Cafeteria Christianity and the Banks of Babylon: On Bathrooms, Usury, and the True Gospel
Trigger warning: this one is going to sting some folks a wee bit.
Flying with American Airlines has been a cornerstone of my travel life for decades. Their extensive network, excellent loyalty programme, and reliable service have made them my preferred carrier. But there's a catch—American’s primary hub is Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), nestled in the heart of Texas. With recent anti-trans legislation targeting public bathrooms in government-owned facilities, including airports, my safety and dignity as a traveller have been thrust into uncertainty. These laws, aimed at forcing transgender people to use bathrooms that do not align with their gender identity, are not just invasive but cruelly symbolic of the hostility brewing in Texas for anyone who dares to live authentically.
This latest attack is just one of over thirty anti-trans bills introduced in Texas this year. It’s impossible to ignore the obsessive focus on trans people—an infinitesimal minority of the population—as if the mere act of existing in public spaces threatens the foundations of society. And now, these policies loom over places like DFW, one of the busiest travel hubs in the world, turning something as mundane as using the toilet into a political battleground. For a state that touts freedom and small government, this level of interference in private lives is breathtakingly hypocritical.
But here’s the real question: why this? Why are lawmakers pouring time, money, and venom into regulating where trans people can pee, whilst far graver threats to societal stability—economic inequality, corporate greed, environmental collapse—are left unaddressed? The fixation on trans bodies is not about public safety or morality; it’s a smokescreen, a way to distract from their unwillingness to confront the systems of power that actually harm their constituents. What’s at stake isn’t just the safety of transgender travellers like me, but the soul of a society that prioritises hatred over justice.
The Twisted Nature of America’s Christian Far-Right
“Cafeteria Christianity” is a term that perfectly encapsulates the selective approach of America’s Christian far-right to the Bible. They pick and choose verses that suit their political or cultural agendas, sampling teachings on gender roles or sexuality whilst rejecting those on compassion, humility, or economic justice. Entire sections of scripture are ignored as unpalatable or inconvenient, replaced by a narrative more aligned with power and control than the radical, subversive gospel of their so-called saviour.
Take their fixation on gender and sexuality as an example. These groups frequently cite passages like Leviticus 18:22 or Romans 1:27 to condemn LGBTQ+ people, particularly trans individuals (as an aside, both Leviticus 18:22 and Romans 1:27 are contextually tied to the cultural and historical practices of their time, and many biblical scholars argue that they are not sweeping condemnations of LGBTQ+ individuals or relationships as understood today. Instead, these verses address specific behaviours and social dynamics within their ancient contexts, but I digress…), whilst turning a blind eye to the Bible’s far more frequent and explicit condemnations of greed, exploitation, and the mistreatment of the poor. The disparity is striking: the Gospels alone contain over a dozen direct calls to care for the marginalised and warnings against the dangers of wealth, yet these rarely make it into the far-right’s sermons or campaigns. Instead, their Christianity becomes a tool for enforcing conformity and exclusion, rather than embodying the radical love and inclusion Jesus preached.
There’s also a deeply perverse priority in how these teachings are framed. The “prosperity gospel,” with its promises of divine financial reward for the faithful, has seeped into their worldview, centring wealth and success as markers of virtue. This ideology, steeped in whiteness and eurocentricity, erases the historical and cultural context of Jesus himself—an Essene from Qumran, a dark-skinned Jew from an occupied territory, who lived in poverty and railed against imperial and religious corruption. Their image of Christ as a white, middle-class capitalist couldn’t be further from the truth.
This distortion does more than warp their faith; it serves a specific function. By focusing their energy on cultural battles over bathrooms and pronouns, they divert attention from systemic issues like wealth inequality and corporate greed. The billions siphoned from working families by exploitative banking practices? Ignored. The concentration of wealth among a tiny elite? Unchallenged. Instead, the far-right rallies its followers to police identities, to attack the already vulnerable, leaving unchecked the real forces eroding societal stability. It is a faith weaponised not to heal, but to harm.
The Glaring Omission: Usury and the Banks
The Bible’s condemnation of usury is unambiguous, both in its literal language and in its broader moral teachings. Ezekiel 18:13 is crystal clear: “He lends at usury and takes excessive interest. Will such a man live? He will not!” Similarly, Proverbs 28:8 warns: “Whoever increases wealth by taking interest or profit from the poor amasses it for another, who will be kind to the poor.” Usury—once defined as charging any interest on loans, and later as exorbitant or exploitative rates—was considered a direct affront to divine justice. These warnings reflect a deep concern for the vulnerable, condemning financial practices that enrich the few at the expense of the many.
The context of these passages reveals even more. In ancient Israel, debt and poverty were closely intertwined. Laws such as the prohibition on charging interest to fellow Israelites (Exodus 22:25) and the institution of the Jubilee year (Leviticus 25:8–13) were designed to prevent perpetual inequality. The Jubilee, a radical economic reset occurring every fifty years, mandated the forgiveness of debts, the liberation of slaves, and the return of land to its original owners. This was not simply an economic policy; it was a moral imperative, a way of realigning society with “God’s vision of justice and equity.” The Jubilee reflects a fundamental biblical principle: wealth must not accumulate endlessly in the hands of a few whilst others suffer.
Contrast this with today’s banking practices. Predatory lending traps individuals in cycles of debt, offering loans with high interest rates that make repayment nearly impossible. Payday loans, for instance, often carry annual percentage rates exceeding 300%, targeting those already struggling financially. Wealth concentration has reached unprecedented levels: in the United States, the top 1% of households control more wealth than the bottom 90% combined. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when millions faced job losses and housing instability, billionaires saw their wealth increase by over $5 trillion globally. This vast inequality is driven in large part by financial systems that commodify debt, profit from crises, and exploit the working class.
Such practices mirror the behaviours condemned in scripture. Banks charge exorbitant interest, foreclose on homes, and profit from the desperation of the poor—all whilst being bailed out by taxpayer money during financial crises. The result is a system where wealth flows upward, leaving behind a growing underclass. The parallels to the biblical warnings against usury could not be starker. Yet, the Christian far-right, which claims to uphold biblical values, is conspicuously silent.
Their silence begs the question: why? If they are so committed to the authority of scripture, why do they not rally against the financial systems that perpetuate inequality and misery? One answer lies in their alignment with power. Criticising banks and wealth concentration would mean challenging the very structures that fund and sustain their political influence. Another answer is ideological: their focus on individual morality—policing bathrooms and controlling women’s bodies—conveniently distracts from collective injustices that require systemic change.
This selective morality exposes the far-right’s true priorities. Their activism is not about following their messiah’s teachings but about maintaining a status quo that benefits the powerful. In doing so, they abandon the biblical call to defend the poor and challenge the rich. The real moral crisis is not who uses which bathroom at an airport, but a society where banks profit from exploitation while millions struggle to survive. If the Christian far-right truly cared about biblical principles, they would turn their attention to reigning in the banks—not policing the lives of transgender people.
The True Gospel: Jesus’ Call to Action
It’s worth noting that I am not a Christian. My understanding of the Bible and its teachings comes from a broader journey—a celebration of literacy when I first learned to read English. I dove into the great religious works of the world, exploring not just the canonical Christian texts but also the apocrypha, rabbinical writings, and obscure works like Luria’s mysticism, which later inspired Rosicrucianism. I immersed myself in Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and shamanic traditions, determined to understand these systems of thought directly from their sources rather than through the filters of others’ opinions. This pursuit taught me to appreciate the profound, often beautiful complexities of spiritual texts and to recognise the glaring contradictions in how some followers interpret them.
When I examine the Christian far-right through this lens, their approach to scripture seems profoundly inconsistent. If they truly believe in the Bible’s infallibility and the literalness of “God’s word,” then why do they cherry-pick the passages they follow? Their fixation on gender and sexuality belies the fact that these are marginal concerns in the biblical canon. Far more pervasive are teachings about economic justice, humility, and care for the marginalised—teachings that the far-right seems all too willing to ignore.
Jesus, as depicted in both the canonical and apocryphal texts, was a radical figure whose message directly challenged systemic greed and exploitation. In Matthew 6:24, he declares, “You cannot serve both God and money.” In Mark 10:25, he warns, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” These are not subtle statements—they are unequivocal condemnations of wealth accumulation and its corrupting influence. In the apocryphal Gospel of Thomas, Jesus is quoted as saying, “Whoever has come to know the world has discovered a carcass.” This stark imagery aligns with his teachings on rejecting materialism and finding true freedom in spiritual simplicity.
Jesus’ actions mirrored these teachings. His anger at the money changers in the temple (Matthew 21:12-13) was not merely a critique of religious corruption; it was a direct confrontation with the exploitation of the poor through economic systems masquerading as piety. He ministered to the downtrodden—lepers, prostitutes, tax collectors, and the demonised—whilst reserving his sharpest rebukes for the powerful and self-righteous. Nowhere in his ministry do we find the obsession with policing bathrooms or controlling identities that dominates the far-right’s agenda today.
If the Christian far-right truly followed Jesus, their focus would be entirely different. They would see the usurious behaviours of modern banking systems as a direct affront to the values their saviour espoused. They would confront the wealth inequality that crushes their neighbours, rally against corporate greed, and demand systemic change to lift the poor and oppressed. Instead, their energy is spent attacking the already marginalised—transgender individuals, women seeking bodily autonomy, and LGBTQ+ communities—whilst leaving unchecked the far greater injustices that Jesus himself would have railed against.
This selective adherence to scripture isn’t just hypocritical; it betrays the very essence of their messiah’s teachings. Jesus called his followers to radical love, service, and justice, not to petty battles over societal conformity. If the far-right truly believed in their gospel, their mission would not be to legislate who uses which bathroom but to tear down the systems that exploit and dehumanise their neighbours. By ignoring this, they not only distort their faith but also perpetuate the very injustices their saviour sought to end.
The Church as the Ultimate Racket?
Mega-churches are an affront to the very teachings they claim to uphold. In cities across the United States, massive sanctuaries with thousands of seats sit dark and empty every night while tens of thousands sleep on the streets, hungry and cold. These vast edifices, funded by the relentless demands of pastoral staff, could be shelters for the homeless, kitchens for the hungry, or community centres offering real support. Instead, they remain locked, monuments to wealth accumulation rather than houses of compassion.
And the pastoral staff themselves? Many live lives of luxury that would make a first-century Pharisee blush. They fly private jets, own sprawling mansions, and wear designer suits, all whilst exhorting their congregations to “give sacrificially.” These demands often fall hardest on parishioners who can least afford it—working-class families already struggling to make ends meet. The result is a perverse cycle of impoverishment: the poor give what little they have to enrich pastors who preach that financial blessings will follow. Meanwhile, the so-called “Building Funds” never seem to build anything tangible—no new doors, no community projects—just more wealth funneled into opaque accounts.
This professional priesthood itself is strikingly unbiblical. Nowhere in scripture is there a provision for pastors as salaried professionals. In the New Testament, Paul himself worked as a tentmaker to support his ministry, explicitly refusing financial support from congregations so as not to burden them (2 Corinthians 11:9). Yet today’s clergy not only demand tithes but often misrepresent their role as divinely sanctioned, ignoring the biblical mandate for shared, humble service.
Adding insult to injury, American churches enjoy tax-exempt status, ostensibly to encourage them to serve their communities. But how many truly do? How many funnel their untaxed wealth back into the towns and cities they inhabit, feeding the poor, housing the homeless, or providing care for the sick? Instead, we see churches operating like businesses, enriching their leadership and leaving their communities to fend for themselves. Contrast this with the Sikh community, whose gurdwaras are not only open to everyone but actively serve free meals to anyone in need, regardless of faith or circumstance. This is a faith that truly understands the concept of service and compassion.
The Christian far-right’s neglect of the poor borders on revulsion. They preach self-reliance to those who are already crushed under the weight of systemic inequality, ignoring Christ’s explicit command to care for the least among us. In Matthew 25:35-40, Jesus says, “For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink... Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” How can these pastors claim to follow this teaching while they hoard wealth and let their neighbours starve?
The modern church, especially its mega-church iteration, is a racket. Its clergy are racketeers, profiting off the spiritual and material needs of their congregants. Far from embodying their messiah’s mission, they exploit it, twisting faith into a system of power and profit. It’s a grotesque inversion of the gospel they claim to preach and a betrayal of the communities they purport to serve.
Final thoughts …
The Christian far-right’s relentless focus on “trans rights” is a distraction, a convenient smokescreen that diverts attention from the true threats to societal stability. Whilst they legislate bathroom policies and attack a marginalised minority, the real harm comes from unchecked economic systems that exploit the many for the benefit of a wealthy few. Predatory banking practices, skyrocketing wealth inequality, and the commodification of debt have done far more to erode the fabric of society than a trans person using the restroom.
It’s time for a fundamental shift in priorities. If Christian activism is to mean anything, it must return to the heart of Jesus’ teachings: care for the poor, justice for the oppressed, and a radical rejection of greed. Instead of fixating on who uses which bathroom, churches and their leaders could channel their energy into challenging the banks that exploit their communities, advocating for the vulnerable, and addressing the systemic injustices that cause real suffering.
If the Christian far-right truly believes in the commandment to love thy neighbour, it’s time they start living it. Because loving thy neighbour isn’t about policing identities—it’s about protecting their dignity and ensuring their well-being. It’s time to stop legislating bathroom policies and start confronting the usury that’s destroying lives. That’s the true gospel in action, and anything less is a betrayal of their faith’s deepest principles.