Unfundamentalist

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Conservatives Double-Down on Archaic Views on Sexuality, Bigots Sing Their Praise

by Matthew Distefano in LGBT

Please note: This is purely satirical.

A coalition of predominantly white, male, conservative Christians recently put their John Hancock to what is being called “The Nashville Statement,” to the surprise of no one. In it, they not only make it clear that the Christian God is opposed to any romantic relationship outside of a heterosexual partnership, but that in order to follow this God, one must affirm the same thing (see Article X). While many are denouncing the theology espoused in this confession of faith, others, like Westboro Baptist Church member Atticus Beauregard Chesterfield, are championing it. I had the chance to catch up with this gentleman for a quick Q&A.
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Matthew: Atticus, what are your thoughts on the Statement?

Atticus: Well, it’s obvious that what these godly folks are doing is a righteous thing in the eyes of the Almighty God. If you’ve ever read the Bible, you’ll understand what I mean. Sodomites have no place in the kingdom of God; the Bible is clear.

Matthew: When you say “Sodomites,” I assume you are referring to the Sodom and Gomorrah story from the book of Genesis?

Atticus: That’s right partner! Them faggots were doing abominable things, so God, in all his wrath and fury, struck them sumbitches down. And for good measure, he got that wicked wife of Lot too! Serves them right for being queer and all.

Matthew: Don’t you think that story isn’t so… [Read more…] about Conservatives Double-Down on Archaic Views on Sexuality, Bigots Sing Their Praise

Whose Feet?

by Darrell Lackey in Christian Issues

Even given all the disagreement within the Christian tradition as to theology and church polity, one would hope we still agree that Christians are to serve others with humility and grace. Like the Lord we claim to follow, we are the ones to be washing feet and not the other way around (John 13).

But whose feet are we to wash? Do we wash only the feet of those we agree with, who are a part of our tribe, who we consider friends? Only other Christians — and even then — only those we agree with? Whose feet? Relatedly, are we endorsing or participating somehow, in the views or actions of others, when we serve them?

And what does it mean to serve someone? Is it serving only if done privately? Is it serving if done as a part of business — where profit or employment is involved? We often hear businesses talk about “serving” their customers. Would they serve if we didn’t pay? I doubt it. However, don’t many Christians talk about their businesses as more than just a way to make a living or profit? Don’t they often see them as vehicles for serving others, beyond a profit motive? Can Christians really compartmentalize the times and moments of their calling to serve others?

Let’s look at two specific times Jesus served people who, if we consider his divinity, he knew everything about; or, if we consider his humanity, he knew little-to-nothing about (paradox anyone?). The first is the wedding at Cana (John 2).

Jesus and his mother are invited to a wedding. The host… [Read more…] about Whose Feet?

What If the Great Command of Jesus Was Literally the Entire Point of Following His Ways?

by Sheri Faye Rosendahl in Christian Issues

What if the Great Command of Jesus – love others — was literally the entire point of following his ways? What if you didn’t have an underlying motive of, I don’t know, conversion? What if you are not meant to be a little messiah and in your attempts to “save” others, you are actually putting yourself on a pedestal which effectively dehumanizes others?

To be perfectly transparent, as I expand, I want to challenge your thinking. I want you to rethink your “mission” because I believe you were put on this earth for a greater purpose, one that is far too often overlooked.

Let us ponder Christian ministries for a moment. Basically, these ministries tend to consist of some like-minded folk with a heart for fill-in-the-blank cause in which they are trying to help a need. I’m going to zone in on a particular type of ministry, but the idea can apply to any.

A lot of churches have programs to assist refugees; there is a definite need and it seems to be trendy right now. We see ministries that do things like offer ESL classes and help new arrivals furnish their homes and navigate their new communities. All helpful things, right? The answer is yes, these are helpful things.

However, if I am being honest, it often gets weird quick.

Have you ever heard testimonials or received an email update in which a ministry explains how many people they have “saved?” Or maybe you have read one of those super-secret emails asking for prayers for the opportunity to evangelize… [Read more…] about What If the Great Command of Jesus Was Literally the Entire Point of Following His Ways?

Hell by Way of a Gingerbread Cookie

by Randal Rauser in Christian Issues

This post is chapter 14 of theologian Randal Rauser’s new book What’s So Confusing About Grace?, a memoir chronicling a journey out of fundamentalism and into the messy gospel of grace.

So how do people end up in hell if it is not simply because they goofed? To answer that question, I’d like to take a journey back for a moment to one day in kindergarten, just a few months after my conversion. It all started with a cookie, but not just any cookie. This was a special cookie.

First, I should provide some background. We’d been looking forward to Friday the whole week, for it was the day the entire kindergarten class would be able to decorate our very own gingerbread cookies with candies and sparkles. Then the cookies would be baked in the school oven and at the end of the day each of us would be able to take our very own creation home. My creative process went very well. I channeled the inspiration of Michelangelo as I expertly placed the sparkles in the frosting trim and planted several brightly colored Smarties buttons on the chest.

A Brief Sidebar on Smarties
Just for the record, I grew up in Canada and so I’m referring here to Canadian Smarties which are similar to M&Ms. Thus Canadian Smarties are a very different confection from American Smarties which are called Rockets in Canada. I tell you this because I want to be clear that I would never dream of using American Smarties/Rockets (chalky medicinal pellets that they are) as buttons on a… [Read more…] about Hell by Way of a Gingerbread Cookie

When the Bible Doesn’t Give You History

by Zach Christensen in Christian Issues

“If you can’t trust the Bible on one thing, you can’t trust it on anything.” This sentiment is popular among many Christians and is the measuring rod by which they evaluate the Bible. They impose specific standards on the Bible, demanding that it behave in accordance with their expectations. The Bible is either facts or it is fairy tales — there allegedly cannot be any other categories.

But what if the Bible doesn’t line up with history? Was Abraham really a camel herder when camels weren’t domesticated until several centuries after he would have lived? Did a literal two million Israelites leave Egypt without leaving a trace of evidence? Did Jesus die on the day of Passover, as Mark’s Gospel says? Or did Jesus die on the Day of Preparation, as John’s Gospel says?

I remember facing these questions years ago and having an onslaught of anxiety, feeling the need to force the Bible to fit into my assumptions of how it ought to be. However, I realized that if my understanding of the Bible was hanging on how the previous questions were answered, I wasn’t allowing the Bible to speak for itself and be what it is.

In the ancient near-eastern world, history was viewed differently than it is today. Instead of compiling lists of facts, people took history and reshaped it for didactic (or teaching) functions.

I believe there is a historical core behind the Abraham stories, but he was probably a herder of donkeys, and the stories of Abraham were probably written down after… [Read more…] about When the Bible Doesn’t Give You History

Gagnon out at PC(USA) Seminary

by Don M. Burrows in LGBT

Photo by Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.Finally, Robert Gagnon – the anti-gay theologian whose abuse of scholarship was rivaled only by his abuse of people – is out at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. A link that once led to his faculty webpage there has been 404’d, and Gagnon himself has issued a breathless statement on Facebook about his departure.

This one was not really hard to see coming. Pittsburgh Theological Seminary is affiliated with the LGBT-affirming Presbyterian Church (USA) denomination, and his virulent, often erratic behavior toward anyone who disagrees with him is not the sort of thing institutions typically wish from their scholars. Indeed, Gagnon has a penchant for cherry-picking or outright rejecting mainstream scholarship (and even entire fields of study), and anyone who engages in such practices does not belong in an academic institution.

Gagnon himself appears to realize this, as, in the announcement of his resignation, he pines for employment at an evangelical institution, noting (correctly) that “it seems unlikely, given my stances on sexual ethics and Scripture, that any university religion department or mainline denominational seminary would take me.” It’s amusing how Gagnon truncates his tendency lump gays and lesbians in with pedophiles and his obsession with the “perversion” of LGBT people as merely “sexual ethics and Scripture,” but I digress.

More likely, institutions will be loath to hire him because of… [Read more…] about Gagnon out at PC(USA) Seminary

Can Progressive Christians Reclaim Ancient Creeds?

by William Stell in Christian Issues

Until last year, creeds played no role in my personal religious life. I grew up Baptist, then moseyed over into non-denominational evangelicalism as a teenager, then ran for cover under the United Church of Christ as a young adult. For the past year, I have been serving as the pastor of a Presbyterian church, and in keeping with its Reformed tradition, this church recites a creed (usually the Apostles’ Creed) every Sunday. True confession: I didn’t know that this was a thing for Presbyterians until after I signed the papers and became this church’s pastor.
When I learned that I was expected to lead the Apostles’ Creed on a weekly basis, part of me wanted to push back. Turns out, I’m still a bit of a Southern Baptist, muttering under my breath, “We don’t need them creeds — the Bible’s good enough, dammit!” Even more so, though, I am a progressive Christian, mindful of the baggage that creeds carry and the pitfalls that they can open up.
Here are just three illustrations of what I mean by baggage and pitfalls:

Throughout history, the powers that be have used creeds as tyrannical tests of faith, whereby sincere people of God have been sanctimoniously labeled “heretics,” denied fellowship, and even murdered.
Creeds can easily become idols made of words. People assume that their creed of preference perfectly conveys divine truth, assume that finite language is somehow equivalent to infinite mystery, assume that God can be conveniently contained in their doctrinal boxes.… [Read more…] about Can Progressive Christians Reclaim Ancient Creeds?

If We Don’t Want to See Another Charlottesville, Silence Is Not an Option

by Sheri Faye Rosendahl in Current Events

When will we all truly speak out against the blatant racism that embodies this self-proclaimed Christian nation? We just watched hundreds of white supremacists, adorned in KKK and Nazi gear, stroll through the University of Virginia with tiki torches shouting phrases like “blood and soil” as they encircled and even attacked counter-protesters. We then watched the following day as up to a thousand white fascists rallied in this small college town and as they were met with the resistance of, you know, people not okay with blatant racism, violence broke out and a white terrorist drove a car into the crowd of counter-protesters killing one woman. We should all be vocally outraged — silence is not an option.

I can’t fathom the fact that still so many are silent. Still, this past Sunday, we saw many Christian pastors refusing to take an active stance against the clear violent racism in this nation. I’m sure some won’t speak out because they probably also hold some racist ideology, but other pastors won’t speak out because their fear of losing some of the support of their congregation has overpowered their desire to follow the ways of Jesus.

In following the ways of Jesus, it should not be hard to speak out against racism. There is nothing brave about it, it’s simply a clear distinction between right and wrong. Seriously, those who are still in denial about how deeply ingrained this issue is in our nation: what more do you need to happen before you stop hiding in… [Read more…] about If We Don’t Want to See Another Charlottesville, Silence Is Not an Option

The Painful Truth About Charlottesville 

by Janene Cates Putman in Current Events

The events in Charlottesville, VA last weekend have saddened, angered, and activated me. But as we met together in our faith community on Sunday morning, our pastor encouraged us: We were made for so much more than this! He went on to quote an author who said, “It’s as if we’re walking around in shoes a size too small.”

I’m a born and bred Southerner, y’all, and can “Bless Your Heart” in a hot minute. I was raised in the deep South where segregation was still a reality, even though integration was the law. In my hometown, into the 70s and 80s, there were two sides of the tracks, each side based on skin color. In a neighboring town was an active KKK chapter.

Fortunately, my family was not and is not racist, which is a minor miracle for that time and place. Maybe that’s why I’m so disheartened by last weekend’s events. I grew up singing, “Jesus loves the little children … Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight.”

If this is true of Jesus — and it is — it most certainly can be true of his followers. Have you ever worn a pair of shoes that were too small for your feet? Maybe that cute pair you’d been eying all season was drastically marked down and they only had the size smaller than you normally wear.

We make all kinds of excuses: they’ll stretch out when I wear them, beauty is pain, it’s more important to look good than to feel good. Those shoes might work for a time or two, but eventually you’ll either stop wearing them because of the… [Read more…] about The Painful Truth About Charlottesville 

Why I Support Marriage Equality

by Ellen Kozisek in LGBT

Growing up, homosexuality wasn’t addressed in my religious education — or elsewhere, for that matter. I wasn’t taught that it was bad, not because I had enlightened teachers, but simply because it wasn’t seen as an issue. Or so it seems from what I remember. My experience was that homosexuality was something out there in the greater world, but not an issue for me or the people in my life. (I can see now, though, how coming to terms with being homosexual could be a challenging process when coming out of a similar experience growing up.)

In my religious education I learned about morality. I learned that we are responsible for making good moral choices. And that the Holy Spirit guides each of us. I came to understand that we each are responsible for choosing to do what is right in our own life. The church guides us and helps us, but we, ultimately, are responsible for choosing what’s right.

I also learned that we are not supposed to judge others, that judgment belongs to God. This value is central to who I am. I learned that we are supposed to love one another. Everyone. Love your enemy. If they are human, love them. Loving others and not judging them fit together closely for me.

Along with that, I also always understood homosexuality as something innate. Finding one’s own gender attractive is not something one chooses. And, thus, not something that can be a sin.

Because of all that I came to the viewpoint, as far as looking at and understanding homosexuality, that… [Read more…] about Why I Support Marriage Equality