Written in response to the article "Belief In A World Of Doubt: Why This Progressive Believes In God" by Matthew White, which appeared in The Flip Side Volume 1, Issue 3 (November 26th - December 9th, 2003).

Matthew,

I am writing because I happen to be a progressive Christian as well, and here is my story.

I grew up in a home of atheist parents. As a way of rebelling, I studied the Bible and often cornered them into theological discussions. My parents, being of the hippie generation, often swayed me to be more interested in secular concerns and science.

When I was fifteen my mother suddenly became a born-again southern Baptist "Christian" and abandoned me. I went to live with her in Richmond, VA and found so much evil and hypocrisy surrounding the southern Baptist church that I eventually ran away from home.

For the next few years I totally rejected Christ and became involved in promiscuity and drug abuse. When I finally made it to college I began exploring other religions. And then last summer, as I was backpacking through Europe, I made a few startling observations that made me realize that Christianity is supposed to be liberal. In Wittenberg where the Reformation began, I learned how Martin Luther had also been a great socialist. In Denmark I found the grave of one of the most progressive and brilliant Christians who ever lived--Soren Kierkegaard.

Christianity seems right-wing today (specifically in America) because of windbags like Bush II. Well, now you know that you are not alone. We don't aggressively hand out bible tracks and make asses of ourselves like the more visible Christians do. We are different... We know the importance of faith, the power of prayer, and that Christianity is not a matter of "check yes or no." It has to be dark, bloody, ridden with anguish and ultimately satisfying to every human need. Jesus told us to go into our closets when we pray. Has this and so many other passages lost meaning because of some pointless bipartisan division?

And in closing: It is not our place to find fidelity between politics and religion. That is done by those who simultaneously thump bibles and wage war.