<<ADDRESS REMOVED>>

Longmont, CO 80504

24 February 2010

 

 

Tomball Church of Christ

29510 Tomball Parkway

Tomball, TX 77375

To Whom It May Concern:

 

            My name is Jessica E. Sideways, and I was born to a parent who had the cruelty and malice to name me as <<OLD NAME REMOVED>>. I was baptized in the Tomball Church of Christ in front of the entire congregation by the Youth Minister in October 2003 (I think). Since then, I have entered Religious Education from a Christian spin at the Alberta Bible College in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. I left Alberta Bible College both willingly and by force of the administration and after a lot of introspection, I have become an atheist. I now live in Longmont, Colorado and have successfully completed transsexual transition, which immediately puts me in opposition to many bigoted Christian views. I have also espoused many humanitarian views such as support of same-sex marriage and pro-choice causes and am a proud member of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

 

            I have also insulted, slurred and denied the Holy Spirit on a regular basis and continue to do so. This is considered to be the one unforgivable sin according to the Christian religion so any further prostelytizing and harassment would not be welcomed nor treated with any response other than intervention with the police. However, I would like to have my name removed from the member rolls as I (1) renounce my baptism and have done so in a de-baptism ceremony and (2) I now espouse beliefs which are not in line with Christian beliefs and I will continue to blaspheme and encourage other sins, or more aptly put, thought crimes. I will continue to drive people towards beliefs and ideals which are provable with hard core, tangible evidence rather than superstition. I do believe that it is possible to be spiritual without believing in the magic hocus pocus of the Christian religion. Therefore, I ask that my name be taken off of the member rolls of Tomball Church of Christ, that I receive confirmation of said request and I will post this letter, with small alterations to remove my old name on my public website, which can be found at http://jessicasideways.com.

 

Warmly,

 

 

Rev. Jessica E. Sideways

First Church of Atheism

Student – Naropa University