In light of the cover story of this particular issue of Watermark, I felt compelled to share my absolute disdain for organized religion as a whole and for Christianity in particular. However, despite my being an out and proud atheist, there are still some mainstream churches for which I have long had tremendous respect.
High atop that list is our local St. Luke’s of which I am grateful for its existence, its leadership and its consistent message of inclusiveness which was evidenced in meaningful ways far in advance of that which now appears to be gaining traction with the United Methodist Church General Conference.
St. Luke’s was at the forefront of providing funds for AIDS service organizations while almost every other religious institution in our area was paralyzed in fear and whose clergy preached condemnation rather than compassion. St Luke’s has a history of embracing diversity and providing support and social services for virtually all “God’s children” regardless of how disenfranchised and maligned those individuals may have been by others among their own denomination’s conference in the past, by other churches and indeed by the state of Florida. But unfortunately, St. Luke’s has also long been a nearly lone exception to the norm.
I have said it many times before and I’ll say it again: I truly believe that organized religion on the whole — and most especially Christianity in particular — has proved to be the most destructive force on the face of the planet.
Think about it, the most heinous crimes against humanity have been perpetrated in the name of religion by persons and/or organizations believing they were doing the work of their particular God. From the bloody crusades to the Spanish inquisition. From the burning at the stake of accused “heretics” and “blasphemers” in the world of olde to the burning of suspected witches in the new world. The men who flew those jets into the World Trade Center did so in name of their God and as a perceived dictate of their fervently-held religious beliefs. And never mind the Quran, the Bible has been weaponized and used to incite the most non-Christian atrocities almost from the very time of its inception. The Bible has been interpreted to justify the oppression of women, the enslavement of entire races of people and is currently being held up as the impetus for and justification of white supremacy, hatred for and violence against Jews and the total degradation of queer and especially trans individuals.
I understand the seemingly innate need of humans to believe in a deity. The practice seems to have been around in one way or another almost since the beginning of recorded history. It seems that from the moment our brains evolved to the point of reasoning, we as Homo sapiens became fearful of the unknown — a penchant that remains painfully prevalent today (made even worse by willful ignorance) and when we could not make sense of something (of anything, really) we invented Gods to provide the answers, or at least the reason for every single thing that occurred in nature here on earth, and especially in the skies above.
There came a time when such beliefs were abandoned by our more evolved, increasingly intelligent selves, and most of those Gods were relegated to the categories of mythology or superstition. Then somehow, we reached a plateau in our progression. I believe that through some unfortunate glitch in our evolutionary process we became stunted in our mental growth and we as a species never fully shed that need to have a belief in a being greater than ourselves so that whenever anything happened which seemed beyond our control we could convince ourselves that no matter how devastating, no matter how dire the situation or occurrence, we could comfort ourselves by telling ourselves that “It’s all part of God’s plan” or that “It’s one of the mysteries of our faith.”
I cannot find the logic in the abandonment of only some Gods while still clinging to the belief in another. I certainly cannot make sense of those who dismiss the beliefs of, and totally disregard the Gods of, any and every religion accept those of their own, when virtually everyone who subscribes to a religion blindly — or “by faith” — believes theirs to be the one and only true religion and believes theirs to be the one and only true God. To me, that makes absolutely no sense.
Still, I respect the right of all people to believe as they choose and to practice any religion to which they care to subscribe, regardless of how unenlightened and silly I consider those practices to be. What I cannot respect is the propensity for the religious among us to insist that others must live according to the dictates of their chosen faith. I find this current fervor for Christian Nationalism among the far-right wing of the Republican party, and most especially among evangelical Christians specifically, to be the single most disturbing and horrific movement currently afoot in this country.
No matter how vehemently you may disagree with anything I’ve expressed here you can mark my words on this: If Donald Trump becomes president in 2025 we will not only see the complete failure of the American experiment — that being our very democracy — but we WILL end up living in a country with a state religion dominated by Christian fanatics of the most extreme and hateful ilk, and we as queer and trans folk, and those Jewish individuals and any non-Christian among us, will be criminalized into a nonhuman existence, or possibly even exterminated.
I truly, truly believe this to be true.
As such, I am begging you to please make sure you are registered to vote, and please vote Democrat down the entire ticket come November. If you need something to believe in, please believe that your very life depends on your doing so.
Michael Wanzie is an Orlando-based playwright, actor and ordained minister. He is most recognized for his direction of productions in the Central Florida area.
