I think of two people I’ve met, one born in a Mainline Protestant family in the United States, the other born in a Lutheran family in Germany. After learning the realities of Christian anti-Semitism, each felt that the most faithful and moral thing they could do was convert from Christianity to Judaism. One became a rabbi in the United States, the other, an activist in Israel. When their kind faces and thoughtful eyes come to mind, I feel a deep and complex irony: might it sometimes be necessary, to follow Jesus’ example of deep solidarity with the oppressed, to leave the religion associated with Jesus entirely? Might the most truly Christ-like choice be to disassociate with Christianity and associate with a religion that Christians have persecuted? Might the nonviolent example of Jesus require a true follower or friend of Jesus to defect from any religion with a long track record of doing violent harm in Jesus’ name? No morally serious person can minimize the gravity of these questions.
From “Do I Stay Christian: A Guide for the Doubters, the Disappointed, and the Disillusioned” by Brian McLaren
