Most of the life-changing discoveries I have made as a transgender woman have related to the differences between experiencing life as a man and as a woman.  Those differences have been the subject of my TED Talks and two chapters of my memoir,  As A Woman – What I Learned About Power, Sex, and the Patriarchy After I Transitioned.  But not all of the differences relate to gender. One of the biggest discoveries is something I did not anticipate.

Until I left, I had no idea how isolated evangelicalism had become from mainstream America. Almost all of my life as a man was spent within an evangelical bubble. Even when I was doing work not associated with the church, most of my co-workers were evangelical Christians. Until I transitioned, I had no idea just how insular that bubble is, or how small that bubble is becoming.

As I wrote in my last blog, the number of Americans who identify with a specific religion has dropped from 70 percent in 2000 to 47 percent today. One of the major reasons is the intolerance exhibited by the conservative forms of the desert religions. In the United States, the major conservative religious group is evangelical Christians, and they are very unaccepting of outsiders.

Only two groups have personally opposed me as a transgender woman.  They are evangelical Christians and right-wing extremists.  Unfortunately, they are often one and the same.  Most of the rest of the world basically shrugs when they learn I am transgender. It’s just not a big deal anymore. But don’t tell that to the legislators in Arkansas, who just voted to override a bill vetoed by their governor that stops healthcare providers from giving life-saving hormonal treatment to transgender adolescents, including the over 200 who were already receiving treatment.  The legislature passed the law on the grounds that hormonal therapy is not reversible.  Except that it is!  Puberty blockers are reversible.  Congratulations Arkansas!  You’ve just solved a problem that does not exist and replaced it with a problem that could cost vulnerable adolescents their lives.  At the very least it will require them to go out of state to continue the treatment they have already begun.

Similar legislation is pending in almost thirty states, almost all in the south or southwest.  Twelve bills restricting transgender rights are pending in Texas alone. Why are these bills so popular in these states?  Because that’s where the evangelicals live, and evangelicals feel threatened. As our nation becomes more diverse, evangelicals are becoming more marginalized. Concentrated in the south, southwest, and rural Midwest, they have joined together to fight for their particular brand of anti-LGBTQ+ bias.

Whenever I speak at a conference or corporation, we always end with a robust Q&A in which I encourage the audience to ask any question they want to ask.  Almost every time someone asks, “How can you be in the church when the church has treated you so horribly?”  I always answer by saying there are expressions of the Christian faith more generous than evangelicalism, and they are thriving.  They meet the needs of the oppressed, serve the poor, support immigrants, and work to right the wrongs of centuries of smug patriarchal Christianity.  I am thrilled to serve as a pastor at one such church – Left Hand Church, in Boulder County, Colorado.

As for the new law in Arkansas, it’s just one more reminder why I avoid spending much time in any of the states in which anti-transgender legislation is pending.  I have to think about these things.  They are places in which my life could be in danger. The fact that the danger comes from those who identify as evangelical Christians remains mind-boggling to me.  These people were once my friends and family.

I understand the fear that has created this environment.  Conservative White Americans are frightened of losing their influence.  But to pick on one of the most vulnerable people groups in the world, transgender children, is nothing but bullying, pure and simple.  It is leveraging what little power they have remaining to deny civil rights to vulnerable children.

I am angry, and I will do everything in my power to stop these proposals from being enacted into law.  Where they have already become laws, I will do whatever it takes to get them reversed. I still desperately hope the words of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin prove to be true, and I want to do everything in my power to make certain we get there before it is too late:

Someday, after mastering the wind, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.

No surprise here, but Americans have stopped going to church.  For decades, religious affiliation was steady in the United States.  As recently as 2000, 70 percent of Americans were members of a church, synagogue, or mosque.  A study released by the Gallup organization found that since 2000, that number has dropped precipitously.  For the first time in the history of our nation, fewer than half (47 percent) of Americans identify as members of a religious body.

 

US Church membership was at 73 percent when the Gallup organization first measured it in 1937 and remained near 70 percent for six decades.  When you look at the numbers by age group, the downward trend is even more significant. Sixty-six percent of the Builder generation, those born before 1946, are members of a religious body.  Fifty-eight percent of Baby Boomers belong to a church, synagogue, or mosque.  Only 50 percent of Generation X go to church, and 36 percent of Millennials.  Gen Z is showing about the same rates as Millennials.

The decline is twice as bad among Catholics. People have had it with the Catholic church’s refusal to deal with clergy abuse, not allowing women into the priesthood, and their opposition to gay marriage. The Catholic Church still has a lot of power, but the decline of its influence is monumental.

As for Protestantism, the problems are varied.  For the mainline Protestant church, their style of liturgy is one problem.  Excessive layers of denominational hierarchy are another. Not many Americans like formal, liturgical worship.  And when it comes to hierarchy, I sometimes wonder if the mainline denominations don’t have a death wish. 

Rejection of the LGBTQ+ community is the main area in which the evangelical church has gone wrong.  They continue to take a hard stand against us, even though over two-thirds of Americans are supportive of gay rights. 

The fact that evangelicals have sold their souls to Donald Trump has damaged them in ways they have yet to realize.  Three-quarters of evangelicals voted for Trump in the 2020 election. The majority were Boomers and Builders. Their children and grandchildren do not share their politics, nor in increasing numbers, their religion.  Progressive evangelical pastors see the handwriting on the wall, but their money doesn’t.  If they come out as LGBTQ affirming, they will lose people and income.  

Many evangelical pastors have decided to take a middle path, telling LGBTQ+ people that they welcome them, while going to great lengths to avoid telling them the real truth – that they will never lead a kindergarten class, let alone preach a sermon or be in a leadership position in the church.  And to be clear, that is true of the 100 largest evangelical churches in America – every single one of them.

Humans are inherently spiritual. It is baked into our DNA.  We want to work out the meaning of life in community.  We want to worship. We need communities of faith. Most of the post-evangelical churches I know are growing. Without the encumbrances of right wing politics and LGBTQ+ opposition, these churches are thriving.  

The current decline in religious affiliation was inevitable. But it does not mean the end of organized religion.  The church will adapt, become more holistic, more responsive to the community, and more redemptive.  There is much work to be done, but I believe in the church, and I want to be a part of its renewal. 

I love the church I serve, Left Hand Church.  Though we are only three years old, I believe we are an example of what the church can become.  The majority of our people and staff are Gen X and younger.  We embrace the uncertainties of life and faith and make room for people with divergent opinions.  We are distinctly Christian, but it’s Jesus we worship, not the book about him.

I feel good about the future of the church, and I’m particularly excited about the future of churches like Left Hand. We look forward to writing the next chapter of religion rising in America. As for the Americans who’ve stopped going to church, I do understand.  After I was ostracized from evangelicalism, I stopped attending for a couple of years. But the spiritual journey is best experienced in community.  I’m just sayin’.  

Easter Sunday might be a good time to give the church a chance.  If you’re in the vicinity of Boulder County, we welcome you to join us for an outdoor service at 11:15 on Easter morning at 9th and Francis in Longmont.  We’d love to see you. Click on the link below for details:

https://fb.me/e/2tDQgvHIN