Marginalization is what is indecent.
All systems prop up sameness as survival.
Rhetorically, has that ever proven true?
Clarity comes from diverse exposure.
Ecclesial elephants in the room stampede.
Litigious liturgies leave little room for grace.
Lament is the only response left.
Anathemas are best served administratively.
Aggression never dismantles the truth.
Let liberation be our life-giving theology.
Theology must not diminish the impoverished—
Harried by more than the reach of holdings,
Alienated by race, gender, sexuality, theology itself—
Unity never comes through uniformity.
Salvation can only be served stigma-free.
Real religion provides real options for those
Excluded socially and theologically.
Inclusive theology is only indecent to systems
Dominating the oppressed. Now exposed.
Poet’s Note:
An acrostic Scorched Sunday poem. Part of my Scorched Strays series. This poem interrogates how institutions define “indecency,” exposing the ways theology is often weaponized through process, uniformity, and exclusion rather than practiced as liberation, grace, and embodied solidarity.
© 2026 Tristan Robert Lange. All rights reserved.
First published on tristanrobertlange.com, February 8, 2026.
Tittu
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Author:
Tristan Robert Lange (
Offline) - Published: February 8th, 2026 08:59
- Comment from author about the poem: I’m published in an anthology featuring authors from across the Poconos, PA. All proceeds benefit the Pocono Liars Club — a collective of authors and editors dedicated to supporting and mentoring local writers. Available in paperback and Kindle, please consider purchasing one and supporting a great cause. https://a.co/d/58uxM69
- Category: Unclassified
- Views: 12
- Users favorite of this poem: aDarkerMind, Friendship, GenXer Sharon 🙏🍀, Teddy.15
- In collections: Scorched Strays.
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Comments6
In this poem are dualities and the understanding that plurality is necessary to gain unity. A lovely write my friend.
Soren, this is a strong and faithful read, my friend. Naming plurality as the path toward unity refuses the lie that cohesion requires erasure. That insight sits right in the center of what I was pressing toward. Always grateful for your thoughtful insights, my friend. 📜⚖️🔥🙏
You are most welcome Tristan
Well written. Your poem addresses issues of social and theological marginalization, including race, gender, and sexuality, and highlights the need for inclusive practices within religious contexts. It emphasizes the importance of grace, lament, and liberation in achieving a more equitable and just spiritual community. Yet your poem aims to challenge readers to reconsider their beliefs and practices regarding inclusivity in religion, urging a shift toward a more equitable and grace-filled approach. It seeks to confront the structures that perpetuate marginalization and promote a more comprehensive understanding of salvation and community.
Friendship, thank you for such a careful and generous read, my friend. You named the weight of marginalization alongside grace and liberation without losing the tension the poem is holding. I’m grateful for your thoughtful presence here. Much appreciated, dear friend. 📜⚖️🔥🙏
You are most welcome.
Good write T. I sense that If I wrote a similar series, I would become judgemental. There's enough faults in myself - we could say 'in any one of their own self'.
That's your poems and style, writing against 'religion'. But I feel I would tend to be trying to take a speck out of someone's eye when there is a log in my own eye, as the saying goes.
Meanwhile - P has only one fault. What is it? Don't answer that! lol.
Orchidee, thank you for this, my friend. You named the risk of judgment alongside self-examination so clearly, and that tension is part of why I write these at all. Just to say gently, I don’t experience this work as writing "against" religion. I’m very much within it…as a person of faith and a Christian. For me, it lives in the prophetic tradition…loving the faith enough to name where God keeps pressing us toward change.
And yes, I very much have myself in mind when I write too. I’m by no means perfect…except at hearing the glug…which is endless. Almost like tinnitus. And of course…we’ll leave P’s one fault alone 🤣. Grateful always for your presence and humor here. 📜⚖️🔥🙏
The importance of belonging is what I sensed here. Great work Tristan! As always!
Sharon, thank you, my friend. You named the heart of it so simply…belonging. That’s the quiet gravity underneath everything here, and I’m grateful you met the poem there. Always appreciate your presence. 📜⚖️🔥🙏
Beautiful poetry dear Tristan. 🌹
Yikes, how did I miss this! Thank you, Teddy. Much appreciated, my friend! 📜⚖️🔥🙏
Perhaps only it's you who can write "Litigious liturgies leave little room for grace." or "Inclusive theology is only indecent to systems
Dominating the oppressed."
The poem conveyed a deep love for religion with a deep desparation to allow it to maintain the true human spirit.
My dear friend, that means more than you know…especially the way you framed it as love mixed with desperation. That tension is exactly what fuels these Scorched pieces. It’s not rejection…it’s longing for faith to live up to itself. Grateful you felt that. 📜⚖️🔥🙏
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