Despite what she calls Christianity’s “many, many flaws,” Martin likes and strongly identifies with the faith. “I’m happy to be able to raise my children with a form of Christianity that isn’t about who’s going to hell—which I don’t believe in—and teaches love as the most important commandment,” she says.
Martin tells Church Leaders that “belief in hell is not a mandate for Christianity,” pointing to a recent Pew Research study. “My Christianity isn’t defined by a need to watch others suffer eternal torment. It’s defined by the radical and unconditional love of Jesus Christ and pursuing justice in his name.”
When asked how (or if) she responds to critics, Martin says: “I don’t engage in passionate defenses of my Christianity, though I used to. There are Christians who behave in ways I wouldn’t consider Christ-like, but I wouldn’t say they’re ‘not real Christians’ either. As a lifelong Protestant, I believe that’s between them and God, and not everyone has had the same experiences or education or access to theological transformations that I have.”
She adds, “I’m secure enough in my own faith and life that what other people think no longer bothers me. Since I was raised in a deeply conservative evangelical environment, I understand their perspective enough to realize they may not ever agree with me, and at one point in my life, I wouldn’t have agreed with me either.”
Jennifer Martin and Her Family ‘Refuse To Be Closeted’
In a previous article, Martin describes how the family’s three adults handle their relationships as well as parenting. “Having multiple adults in the house while raising children is actually a dream come true,” she writes, citing “three incomes” as one benefit.
“We refuse to be closeted, regardless of how people may react,” she concludes. Those reactions, she tells Church Leaders, have included “stalking and death threats—mostly from conservative Christians.”
In 2017, NPR posted an article about the “polyamorous polysaturation” on primetime TV shows. That prompted Pastor James Emery White to warn about the media’s role in the “slippery slope” of affirming and normalizing “sexual immorality.”
