person of faith, and being LGBTQ+, I firmly denounce extremism, homophobia, theocracy, hate etc. in all their forms, and I am a firm believer that freedom of religion also means freedom from religion.

Today marks Good Friday, when Christians around the world observe the suffering, crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ. Good Friday marks the first of three days leading to Easter Sunday, where Christ’s resurrection is celebrated (and we all enjoy unhealthy amounts of chocolate, Christian and non-Christian alike!)

In light of wanting to post regularly again, I’ve been thinking about what’s on my mind lately. Seeing the news, to say I don’t know where to start would be an understatement. But in conjunction with my thoughts on current affairs, and as a practising Christian, contemplating Jesus’s journey to the cross during Lent, there is so much on my mind. I’ll try to make this post as concise as I can without deviating too much. The crux of what I want to say is this: It is paramount for as many voices as possible to speak up against the cruelty we are seeing in the world.

For a long time, I’ve been outspoken about my views on Donald Trump and his colleagues. I have been ever since he first ran for office and ran his mouth with falsehoods, branding Mexicans “rapists” (awfully rich of him, given what we know now). This will not change. Over the years, he’s gone on to spew some of the most disgusting rhetoric I never thought I would hear again outside of a WW2 documentary, where we’ve all seen clips of Hitler and his cronies spout the same hatred. If you’ve followed my writing for a while, you’ll know I’ve said numerous times that if he became President (and prior to the 2024 election, if he became President again), the fascism we learned about in history class would crash-land into the world’s most powerful leadership.

Not to be the person who says “I told you so”, but to my horror, I fear my concerns are correct.

It’s difficult not to lose faith in humanity. Especially so when seeing so many supporting people who offer a repackaged, rebranded version of past regimes I hoped would be left to history, hoping we’d learned the sobering lessons that hate comes with devastating, irreparable costs. And with a theocratic angle playing a massive part in this with Project 2025 (which is, in my opinion, nothing short of a Christofascist manifesto), along with a tech bro class that almost resembles an oligarchy, we can’t beat around the bush, downplay or sanitise what it is. There are chilling parallels to the 1930s. It is fascism, plain and simple.

I’m horrified by the treatment of people who are getting deported without due process (I’m not American, and even I know that’s completely unconstitutional) to prisons in El Salvador that are being described as camps. A President (who to note, is a 34-time convicted felon and proven in civil court to be liable for sexual abuse) who is more than happy to send his own citizens to these places, referring to US citizens as “homegrowns.” People coming out to say they’ve been told in group therapy sessions that confidentiality can no longer be guaranteed, as the government is now monitoring what is being said, lest something unfavourable is said about them. Where authorities have been given the green light to raid churches, schools, temples, and other places that are considered safe havens. Universities are being threatened with financial cuts if they don’t pull programs that are meant to aid in diversity. Dismantling education and denouncing critical thinking. Berating journalists for simply doing their job.

The suffering of those who are being marginalised, many of whom have been  under laws put into place years ago to just recently, (anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ+, among many others) I fear is falling on deaf ears. I fear people simply don’t care as long as it doesn’t directly affect them. It reminds me of Martin Niemöller’s famous poem “First They Came”. And for a chunk of supporters, they state that it’s in the name of Jesus, and treat the current President as a new messiah figure.

I think about the suffering on the cross, and I think of the suffering of countless around the world, as a result of tyranny, war and hardships. I think of the apathy and desensitisation to suffering that’s become so normal with doom scrolling, and how casually cruel people can be to each other.

I think of how Jesus helped those who were marginalised, poor, and sick, and how we’re called to do the same. How as a Christian, I’m called to welcome the foreigner and treat them as if they are my own family. And then I see the opposite. Given how so many horrendous acts have been done in the name of my faith (all of which I’m disgusted by), I shouldn’t be surprised by the rise in Christian Nationalism. There’s always that one person who thinks they’re holier-than-thou, right?

Yet I never cease to be surprised. I just don’t understand how something so clear (I mean, “love thy neighbour” can’t be said any clearer, surely) can be interpreted as the complete opposite. And while I understand people trying to distance themselves from this, saying they “are not real Christians”, they are Christian and it is extreme, interweaving with a cult-of-personality over a political figure parading himself as a god-like strongman. It’s still our responsibility to make sure we call out extremism wherever we see it. It’s on us to counter it, otherwise, we’re just another bystander. This isn’t a case of modern vs traditional, this denomination vs. that denomination. It’s a case of right vs wrong.

Christian or not, religious or not, it’s just basic human decency. We don’t treat people like this. Marginalising people because of their skin colour, or immigration status, or sexual orientation etc. is wrong. Deporting people to prison camps, especially with no due process, is wrong. Robbing people of their right to healthcare and, as a result, countless pregnant people dying, is wrong. All of it is wrong. It’s inhumane and cruel at the absolute minimum.

You may have seen the words “toxic empathy” or “the sin of empathy” touted by some commentators of the Christian and/or MAGA variety (usually both). Just FYI, empathy is not a sin. Empathy’s kind of the whole point. Helping the marginalized, sick, poor, refugees etc. requires empathy. And I’ve seen this “toxic/sin of empathy” train of thought adjacent to some Christian Nationalists denouncing Jesus (who, by the way, was a refugee as a child in the flight to Egypt) altogether, branding Him and the Gospels as “woke” and “weak”. Along with an Episcopal Bishop being attacked by the administration and their supporters, because they dared to ask them to show mercy to rightly frightened people. Because they dared to preach the Gospel in their own church.

I guess in many ways, that says everything. Replacing a time-tested message with the proverbial golden calf.

Which is why it is paramount, now more than ever, but especially going forward, for this to be denounced and for targeted people to be helped. While it may sound cheesy or cliché to say that love is the force against hate, it is certainly a better alternative. You don’t need to move mountains to make a difference.

Comforting someone who is suffering is an act of love. Giving a homeless person something to eat, to drink, and something warm, giving them resources to get help, is an act of love. Taking a refugee fleeing war into your home is an act of love. Advocating for social justice is an act of love.

And tyranny despises love, mercy, kindness, any sort of human decency.

And in the face of hate and tyranny, any tyranny, love becomes an act of resistance. This is what I keep trying to remind myself. In the face of the regular church in-fighting over the best way to receive communion at best to extremism at worst, I’m trying to remember the core message of a faith I love and the non-religious values most of us are raised with: Try your best to do good. Nobody’s perfect, but try your best.

That and “look for the helpers” from Mr. Rogers (I didn’t grow up watching him, since I’m British. But from what I’ve seen of him, no wonder he’s seen as a national treasure!).

Don’t just look for the helpers. Be a helper.

Stay safe, everyone ❤

• Image credit – Pixabay