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Christian Issues

Toward a Radical Inclusiveness

by Michelle Schohn in Christian Issues

I have been thinking a lot about pronouns lately.

Much of it stems from the recent debate over bathrooms and who gets to serve as the potty police. I am not transgender, and yet the debate is personal to me.

Among my people, I am considered a “Two-Spirit,” or someone who possesses both a male and a female spirit. This has always fit with how I feel myself, neither really male nor really female, but both. I am very comfortable in my own skin.

But there are those who are not comfortable with me. These are the ones who have called me “sir” since long before I cut my hair short. Some quickly apologize. Some laugh nervously. Some snicker. Because I feel like I am both, it has never bothered me, except on the rare occasions when the person seemed hostile.

I fear those occasions are increasing. I see more and more reports of attacks on trans* people. And these attacks aren’t limited to trans* people. There are all sorts of gender non-conforming people being accosted in restrooms, even if they are using the restroom that corresponds with the sex to which they were assigned at birth.

One such person is a friend of mine who is a sergeant in the Marine Corps. She is part of the elite group of Marines who guard our embassies. And she has been thrown out of the women’s bathroom because she looks too much like a boy. A nice thank you for your service.

A recent piece by UCC minister Emily Heath describes a similar struggle. She too is female, but gender non-conforming. She jokes with… [Read more…] about Toward a Radical Inclusiveness

Sundown Town

by Christina Krost in Christian Issues

Embed from Getty Images

I live in a sundown town.

I’ll admit, I’d never heard that term until college. But it’s stuck with me since my husband attended a talk by author James Loewen, author of Lies My Teacher Told Me and Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism.

The gist is that though northern states were not as overt in racial segregation as the southern states, there were still places that, if you were black, you were not welcome. Some towns posted signs to the effect of “Don’t let the sun set on you here,” meaning those “unwanted” folks had better clear out before dark, or else.

The spread of this rule relied heavily on oral tradition, though some towns had official ordinances on their books. Consequences included threats of physical violence, damage to property, and/or police action to those in noncompliance.

I read that the sundown town sign in my small, rural, southern Illinois town was up until the past decade or so, when it was removed to accommodate a public works project and was not replaced after the work was completed. And I recently heard a story retold by a member of our church about a former pastor in the 1950s bringing home a black friend from seminary and the pastor’s experience of having to explain to his guest why he had to stay inside his host’s home after dark.

As a point of fact, there are not many African-American residents in my town or surrounding towns to this day. That a sign like this could exist for so long in… [Read more…] about Sundown Town

Bible-believing Bisexual?

by Franziska Garner in Christian Issues, LGBT

“A simple layman armed with Scripture is greater than the mightiest pope without it.”

How highly controversial! Scripture alone is enough. Scripture is self-authenticating, clear, its own interpreter, and sufficient as the final authority of Christian beliefs. The idea is that whoever bases their faith on Scripture, whoever seeks guidance and answers in Scripture, doesn’t need anything or anyone else and will never be disappointed.

This concept of Scripture Alone or Sola Scriptura was introduced by the same man who said those words in the beginning of this article: Martin Luther, the German reformer who saw so many flaws in the Catholic Church of the 15th century that he simply had to speak up against it. His idea that Scripture alone stands at the center of an individual’s striving for and learning about God was eagerly adopted by many, and eventually by the younger evangelical denominations in the United States. To this day it is a key principal of many conservative Baptist and Lutheran churches and all those who call themselves “bible-believing.”

I firmly believe that the Bible is indeed God’s love letter to us, his children, and that all the guidance and nudges we need to come closer to this love are right there in Scripture. So yes, I call myself bible-believing.

Wait. How can a progressive Christian who is living in a same-sex marriage be bible-believing? How can someone like me adopt the same term as conservative Christians? Do I believe that my… [Read more…] about Bible-believing Bisexual?

A Bolt of Hatred

by Joe Kay in Christian Issues, Current Events

This guest post is by Joe Kay.

One of my roommates in college was gay. He confided in me about his sexual preference, knowing I’d respect his confidence. Back then, gay people were openly ridiculed, rejected, and attacked.

I wish I could say this was no longer true, but obviously I can’t. We’ve come a long way, but what happened in Orlando and the reaction to it provide harsh reminders of how people hate those who are different from them in some way.

Still so much hatred.

I’m the associate minister at an open and affirming United Church of Christ church. We accept everyone just as they are. I’ve heard many stories about how members of my church family have been treated horrifically by their families, their former “Christian” churches, and co-workers because of their sexual orientation.

Their openness touches me. Their courage inspires me. Their stories remind me how I enjoy a sort of “straight” privilege. Nobody has ever threatened me because I was holding a girl’s hand, or refused to rent me an apartment because I was dating a woman. Nobody has ever refused to bake me a cake because I’m straight.

I have never had to worry that my sexual identity was going to get me killed.

One thing about the reaction to Orlando troubles me greatly. People who have said so many hateful and harmful things about LBGT people are now trying to distance themselves from what happened. They’re trying to frame it as merely another instance of extremism by different people from a… [Read more…] about A Bolt of Hatred

Hell Might Be Empty

by Brian Niece in Christian Issues

This guest post is by Brian Niece.

Theologian Jürgen Moltmann once said in a discussion, “In the final analysis I believe hell will be empty.”
God’s Future
This theological idea comes from Moltmann’s understanding that all who are dead are dead in Christ, just as the living are alive in Christ, whether they acknowledge the presence of the deity or not. God’s presence is in all and through all. Therefore everyone, the living and dead, are contained in the loving presence of the God who Jesus called “Father” and are moving with this God toward God’s future.

That’s some heady stuff, for sure.

Moltmann further asserts, as do many Christian theologians, that all time is already contained in the life of God. Past, present, future, and eternity all glow with God’s presence.

More heady stuff, I know.

If you, like me, are an outsider to the Western institutional church, it could be for any number of reasons. It pains me to know how many friends I have who walked away from the whole faith thing because they were told that anyone who didn’t measure up to an institutional standard was going to hell.

Maybe you’ve experienced the very damaging and un-Jesus like narrative that creates an “us” versus “them” mentality. The kind of thinking that elevates groups of the “ins” over the “outs.” Please hear this: you aren’t going to hell.
Unbounded Grace
See, God’s grace, as displayed through Jesus of Nazareth, is unbounded grace. There is no limit to it. So there’s no way that… [Read more…] about Hell Might Be Empty

Spiritual Terrorism

by Robyn Shepherd in Christian Issues

This guest post is by Robyn Shepherd.

Some months ago, as I was preparing to go on maternity leave, the church where I had been training as a student minister was preparing to make a very important decision. This decision came after years of conversation, but the opinions in the church were still deeply divided.

One Sunday morning, an elderly member of the congregation cornered me after the service to assure me that he had been given a message from God, and he would set the meeting straight. Accustomed to his language, and certain no words of mine could alter his purpose one iota, I adopted my usual response–smile and nod–as he described his plans with his usual passion and depth of conviction. Within myself I could only be grateful that it would not be my job to counter his “message” or to deal with the fallout of his words.

Not that there would be much fallout. I expected that the result of whatever he felt compelled to say would be silence, the unspoken reactions to his words ranging from bewilderment to frustration. Since he had done similar things at other meetings, but never succeeded in providing a coherent argument or a discernible plan, his “messages” tended to amount to a rant about his convictions followed by a judgement on the church for failing to be led by the Spirit, or something similar.

It is not my desire or intention to mock this man or dismiss his deeply-held convictions, but his way of sharing his beliefs about the church and its future… [Read more…] about Spiritual Terrorism

Responding to a Christian tract handed out at an LGBT Pride Parade

by in Christian Issues

I was standing on a street corner in downtown Great Falls, Montana, waiting for the annual Big Sky Pride Parade to begin. All sorts of rainbow-clad people roamed up and down the street, happily enjoying the sunshine and positive atmosphere of the day.

But the guy walking toward me looked a bit out of place in his pleated khakis and plaid button down shirt. He briskly sidled up to me and handed me a leaflet, saying, “Here’s something for you to read while you wait.” I glanced down at it, but before I could even say thank you, he was gone.

The brochure seemed benign enough–it was titled “Instant Gratification,” and included a bunch of brain teasers, stuff like “A man went outside in the pouring rain with no protection, but not a hair on his head got wet. How come?” There was no obvious religious message, so I flipped it over and saw that it was from “Living Waters Publications” and was given out “Compliments of:” followed by a glaring white space.

I try to keep tabs on wacky Christian apologists, so I immediately recognized Living Waters as Ray Comfort’s organization. I opened the flyer again to try and find what I must have missed. And there it was, sandwiched between quiz questions 20 and 21: an “editorial” that consisted of Comfort’s idiosyncratic presentation of the Gospel.

Since the guy who handed me the tract hadn’t stuck around to chat (I get it, there were a lot of souls that clearly needed saving), I’m going to respond to its message here. The text from… [Read more…] about Responding to a Christian tract handed out at an LGBT Pride Parade

Is it more important to believe the right things or to do the right things?

by Randal Rauser in Christian Issues

Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?”

The King will reply, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” —Matthew 25:37-40 (NIV)

Right belief and right practice: you might call them the two oars in the rowboat of a healthy Christian disciple. But if you had to choose to prioritize one of those two oars, which one would it be?

Growing up as an evangelical, the answer was simple. Belief is the starting point of salvation, in particular the beliefs that Jesus is Lord and God raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9). Salvation may require more than this in terms of belief and action, but it surely could not require less.

That idea worked for me for several years. But the more I examined that simple position, the more cracks appeared. In this article I want to consider one of them. In order to see it I want to propose a simple thought experiment, one that is based on two real life cases, one of a Christian who believed the right doctrines but acted wrongly, and the other of a Muslim who (according to Christian doctrine) believed the wrong doctrines but acted rightly.

The setting is the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Commentators have noted that this… [Read more…] about Is it more important to believe the right things or to do the right things?

Rethinking the Phrase "God Allows" In Response to Evil

by Mark Gregory Karris in Christian Issues

As a pastor and therapist working with those who have experienced trauma, I have recently come to the conclusion that “God allows,” in regards to evil and suffering, is a terrible theo(il)logical phrase that can unfortunately erode trust in a profoundly loving and trustworthy God.

Deconstructing “God Allows”

The word “allow” is poison to the sensitive, God-seeking, and traumatized soul for two reasons. First, it makes God out to be a voyeuristic monster who arbitrarily jumps into time, willfully intervening in some people’s lives to save them from harm, and willfully choosing not to intervene in others.

For example, God watches a disturbed psychopathic man begin to rape a helpless woman and says to Himself, “I planned this before the foundation of the world, I could stop this but I am going to allow and permit it to happen for a grander purpose.” God, although all-powerful, just watches and does nothing to stop it. Then, in the next moment, God watches another psychopathic man, in another region of the world, attempt to rape another helpless woman, but this time says, “Ah, I planned this before the foundation of the world, I will intervene and stop this man from raping her.” Immediately, God intervened and had a neighbor go over to her house to see how she was doing. The perpetrator became startled, frantically ran out the door, eventually getting arrested at a nearby gas station.
 
It is no wonder people are aghast at the above kind of arbitrary and allowing God,… [Read more…] about Rethinking the Phrase "God Allows" In Response to Evil

From Protester to Peacemaker: A Day in the Life of a (Former) Sidewalk Counselor

by Sandy Daniels in Christian Issues

I can’t remember what it was that prompted me. Maybe someone from church had sent me an email with an article or photo that struck a chord. Whatever the reason, there I was at 1 a.m. in front of the computer furiously searching, and reading, and staring, and crying, and searching some more.

I knew what abortion was. More than a few people had tried to convince me to have one when I got pregnant at sixteen. I knew what it was. But I didn’t know what it was. As I clicked through photo after gruesome photo, bile rose in my throat. I stared down at my own baby, asleep at my breast, and sobbed. I had to do something. And so, with sincere intentions, I started down the path to becoming a person I would later grow to hate.

Over the next year, I became involved with an organization called the Pro-life Action League. A sweet older couple, Jim and Barbara (not their real names), befriended me over the phone, and began to train me to become a “warrior for the unborn.” They were thrilled with my enthusiasm, and thought my young age made me the perfect candidate for making clinic calls. These calls were critical, because in order to successfully protest, we needed to know what days the clinic would be performing abortions in any given week.

The clinic worker would ask some routine questions, like when was the first day of my last period? How old was I? By the end of the call, I’d have an appointment scheduled under a fake name, and we’d have all the information we needed.… [Read more…] about From Protester to Peacemaker: A Day in the Life of a (Former) Sidewalk Counselor