I just watched the below link about a woman and her family screaming through Target with a Bible in her hand about the new bathroom policies. Take a minute and watch the video.

Woman with Bible protests against Target’s new bathroom policy

I then read an article by a publication that I have an immense amount of respect for, Scary Mommy, titled “Mom Marches Through Target Spewing Hate with Her Kids In Two, Because Bathrooms”

Mom Marches Through Target Spewing Hate With Her Kids In Tow, Because Bathrooms

outlining the the incident and how this woman is supposedly trying to represent “what’s good in society” and how instead of spreading love and acceptance she is spreading evil. The author of the article was absolutely correct. The woman was spreading nothing but evil that day at Target. I am ashamed that she calls herself a Christian.

As I read the comments to the above Scary Mommy article my heart sank. Most of the comments were disgust towards this woman and her actions in general (obviously) but a few were directed at Christians. When a woman with such ignorance and closed mindedness uses the Bible as a weapon and platform for bullying and hateful rhetoric in a public arena like Target, how is it supposed to make Christians look? I am left speechless. People are right to think poorly of Christians. How can they not? This is what they are seeing in the world. It’s bullying. And I don’t use that word flippantly.

For some reason I felt compelled to write something about this video. The issue weighed heavy on my heart last night. Something has gotten very lost in translation about my religion. Although I don’t think I will be the one to clear up the awful stereotype that this woman has further fueled, I wanted to give some perspective from a Christian who doesn’t support or agree with such acts of hate and discrimination in any way, shape or form.

Here is my response to the video of this “woman” who stepped into Target with her Bible in hand and her fear mongering tactics:

Your little rant at Target did nothing that day except further divide society and make Christians look uneducated, insensitive and downright insane. Was anyone influenced or changed by your display of discrimination and hatred toward a sector of people? Did Target consider changing their “bathroom policy” because of your outrage and disgust? The answer in NO. All you did was create a juicy story that left Christians looking asinine.

I want to be clear that whatever she was preaching is not in alignment with the teachings of the Bible. If you are hurting and alienating people in the process of spreading the gospel, you are NOT doing your job right as a Christian. Instead of uniting, you are causing further division, plain and simple.

It’s our job as Christians to bring people to Christ and I can assure you that anyone who was at Target that day left thinking we are all batsh*t crazy.  I just want everyone to keep in mind that her agenda is not driven by Christianity, it’s driven by fear. Fear is a very powerful emotion and it often tricks someone into thinking they are doing the right thing when in actuality it is the furthest thing from the truth. I am not defending this lady, there is no excuse for this sort of behavior. I want to emphasize that she is one person and hardly a good representation of Christianity as a whole.

I am not here to preach. It is certainly NOT my style. I can tell you how the Lord has changed my life BUT only if you ask. I am here to tell you that God loves us no matter who we are or what we have done. Christianity is the only religion whose philosophy is “come as you are.” Christians aren’t here to judge and belittle you. They are supposed to make you feel welcomed and invited not alienated and shamed.

I will be honest, I have many mixed feelings about Target’s new bathroom policy. I have many mixed feeling about all that is in the news related to Transgenders in general but at the end of the day, who am I to even have an opinion on someone’s else’s struggles with identity? I am not God. If my child came to me and said he could not live another day in his body the way it was I would be devastated. Not because of his choice but because of the pain he must be enduring. I think that as a Mom all we really want to do is shield our child from unnecessary pain and heartache.

Life is hard enough as it is. It is a very cruel and scary world that we live in. It’s hard to just exist with one and other under normal circumstances. I don’t think any of us, Christians or not, should be shaming others for their choices. There has to be another way to deal with our difference in opinions. If you don’t agree with something, then don’t be part of it. It’s very black and white to me.

If you don’t want to shop there then that is your choice. As for me, I will continue to shop at Target because after all, it’s my life line and my source of solitude. I have and will always escort my child to the bathroom. Nothing is changing for us. It’s business as usual. If I see a “woman,” talking nonsense and waiving her Bible around, I will tell her to kindly take her crazy elsewhere.

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