Gaither Campaign for Rural America

“Tonight the (Madison) county board will be voting to appoint a proponent of “pray away the gay” Christian counseling to the county mental health board.”

– Madison County resident

This sort of ilk is why I got involved in politics at Rose-Hulman and in the Terre Haute community back in the 90s.

To stand up to bigotry and oppression in all its forms.

This is not the Christian faith I was raised to believe. 

There are some that strive to demonize, castigate, and perpetuate subclasses of humanity in order to raise their own stature above others. This behavior is the reason why children, adolescents, and adults are traumatized, roughed up, and killed. This behavior is why Ryan White was cast out of his home when he was suffering from HIV and AIDS.

There’s not one aspect of Jesus Christ, his compassion, the way he lived and certainly not the way he died that matches up with this style of virulent rhetoric.

We must stand up to this extremist version of Christianity because it’s not helping anyone. It’s dividing our communities when we should be coming together. Poverty is increasing. Hunger is increasing. What are we going to do about those issues?

Jesus reached out his hand to those in need, to those that society had cast aside, to those deemed undesirable and most vulnerable. Where has that brand of Christianity gone to in some American churches today? He lived and died to benefit the lives of all beings. Why aren’t we doing more to help others today?

That’s why I’m in this race, to do something about our common struggles. To stand up to the politics of division and hatred. 

Enough is Enough!