“I’ve learned enough to know the atonement Mom and Dad believe in is absolutely free for the taking, but that gleam of pride in their eyes comes with some strings attached.” — Aaron Hartzler Copy Share Image
“I’m not saying Jesus won’t come back; I’ve just decided I can’t keep hoping to be rescued from my life. Maybe it’s up to… — Aaron Hartzler Copy Share Image
“Will God allow me to be killed in a freak accident if I keep lying to my parents about music and movies?” — Aaron Hartzler Copy Share Image
“Dad knew this was the one thing he could do that would hurt me the most. He thinks this pain will somehow bring us… — Aaron Hartzler Copy Share Image
“Eventually, I realized that social justice, kindness, and honesty didn’t have to come from the theology in which I’d been raised. In fact, not… — Aaron Hartzler Copy Share Image
“The college allows students of different races to date now, but the place is permeated with an air of cheerful fascism.” — Aaron Hartzler Copy Share Image
“In a flash, the version of myself so carefully constructed for Mom’s and Dad’s eyes crumbles all around me. I have let them see… — Aaron Hartzler Copy Share Image
“The air between Jason and me feels electric. I am sitting on a log at a campfire in the middle of the woods, next… — Aaron Hartzler Copy Share Image
“We try to hold on to the things we think will keep us safe and maintain that place we can point to an say,… — Aaron Hartzler Copy Share Image
“Aaron, I love you so much, and I know how much this means to you. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to earth… — Aaron Hartzler Copy Share Image
“I might’ve been able to fool other people into thinking I believed, but the God I was raised with knew my every thought, so… — Aaron Hartzler Copy Share Image
“A pervasive misconception about sexual orientation doggedly clings to the conversation about being LGBT in our current culture: that one’s sexual orientation is defined… — Aaron Hartzler Copy Share Image
“I feel like I belong, sitting here next to Papa. This is what men do together—watch wrestling and make things from string.” — Aaron Hartzler Copy Share Image
