The Church Made Me Do It: Identity and Apology in Marin Foundation Video Confessionals

In recent years, the Marin Foundation has gained increasing attention as a Christian group attempting to reconcile with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual (LGBT) community. As one means of fostering reconciliation, the “I’m Sorry” campaign within the Marin Foundation encourages individuals to post online video confessionals, stating what they are sorry for and how they intend to make things better for the LGBT community. This study examines these online video confessionals as a unique site of identity negotiation for Christian individuals attempting to reconcile with the LGBT community. Rhetorical analysis of the videos revealed that the individuals drew from a specific repertoire of apology and suggestions for future action, which fell in line with Kenneth Burke’s notion of scapegoating and mortification. As a result, the “story of self” articulated by the individuals failed to be coherent with both the stated goals of the foundation and the main tenets of Evangelical Christian identity.