Subverting the Supremacy Stories

Another poll just came out about the effects of Trump on white evangelicalism. While half of Americans believe he hurt the credibility of the church, the poll also shows that not many fled the fold. In fact, there’s been an uptick of Trump supporters who now embrace the “evangelical” label. This makes sense to me. The certainty and supremacy are so seductive—and so persistent.

In America, there has always been an enormous, aggressive white audience that sanctifies its so-called “greatness” in a well-resourced religion that unequivocally proclaims that god is an authoritarian controlling the narrative, that non-believers will suffer eternal punishment in hell, that queer folk are sinners, that the bible is error-free and unquestionable, that (white) men are ordained to possess power, that America is innocent and great.

I exited this evangelical faith long before Trump came on the scene because the certainty and supremacy just weren’t jibing with the radical love and justice of Jesus. In fact, the more I studied the bible, the more I realized that it does not speak in one clear voice. It questions itself around every corner. Some stories feature a supremacist god of law and order. Other episodes script Something that shimmers on love and liberation.

I believe that spirituality is about subverting the supremacy stories that still dominate American society. They must be stripped of their power to counterfeit our souls. This is why I tread a biblical path illuminated by the love and liberation of Black church, radical Anabaptists, Celtic wonder, Indigenous wisdom, abolitionist sensibilities, family systems therapy and 12-step recovery. I know I need all this beauty, truth and goodness to get free.