Guest Author

From the Christian mother of a transgender teen

July 9, 2014 by Guest Author in Christian Issues

This letter was sent to John Shore:

Dear John,

Sometimes I think that being able to see from the perspective of a mother what my daughter (who is now my son) went through before his admission of his true self shows why God is with us, no matter what.

My son was never an ordinary daughter. I did not, for instance, ever know what the current fashion style of teenage girls was, because “she” didn’t wear teenage girl clothes.

But the darkness, the two years of depression, and of wondering if I was going to come home to find a suicide attempt or worse, was very real and frightening.

Once my daughter admitted who he really was, however, the one thing that I knew in the back of my head—even though at first I couldn’t quite come to terms with it—was that a great relief had taken place. All of a sudden, the eyes of my child were more alight, the shoulders no longer hunched over. And the laughter was back. The beautiful belly laugh that was silenced for two long long years was back.

Although that great happiness came back, the change was still hard for me to come to terms with. I wondered what Christian friends would think. My son sent out a message to all the people whom he wanted to know, and they have been nothing but supportive and loving.

That is what being a Christian is all about. Accepting the person. Loving them through the dark times, and supporting them when and if they come to terms with who they are.

We are all children of God, and for me to say that my child will… [Read more…] about From the Christian mother of a transgender teen

When is the Southern Baptist Convention a cult?

June 11, 2014 by Don M. Burrows in Christian Issues, LGBT

Not much that comes out of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) shocks me anymore. As a resident of the south for 15 years, I witnessed the enforced hegemony [leadership or dominance, esp. by one country or social group over others–ed]: of the Southern Baptists, and on a number of occasions was targeted by its leaders.

So it was with little surprise that I read the two biggest news items to come out of this week’s SBC convention: a resolution condemning transgender people, and the election of a new SBC president, Dr. Ronnie Floyd of Springdale, Ark (above).

I’m familiar with Floyd, the head of a series of mega-churches, schools, and related venues in Northwest Arkansas, where I used to work as a journalist. Once, when I took it upon myself to write a column pointing out the myriad factual problems (which amounted to unbridled Islamophobia) in a series of Floyd’s televised sermons on Islam immediately after 9/11, I was met with literally hundreds of letters from Floyd’s fundie flock, each assuring me that I was going to hell, and that their pastor “spoke nothing but the truth,” and “only the Word of God.” Indeed, at the time, lest anyone doubt the authority of his words, Floyd’s lectern was emblazoned with “Word of God” in large letters across the front.

Floyd is the author of the 2004 book The Gay Agenda, an almost wildly paranoiac screed in which, for starters, Floyd: accuses other clergy of blasphemy for taking a different stance from his on… [Read more…] about When is the Southern Baptist Convention a cult?

Keeping Jesus, Letting Go of Christian Exceptionalism

June 9, 2014 by Chuck Queen in Christian Spirituality

The degree to which Christianity will contribute to a more equitable and just world will depend largely, I believe, upon the degree to which Christians can let go of their exclusive claims on God and deepen their actual commitment to the way of Jesus.

This letting go will not come easy for many steeped in traditional forms of Christianity. Christian exceptionalism is deeply entrenched within the general Christian culture—and often feeds upon American exceptionalism, which our political leaders use to justify all sorts of intrusive and unjust polices and actions, such as drone strikes in other countries.

The wave of controversy sparked by a Coca-Cola ad which ran during the Super Bowl is a good example of how embedded in our culture American exceptionalism is. The ad featured diverse voices singing America, the Beautiful in languages other than English. Apparently, some (or perhaps many) Americans believe that true Americans must speak English regardless of what other languages they may know.

Many Christians believe just as strongly that God’s true people must speak the language of Christian faith.

An English teacher once told me that in the original version of the Wizard of Oz, the Emerald City was not any greener than any other city. The wizard had put green spectacles on everyone so that to them everything appeared green.

Many of us were taught to see the world through Christian-colored glasses. Those who taught us were not bad people who were… [Read more…] about Keeping Jesus, Letting Go of Christian Exceptionalism

‘Good’ Demons Vs. ‘Bad’ Angels

June 2, 2014 by Don M. Burrows in Christian History

I’m a huge fan of the CW show Supernatural. In fact, one could write an entire series of posts on the theological masterpiece it is for exploring the human condition even amidst its fantastical plots.

For those who are unaware, the show focuses on two brothers who hunt supernatural monsters, though the majority of seasons have been preoccupied with the battles between demons and angels, apocalypses, and the rivalries of Lucifer and his archangel brothers. For anyone invested in Christian mythology and interested in the explorations of good and evil, the existence or absence of God, or the postmodern bending of moral absolutes, the show is a must.

So when my dissertation recently afforded me the chance to write a lengthy footnote on ancient demonology, I was (super)naturally stoked. My graduate minor is in religious studies, so any chance to intersect it with my major research interest (the ancient novel – and they’re more related than some may think) is met with atypical enthusiasm at this stage in the writing game.

In the show Supernatural, demons are said to be the damned souls of humans who have returned to earth from Hell. Now, I don’t actually believe in that sort of thing, but I don’t “believe” in talking dragons or emotional robots either, so bear with me.

For most of us raised in traditional Christian mythology, this probably screams as a sort of error. We all know, after all, that demons are of course the fallen angels who rebelled with… [Read more…] about ‘Good’ Demons Vs. ‘Bad’ Angels

God with me still. (For my teachers.)

June 1, 2014 by Sonja Lund in Poetry

From my family and my church

I learned how to pray

how to sing

how to ask questions in a manner

that wouldn’t make anyone

too uncomfortable. I learned

how to forgive so much

that when my mother expressed surprise

at how much I let my partner off the hook

all I could say was,

“I was taught to forgive.”

From my Jewish friends

I learned how to value community

how to observe holidays

when no one cares enough

to make it easier for you.

I learned how to persevere

when everyone around you

wants you to go away.

From my atheist friends

I learned how to ask

the uncomfortable questions

how to find the beautiful

and (dare I say) spiritual

in science and space.

I learned how to see my people

my family

through the eyes

of those who have no interest

in joining a congregation

no matter how many times

you invite them to church.

From my pagan friends and my witch friends

(because no, those two are not

the same thing)

I learned how to love ritual

how to use my body in prayer

how to bring Feeling to my worship

instead of sitting back

and expecting God

to do all the work.

From Rachel Held Evans,

Brian McLaren, Rob Bell,

and John Shore

I learned that questions

could be faithfully asked

while still being difficult,

that one can still be a Christian

while feeling like an outsider,

that ritual is not stuffy

or suspect

but Godly if I wish it to be.

From Justin Lee and my dear Stephen

I learned that queers like me

can be religious

What would Jesus make of Southern Baptist leader Al Mohler’s argument for the death penalty?

May 29, 2014 by Chuck Queen in Christian Issues

In a 2014 piece on CNN’s Belief Blog, Dr. Al Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (the flagship school of the Southern Baptist Convention and one of the largest seminaries in the world), argues that Christians should support capital punishment.

He mitigates that view with these three qualifications:

There should be every protection for the rights of the accused.

There should be every assurance that the social status of the murderer will not determine the sentence for the crime.

There should be no reasonable doubt that the accused is indeed guilty of the crime.

Having laid out those caveats, Mohler then asks:

Should Christians support the death penalty today? I believe that we must, with the considerations detailed above.

The first problem with Mohler’s reasoning is that we do not live in a just society—so entertaining the notion that the death penalty will be justly applied is wishful dreaming.

In his article Mohler admits as much:
Christians should be outraged at the economic and racial injustice in how the death penalty is applied. While the law itself is not prejudiced, the application of the death penalty often is. There is very little chance that a wealthy white murderer will ever be executed.

Shouldn’t a Christian who in principle supports the death penalty, but who also acknowledges all the current injustices associated with it, argue for a halt in the implementation of the death penalty until those injustices are corrected?

I lost my editor's job–but marriage equality won

May 14, 2014 by Don M. Burrows in LGBT

I am proud of my home state of Arkansas this week. Not just because a circuit judge rightly ruled the state’s ban on same-sex marriages unconstitutional, a pleasing albeit perhaps temporary victory.

No, I’m proud because even against a majority that seems to be against same-sex marriage, the state now has an attorney general who supports the right to marry for all, and is only defending the state’s ban out of professional obligation. I’m proud because my hometown courthouse in Fayetteville’s Washington County is gleefully still issuing licenses to same-sex couples despite the threat of a stay or appeal.

And I’m proud that, even if an appeal ends up keeping same-sex marriage illegal in Arkansas, the momentum is clearly heading in favor of marriage equality. Dozens of couples have received licenses the past few days, and Arkansans of all stripes have joyfully cheered them on. I have personally waited a long time to see this. Gay marriage is headed to God’s heartland.

The picture did not always look so promising. I was there 16 years ago when the issue of gay rights first officially arrived in Northwest Arkansas, a 22-year-old reporter for the Fayetteville newspaper and recovering fundamentalist. A plucky young alderman proposed before the Fayetteville City Council the Human Dignity Resolution, a nonbinding (except on the city) resolution that urged nondiscrimination in hiring and firing, including over matters of sexual orientation.

You’d have thought he set off a big gay… [Read more…] about I lost my editor's job–but marriage equality won

The Lies Christian Fundamentalism Taught Me

May 12, 2014 by Christy Caine in Fundamentalism

We recently published here a piece called Getting Over “Get Over It,” in which Sylvie King Parris asked the question:
How does one “get over” discovering that everything they’d been taught about God and religion since childhood was a lie?
Since then we have received comments challenging the idea that so much of what Christian fundamentalism teaches is, in fact, a lie. We’ve also been asked why some people can’t simply stop believing what they were taught as children. As one commenter to Ms. Parris’s piece put it on our Facebook page:
Everything they’ve been taught is a lie? Who has the authority to say this? … We CHOOSE what we believe – all of us.”
I was raised a fundamentalist Christian. Here is some of what we were taught, both explicitly and in a million different little ways, every single day of our lives:

You are worthless.
God hates you, unless you love him.
Obedience is love.
Punishment is love.
The Bible is infallible and not to be questioned.
The pastor is infallible and not to be questioned.
Our interpretation of all Scripture is without error and not to be questioned.
Outside the church bubble waits evil.
Everyone who is different should be feared.
Bad things happen to you because God is trying to teach you a lesson.
Bad things happen to you because God let Satan tempt you.
Bad things happen to you as a punishment for disobedience.
Depression is a sign of sin in your life.
To resist what you are taught is to rebel… [Read more…] about The Lies Christian Fundamentalism Taught Me

Evangelicals eagerly trade public prayer for their most "cherished" fundamental beliefs

May 7, 2014 by Don M. Burrows in Christian Issues

There is perhaps no greater irony in Christendom just now than fundamentalist Christians’ new and oft-repeated assertions that prayer is merely cultural or ceremonial, that Christians must not proselytize, and that their own religion should never be pressed upon the unwilling masses.

Oh, that doesn’t sound like the fundamentalist Christianity we have all so often witnessed and experienced? It sounds decidedly opposite of the ideologies for which Christian fundamentalists are so well known?

Well, that is precisely what is now routinely being argued by the legal teams representing conservative Christians who are fighting to “reclaim America for Christ,” or “take America back” or who lament “kicking God out of our schools,” etc., etc.

That’s just how it was rationalized in Monday’s Supreme Court case allowing prayers before city council meetings in Greece, N.Y., a decision hailed by the American Family Association as a victory for “religious liberty.” And what exactly was the majority opinion in this case? That it is okay for city council meetings to start with prayer, even prayer of a decidedly Christian stripe – and that if the town is going to invite a clergyperson in to pray in the first place, it cannot then censor that person’s prayer.

But like virtually all modern cases of this nature involving public prayer, the prayers before council meetings are restricted to being purely “ceremonial.” Writing for the majority, Justice Anthony Kennedy stipulates, no less… [Read more…] about Evangelicals eagerly trade public prayer for their most "cherished" fundamental beliefs

Fundy Christian college students who fear knowledge

May 2, 2014 by Don M. Burrows in Fundamentalism

In the wake of my review of the movie God’s Not Dead, a movie which I submit plays into conservative evangelicals’ narrative fantasy about secular universities, many have responded with anecdotal stories about this or that professor or university where they witnessed outright hostility toward fundamentalist Christians.

Does this hostility toward fundamentalists and/or Christians generally exist among college faculty? Sure, sometimes. But should anecdotal instances be inflated into a grand narrative concerning all of the thousands of professors who teach at our colleges nationwide? No.

Yet this narrative persists. At the beginning of almost every school year, some conservative pundit writes up a piece about how college will negatively affect your Christian children, with some even going so far as to say they shouldn’t attend at all. The drumbeat is always the same: university campuses are a hotbed of liberalism, where good Christian students will be tempted away from their faith.

This narrative is a fantasy, yes. But it’s true enough that sometimes there is grousing in faculty offices about fundamentalist students turning in papers—but not for the reasons many of these fundamentalists assume. It’s not because the professors simply disagree with them on the issues that they are asked to address. It’s because often said students reject the entire methodology of the class from the start; from the outset they reject the very critical tools they are supposed to be there… [Read more…] about Fundy Christian college students who fear knowledge