Dan Wilkinson

Is This a Person?

March 29, 2017 by Dan Wilkinson in Current Events

A bill currently in the Montana legislature seeks to amended the state constitution to define a “person” as “all members of the species homo sapiens at any stage of development, including the stage of fertilization or conception, regardless of age, health, level of functioning, or condition of dependency.”

If passed by the legislature and a subsequent ballot referendum, it would provide full legal protection as “persons” to fertilized eggs, zygotes, and embryos, thus effectively outlawing all forms of abortion, some forms of contraception, as well as in vitro fertilization and the treatment of ectopic pregnancies.

The bill’s sponsor, Republican Representative Derek Skees, views this as just a small part of the national “pro-life” movement that has been invigorated by Trump’s election. Skees said:

“We just won the presidency with a new president, and his position is pro-life. His vice president is pro-life. The majority of folks in both chambers in Washington, D.C., are Republican, and the majority of them are pro-life … We have some awesome opportunities within Trump’s eight years of presidency. We could have two more Supreme Court justices.”

Regardless of your general views about abortion, the idea that a cell, at the very moment of fertilization, suddenly becomes a person and therefore has a legal right to not be “deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law” is ludicrous. A zygote can’t see, hear, feel, taste, or smell. It can’t feel happiness… [Read more…] about Is This a Person?

Glitter Is Serious Business: The Story Behind Glitter Ash Wednesday

February 24, 2017 by Dan Wilkinson in LGBT

Glitter is serious business. No, really.

On March 1st, as the Christian world enters the holy season of Lent, LGBT and LGBT affirming clergy will be offering ashes mixed with a bit of purple glitter as a means of welcoming LGBT people who may have felt rejected by the church and as an affirmation of God’s love for all. The project is a partnership between Parity, Liz Edman (the author of Queer Virtue), and Metropolitan Community Churches, and has clergy from a variety of denominations who will be participating throughout the country, currently in eleven states.

Parity has been receiving criticism that our Glitter Ash Wednesday project is “Blasphemy!” “Save glitter for Fat Tuesday,” some critics say, because glitter betrays the “somber time that is Ash Wednesday.”

We disagree. In fact, the whole point of Glitter Ash Wednesday is to reflect the deep, somber, serious faith in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection that millions of queer Christians have. And yes, there are millions of us queer and queer positive Christians. Surprised? No wonder, because the lie gets told over and over again that “God hates fags” and that homosexuality is sinful. Precious few queer Christians survive the hate and make it through to become visible members of the church.

I spent five years working with LGBTQ+ youth and their families in Utah, and saw time and again hundreds of youth and children kicked out for being–or even seeming–LGBTQ+. Parents told their kids, “I wish you had never… [Read more…] about Glitter Is Serious Business: The Story Behind Glitter Ash Wednesday

No, the Bible Isn't God's Personal Letter to You

January 13, 2017 by Dan Wilkinson in Christian Issues

The message above recently appeared on the sign outside a church in my neighborhood. I’m hard pressed to think of a message that more perfectly encapsulates all that is wrong with modern American conservative Christianity. It’s this perspective–one of extreme biblicism and hyper-individualism–that has led to virtually every misstep taken by the modern Church.

Though it might seem pedantic, it’s important to clarify the problems with this message:

The Bible wasn’t written by God. It was written and edited by a variety of human authors over hundreds of years. God may very well have inspired these texts (in any number of ways), but he definitely didn’t sit down and put pen to paper.
The Bible isn’t a letter. The collection of writings that appear in our modern Bibles includes a wide variety genres. A handful of these are actual letters, but the bulk of the Bible falls into other literary forms: historical narratives, wisdom literature, poetry, gospels, etc.
No parts of the Bible were written directly to you. The writings in the Bible were written to, for, and by specific individuals and communities for specific reasons. These texts all have cultural and historical contexts that are vastly different than our modern circumstances and can’t be simply ignored if we intend to take the Bible seriously.

All of those points should be relatively uncontroversial, but unfortunately many Christians regularly perpetuate beliefs to the contrary, holding up the Bible as an almost… [Read more…] about No, the Bible Isn't God's Personal Letter to You

10 News Stories That Prove 2016 Wasn't All Bad

December 28, 2016 by Dan Wilkinson in Current Events

There’s no denying that a lot of bad stuff happened in 2016, but it’s also worth remembering that some really great things happened this past year. Here are ten of them:

February 12: Pope Francis met with Patriarch Kirill in the first meeting between leaders of the Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches since their split in 1054.

July 4: After a five year journey, NASA’s Juno spacecraft entered orbit around Jupiter.

July 26: Solar Impulse 2 became the first solar-powered aircraft to circumnavigate the Earth.

September 30: Two stolen Vincent Van Gogh paintings, missing since 2002 and valued at over $100 million, are recovered.

October 15: More than 150 nations agreed to begin phasing out the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).

November 2: The Chicago Cubs won the World Series for the first time in 108 years.

November 30: India opened the largest solar plant in the world.

December 4: The Department of the Army announced that it would not allow the North Dakota Access Pipeline to be drilled under a dammed section of the Missouri River, giving the Standing Rock protesters a major victory.

December 10: Bob Dylan became the first songwriter ever to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, and Patti Smith performed his song “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” at the awards ceremony.

December 22: A new vaccine against the Ebola virus was shown to be 100% effective.

Photo via Pixabay.

Dan Wilkinson
Dan is the Executive… [Read more…] about 10 News Stories That Prove 2016 Wasn't All Bad

How to Find an Unfundamentalist Church

December 12, 2016 by Dan Wilkinson in Christian Issues

The question we’re asked most frequently, both on our Facebook Page and on our blog, is “how can I find an Unfundamentalist Church?”

Since we’re not an actual church or denomination (we’re simply an informal group of like-minded people), we can’t refer you to our nearest local franchise. But we can point you in the direction of churches that are likely to share a similar set of beliefs about Christianity.

Of the major denominations, we recommend checking out Metropolitan Community Churches, The Episcopal Church, The United Church of Christ, The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and Unitarian Universalist churches.

Of course, specific congregations vary as to how much they align with “unfundamentalist” or “progressive” Christian beliefs. After all, a church is no more (and no less) than a reflection of the beliefs and priorities of its leadership and its members. So, some churches within those denominations are more Unfundamentalist than others, and many churches outside those denominations are also quite Unfundamentalist.

Though it might seem challenging to find out where a church stands on a wide variety of theological and social issues, there’s a handy shortcut: if a church is welcoming and affirming of LGBT people, then they are likely to also share many other beliefs in common with Unfundamentalist Christians.

Regardless of whether or not you’re LGBT, the searchable directory at GayChurch.org is a great resource for finding churches that are likely to… [Read more…] about How to Find an Unfundamentalist Church

An Atheist and a Christian Walk into a Bar…

December 5, 2016 by Dan Wilkinson in Book Reviews

Randal Rauser’s and Justin Schieber’s new book (released tomorrow), An Atheist and a Christian Walk into a Bar…: Talking about God, the Universe, and Everything (Prometheus, $18), is a welcome entry into the field of Christian/Atheist dialogue. Formatted as a series of back and forth exchanges between the authors, An Atheist and a Christian Walk into a Bar sets out to model productive, irenic, and substantive conversation between these two opposing worldviews.

Inspired by the format of the book and its commitment to “pursuing and knowing the truth” by means of a conversation that is “friendly, rigorous, honest, and directed at the truth,” I asked my friend Nick Bradford, an atheist and Christopher Hitchens devotee, to read the book along with me and discuss our thoughts about it.

Dan: So tell me Nick, did the airtight logic and vivid philosophical illustrations provided by Randal persuade you to jump ship and become a theist?

Nick: Well Dan, it seems we might have read two different books. I will say it was a good read, but I am not so sure “airtight” is the word I would use. “God-of-the-gaps” is really what comes to mind.

Dan: God-of-the-Gaps, huh? Care to elaborate on what you mean by that?

Nick: Sure! The chapter on morality was where this problem was most noticeable. Randal inserted the possibility of a god into every gap, nook, cranny, and blank space there was in that chapter. He did a good job of poking small holes in Justin’s arguments, but… [Read more…] about An Atheist and a Christian Walk into a Bar…

How Can You Call Yourselves Christian When You Don't Believe in the Bible?

November 28, 2016 by Dan Wilkinson in Christian Issues

I recently received this question via our contact form:
How can you call yourselves Christian when you do NOT believe in the Bible?
It’s easy to dismiss this as mere ignorant trolling, but on the off-chance that it contains some degree of sincerity, I’m going to respond to it.

Ironically, the requirement to “believe in the Bible” in order to be a Christian is itself unbiblical. Nowhere in the Bible is this standard ever stated. Jesus doesn’t preach that one must believe in the Bible to be saved. The disciples don’t go forth to deliver Bibles to the world so that those who read them can be saved. Paul doesn’t proclaim that the Gospel is believing in the Bible. Nor is the converse true: the Bible never declares that those who don’t believe in it are excluded from the Kingdom of God.

But the very idea of “believing” in the Bible is itself nonsensical. The Bible is an extraordinarily complex collection of texts, written and edited by various authors over great spans of time for different reasons and within different contexts. Interpretation of these texts is an equally complex process, and cannot simply be reduced to “believing” everything that is contained within the pages of the Bible. I don’t believe that bashing infants’ heads against rocks makes you happy (Psalm 137:9). I don’t believe that slaves should submit to the cruelty of their masters (1 Peter 2:18). And I don’t believe that women should be silent in church (1 Corinthians 14:34). Does not believing those passages… [Read more…] about How Can You Call Yourselves Christian When You Don't Believe in the Bible?

Relig-ish: Soulful Living in a Spiritual-But-Not-Religious World

November 4, 2016 by Dan Wilkinson in Book Reviews

According to data from the Pew Research Center, Americans are becoming less religious, but, simultaneously, more spiritual. Often described as “nones,” these individuals have rejected the trappings of institutional religion, yet still feel “a deep sense of spiritual peace and well-being as well as a deep sense of wonder about the universe.”

But, as so many people resoundingly reject the hypocrisy, hate, homophobia, and misogyny of the Christian church, they also often leave behind the spiritually nurturing aspects of religious life and find themselves adrift in a post-church world.

For those who have left the church behind, but don’t want to entirely abandon spiritual practice, and also for those who were never a part of the church, but are still seeking to foster meaningful spiritual development, Rachelle Mee-Chapman’s new book, Relig-ish: Soulful Living in a Spiritual-But-Not-Religious World (Chalice Press, $14.99), serves as a practical guide to negotiating the waters of spirituality that lie just beyond the shores of traditional religion.

Mee-Chapman has traversed these waters herself, having spent thirty years in the Christian church, much of that time as an ordained minister, before moving on in her spiritual journey. Her pastoral sensitivity and spiritual wisdom permeate this small but potent book, and she is adamant that there is fertile ground to be found “between secularism and the religious institutions of Christianity” (1).

Relig-ish affirms… [Read more…] about Relig-ish: Soulful Living in a Spiritual-But-Not-Religious World

The Love that Will Not Let You Go

August 15, 2016 by Douglas Heidt in Book Reviews

The Love that Will Not Let You Go: Being Christian is Not What You Think (Wipf and Stock, $19), is a crystalline distillation of Douglas Heidt’s thoughts about Christianity after nearly 50 years in pastoral ministry. This slender but potent volume is packed with insight, wisdom, and challenges for individual Christians as well as the church as a whole.

Heidt’s thesis is disarmingly simple: that God and Love are one and the same and that the Christian calling is to accept, embrace, and live out this Love in the world. In explicating this understanding of Christianity, Heidt explores “the supreme vitality and power of Love in human experience” and examines “ways we can embrace the vision that God is Love itself.” (11)

He grounds this discussion in first-hand stories drawn from his ministerial experience, and persuasively shows how lived-out-love can redefine our ideas about the church, the Bible, and the broader Christian narrative.

There is no doubt that much of what passes for Christianity today has drifted far from the shores of Love, and as a result has run aground on the seemingly intractable differences that often have little to do with the true message of Christ. This disconnect results in a Christianity that, to many people, “simply doesn’t make sense; it isn’t credible, it’s complicated, it doesn’t engage, and it doesn’t excite.” (15)

Heidt calls us to move beyond this sort of hollow and lifeless faith and to discover a Christianity that is vibrant and… [Read more…] about The Love that Will Not Let You Go