Unfundamentalist

Above All, Love

Dan Wilkinson

Lions: A Novel by Bonnie Nadzam

by in Book Reviews

Bonnie Nadzam’s newly-released second novel, Lions (Grove Atlantic/Black Cat, $16), is a ghost story–a ghost story about the spirit of a dying Colorado town called Lions, so named “to stand in for disappointment with the wild invention and unreasonable hope by which it had been first imagined, then sought and spuriously claimed.”

It is also a story about the ghosts that haunt the town’s few remaining inhabitants: the ghosts of their ancestors, the ghosts of their hopes and ambitions, the ghosts of an uncertain future.

Lions is a bleak place, “comprised of no more than searing light and eddying dust. Nothing but wind and white sun.” Its people eke out meager lives from barren land, and are slowly but surely abandoning their homes to escape–or perhaps to chase–the ghosts that haunt them.

One person not intending to leave is John Walker, the owner of a welding shop. His family has lived in Lions for generations, and his skillful craftsmanship and stoic virtue are legendary in the county. When, in the opening chapters of Lions, a stranger and his dog wander into town, Walker unquestioningly gives him food, clothing, and money.

But in Lions, good deeds count for little. Tragedy falls upon the unnamed stranger, as well as on the Walker family. Over the course of the summer, Walker’s son, Gordon, and his son’s girlfriend, Leigh, must wrestle with these tragedies, and with life in a place that seems never able to escape its past, never able to move forward… [Read more…] about Lions: A Novel by Bonnie Nadzam

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

The Good Book of Human Nature

by in Book Reviews

When it comes to the Bible, negotiating the span between religious reverence and secular scorn can be a daunting task of intellectual funambulism. Too often, the faithful view the Bible solely as a divine message from God, immune to critical analysis. Likewise, the non-religious often dismiss the Bible as an irrelevant–or even dangerous–collection of outdated and ignorant writings.

In their new book, The Good Book of Human Nature, (Basic Books, $29.99), evolutionary anthropologist Carel van Schaik and historian Kai Michel capably bridge this gap, boldly defending the thesis that the Bible is the most important book in the history of humanity. Though both agnostic, they believe that the Bible offers an invaluable key to a better understanding of ourselves. Through the lenses of cognitive science, evolutionary biology, archeology, and religious history, they explore what the Bible reveals about human nature and the cultural evolution of our species:
“In the Bible we find answers to humanity’s greatest questions. We do not mean this in a religious sense. Rather, it teaches us why we fear death, how we deal with great misfortunes, and where our deep-seated desire for justice originated. The Bible shows us how we learned to survive in large, anonymous societies, why our modern lives sometimes seem so pointless, and why we are so often nagged by what we should describe as a longing for Paradise. When viewed without its halo, the Bible has something important to say to… [Read more…] about The Good Book of Human Nature

Can Christians Support the Death Penalty?

by in Book Reviews

The answer to the question posed in the title of this post is no. A resounding, definitive, absolute no.

There are a great many issues that Christians can reasonably disagree on, but the death penalty isn’t one of them. A way of life focused on the grace and love of Jesus Christ leaves no room whatsoever for support of capital punishment. Not only that, but the Christian calling demands that we vehemently oppose the cycles of violence and injustice perpetuated by the continued practice of state sanctioned execution.

Don’t agree with me? Then I challenge you to read Shane Claiborne’s new book (released tomorrow), Executing Grace: How the Death Penalty Killed Jesus and Why It’s Killing Us (HarperOne, $17.99). And that’s not an empty challenge. If you’re a Christian who supports the death penalty and you’re willing to read Executing Grace with an open mind, email me at editor@unfundamentalistchristians.com and I’ll send a copy to you.* I’m confident that Claiborne’s passionate, comprehensive, and heart-wrenching examination of capital punishment provides what is, to my mind, an irrefutable case as to why Christians simply cannot support the death penalty.

In Executing Grace, Claiborne explores the theological, historical, and cultural factors that inform the modern practice of capital punishment, giving voice to the victims of unspeakable crimes, and telling the sobering stories of those who have perpetrated… [Read more…] about Can Christians Support the Death Penalty?

An Act of Love: Frank Schaefer, United Methodists and Homosexuality

by in Christian Issues, LGBT, Movie Reviews

If you pay attention to issues relating to homosexuality and Christianity, you probably know about Frank Schaefer, the United Methodist minister who was defrocked in 2013 for performing his son’s same-sex wedding. But unless you were directly involved with those events, you probably don’t know the details surrounding Schaefer’s trial or the deeply personal struggle his family faced.

The new documentary film An Act of Love brings the personal side of Schaefer’s story to the screen, casting valuable light on what was–depending on your perspective–either a valiant fight for orthodoxy, or a pivotal moment in Christianity’s move toward a more progressive stance on human sexuality.

Through candid and often touching interviews with Schaefer, his wife and children, members of his former church, and leaders within the United Methodist community, director Scott Sheppard examines Schaefer’s story as well as the ongoing divide over LGBT issues within the UMC denomination.

Particularly troubling, but sadly all too believable, is the revelation that the initial rancor within Schaefer’s congregation that ultimately led to his ouster had nothing to do a same-sex wedding, but instead stemmed from conflicts over contemporary versus traditional worship services. If we can’t negotiate compromise when it comes to choosing a guitar or a choir, how can we expect to reasonably deal with far more serious issues?

As the film makes clear, Schaefer is not alone in his struggle for a more… [Read more…] about An Act of Love: Frank Schaefer, United Methodists and Homosexuality

How LGBTQ People Can Revitalize Christianity

by in Book Reviews

Elizabeth Edman is a queer priest. She is also a priestly queer. It is from the perspective of these intertwined and inseparable identities that her new book (on sale tomorrow), Queer Virtue (Beacon Press, $25.95), challenges Christians to embrace queerness and to boldly proclaim a faith that “is and must be queer” (3).

Of course Edman doesn’t mean that straight Christians should turn gay. Queerness extends far beyond sexuality, it is “an impulse to disrupt any and all efforts to reduce into simplistic dualisms our experience of life, of God” (3). Queerness stands at direct odds with binary distinctions, legalism, and fundamentalism. It is an affront to the side of Christianity that dominates so much of the current public discourse about matters of faith and ethics.

Edman has had enough of the violence done in the name of Christianity—not just the physical, but also the spiritual, emotional, and psychological violence—and in Queer Virtue calls upon the progressive church to take back the ground they have ceded to the voices on the right and to embrace the “other,” to rupture the status quo, and to realize a new vision of personal and corporate religious life. It is her hope that lessons gleaned from queer experience “will provide trajectories for Christian inquiry that could bring new energy and urgency to the progressive church and its proclamation of the gospel” (13).

In Queer Virtue, Edman explores the essential teachings of Christian… [Read more…] about How LGBTQ People Can Revitalize Christianity

The Sin of Certainty

by in Book Reviews

Usually as I read a book that I’m planning to review, I’ll make note of particularly quotable sentences and paragraphs. When I’m done with the book, I’ll have a nice collection of excerpts to build my review around.

But after one chapter of Peter Enns’ new book, The Sin of Certainty (HarperOne, $25.99), I realized that approach wouldn’t work — virtually every page offers pithy and profound insight and wisdom.

Finding relevant excerpts to quote for a review wasn’t a matter of plucking a few needles from a haystack, this book is all needles, and sharp ones at that!

Just now I flipped to four random pages that contained these gems:

“The problem is trusting our beliefs rather than trusting God” (21)

“The long Protestant quest to get the Bible right has not led to greater and greater certainty about what the Bible means. Quite the contrary. It has led to a staggering number of different denominations and sub denominations that disagree sharply about how significant portions of the Bible should be understood. I mean, if the Bible is our source of sure knowledge about God, how do we explain all this diversity? Isn’t the Bible supposed to unify us rather than divide us?” (52)

“Life’s challenges mock and then destroy a faith that rests on correct thinking and the preoccupation with defending it. And this is a good thing. Life’s challenges clear the clutter so we can see more clearly that faith calls for trust instead.” (116)

“All Christians… [Read more…] about The Sin of Certainty

The Jihad of Jesus

by in Book Reviews, Islam

For many people, the word jihad is likely to conjure up images of bearded men wearing suicide vests, of black-robed militants brandishing AK-47s, or of clandestine terrorist cells plotting to overthrow the United States.

But what if, instead of representing violence, hate, war, and death, jihad was understood as a nonviolent struggle for peace, justice, understanding, and love?

In his book The Jihad of Jesus (Wipf & Stock, $22), Dave Andrews draws upon Christian and Muslim history, theology, tradition, and scripture in a quest to reclaim jihad as a powerful challenge for both Christians and Muslims “to practice the radical, alternative, participatory, empowering, nonviolent jihad of Jesus” (163).

Andrews readily acknowledges the checkered history of both these Abrahamic faiths, and offers a sobering and honest examination of the violence that has occurred in the name of Christ and Allah throughout history. This leads him to address an all-important question head-on:

“Are the atrocities that are done in the name of Christianity or Islam true indicators of the nature of Christianity or Islam, or not?” (53)

His answer to that question is one that he realizes many people will characterize as “heresy, even blasphemy” (71). Andrews believes that, yes, the cruelties perpetrated in the name of Christianity and Islam are not mere aberrations of inherently peaceful faiths, but instead are a natural out-working of the “closed set… [Read more…] about The Jihad of Jesus

Review: Life's Too Short to Pretend You're Not Religious

by in Book Reviews

I recently asked my Facebook friends what connotations the term “religious” has for them. The answers ran the gamut, from the generally positive:
“sacred space,” “ritualistic,” “disciplined,” “a shared set of beliefs and moral standards”
to the safely neutral:
“vague,” “subscribing to a particular religion. no more, no less,” “parameters of how they view life.”
to the negative:
“intolerant,” “wrapped up in the letter of the law,” “makes me cautious,” “ick” “conjure[s] up derision,” “suspicion”
and even the outright hostile, in the form of a hastily retracted comment of “deluded” and “mean.”

It’s toward those on the negative end of the spectrum that David Dark’s new book, Life’s Too Short to Pretend You’re Not Religious (InterVarsity Press, $20), is addressed. Dark argues that the term “religious” has become an unnecessary source of exclusion and judgment, a pejorative used to marginalize and suppress those with whom we disagree.

Dark makes an end run around the negative connotations, neatly avoiding both the knotty metaphysical issues behind religious belief as well as the pragmatic realities of thousands of years of human religious practice. Instead, he proposes radically redefining the entire notion of religion, characterizing it as simply the “controlling story” of our lives (14).

Given that definition, we are all, whether we admit it or not, deeply religious. We all have a narrative that we live by, we all have commitments and priorities and values that shape… [Read more…] about Review: Life's Too Short to Pretend You're Not Religious

Is The Bible Lying?

by in Christian Issues

A commenter on this blog recently left this pithy query:
“Lev 18:22. Or is the bible lying?”
In case you’re not an expert on Levitical law, or if you’re not so obsessed with homosexuality that you’ve memorized every supposed biblical prohibition against it, Leviticus 18:22 reads:
“You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.”
Though the original comment is ostensibly a response to the (blasphemous!) idea that the Bible does not actually condemn homosexuality, and though it lacks a developed argument, it’s a fine example of the sort of mindset that drives many conservative Christians, especially regarding contentious moral issues.

If I can be so bold as to guess at what the commenter is driving at, I think it’s something along these lines:

Lev 18:22 is an explicit condemnation of (male) homosexual activity.
The Bible is either true and homosexual behavior is indeed “an abomination,” or else the Bible is “lying” and homosexual behavior is not morally wrong.
Therefore those who believe that homosexual behavior isn’t inherently immoral believe that the Bible is not true — that it’s lying — in this verse (and probably many others).

I’m not particularly interested in the veracity of the claim made in Leviticus 18:22. Yes, on its own it seems to be a clear condemnation of homosexuality. But the important point is that the verse can’t be taken on its own. To extract that verse from the Bible and use it in the way this commenter… [Read more…] about Is The Bible Lying?