I will not treat people that way

I have read Dobson.
I have heard Gothard.
I have listened to Driscoll.
I know the arguments.
I know the verses.
I know the script.

You think I walked away because I never understood.
You think one more debate will finally open my eyes.
But I did understand.
That is exactly why I left.

I will not treat people that way.
Not in the name of truth.
Not in the name of love.
Not for any promised reward.

I have seen your women shrink into themselves.
Always fearing they were never enough.
Always apologizing for existing.
Then searching for relief in another prescription, another pill, another fragile smile.

I have seen your signs.
I have heard your chants.
I have watched your slogans march across every screen.
I have also heard your children whisper.
I cannot wait to leave.
I hate what this has become.

I will not treat people that way.
Not in the name of truth.
Not in the name of love.
Not for any promised reward.

I have seen your leaders.
Your holiest men.
Your defenders of righteousness.
Some carried away in handcuffs for sins too terrible to speak.
Others protected because the institution mattered more than the wounded.

I have watched you trade compassion for certainty.
I have watched mercy bow before doctrine.
I have watched people become projects instead of neighbors.

I have heard ancient curses spoken over modern people.
Warnings meant for another land, another nation, another age.
Forced into battles they were never written to fight.

I will not treat people that way.
Not in the name of truth.
Not in the name of love.
Not for any promised reward.

I have watched you call cruelty faithfulness.
I have watched you call exclusion holiness.
I have watched you call suspicion discernment.
I have watched you call simple kindness compromise.

I have watched you clutch your wealth while speaking of sacrifice.
I have watched you defend power while preaching humility.
You remind me less of prophets and more of dragons.
More like Smaug counting gold than holy men of old.

I have watched every scandal become someone else's fault.
The victim lacked forgiveness.
The doubter lacked faith.
The outsider lacked understanding.
The system was never allowed to be questioned.

I will not treat people that way.
Not in the name of truth.
Not in the name of love.
Not for any promised reward.

You can keep your certainty.
You can keep your arguments.
You can keep your endless debates.
I am done trying to win.

When every sermon has been preached.
When every proof text has been quoted.
When every defense has been spoken.
One sentence remains.

I will not treat people that way.