Above All, Love
As evidence that God thinks homosexuality is a sin, Christians often point toward the story of Sodom and Gomorrah.
I’m very pro-Bible. I want to do what the Bible says. So let’s look at the story of Sodom and Gomorrah:… [Read more…] about Is "So don’t be gay" missing from my Bible’s translation of the Sodom and Gomorrah story?
The below originally appeared on Aaminah Khan’s terrific blog, Days Like Crazy Paving, where it was illustrated with the picture above and titled Muslim, queer, feminist: it’s as complicated as it sounds. I wanted to share it here (which I do with Aaminah’s permission) because I think it so perfectly illustrates the truth that we are all sailing in basically the same boat. Day by day I think we move toward one world. I love this particular step in that direction.
Take it away, Aaminah:… [Read more…] about A queer feminist Muslim you should meet
I’m not generally keen on acquiescing to authority. As a kid I couldn’t even manage to join the Cub Scouts. When I was just considering joining them, at some school function or something, the Grown Man Scout Leader—Sergeant Dad, or whatever he was called—barked, “Okay, new recruits! Line up! Let’s go! Single file!”… [Read more…] about All we rogues together
You meet a lot of good people blogging. One of the best I’ve met is Mike Moore of Asheville, NC, a man who, like most LGBT people, has every last reason to consider Christianity his enemy.… [Read more…] about Thanks, Christians, for making me live a lie
On February 13, The Washington Post reported the following:… [Read more…] about The State Marriage Defense Act. Really, Ted and Mike?
The reason anti-gay Christians invariably give for their conviction that homosexuality is an egregious sin against God is, “That’s what the Bible says.”*… [Read more…] about If you take Paul “literally” on homosexuality take Jesus literally on money
A question we are sometimes asked is: “Why the name Unfundamentalist? Wouldn’t it be better to define yourself by what you’re for, rather than what you’re against?”
Christian fundamentalism—and fundamentalistm of other varieties—is defined by and vigorously promotes everywhere authoritarianism, the oppression of women, homophobia, xenophobia, the “danger” of education, corporal punishment, a literal and inerrant view of scripture, “all or nothing” thinking, and a God whose primary function is to judge and punish.
We are for none of those things, hence our name.
Also, there is nothing wrong with defining oneself by what one opposes, if what one opposes is prevalent and evil. Martin Luther defined himself by opposing the wrongs of the Catholic Church. Gandhi defined himself by opposing the British occupation of India. Martin Luther King, Jr. defined himself by opposing racism.
To state that you oppose a negative is a positive.
We are not, however, purely oppositional. What we stand for and believe in is here.
John Shore, advice columnist for the Asheville Citizen-Times (the major daily newspaper of Asheville, North Carolina) is the founder of Unfundamentalist.… [Read more…] about To oppose a negative is a positive
(A great friend of Unfundamentalist Christians is a young woman named Nicole Villacres. I was recently poking about Nicole’s blog when I came across the piece below. I liked its honest, unpretentious heart; it has an old-school energy that I find refreshing and touching. So I asked Nicole if I could share it here, and appreciate her saying yes. — John Shore)… [Read more…] about "But that's what the Bible says about hell." Stop that!
A while back I ventured a few thoughts on some of the challenges inherent in interfaith marriages. In response an atheist friend of mine wrote and invited me to share with you the following letter:
I’m a bona fide marriage expert. Not because I have some fancy Ivy League degree hanging on my wall, nor because I’m a published marriage counselor—no, I’m a marriage expert because I’ve been married twice. I’m a big believer in the school of you-don’t-know-it-until-you’ve-done-it. Having done it twice, I now know it twice as well. Hence, marriage expert.
My first marriage was to a lovely woman of like-spirituality. We were both humanists (which is a fancy term for do-gooder atheists) of Jewish descent. That marriage failed when she realized that she didn’t love me. ME! How could she not love me? You probably don’t know me, but I am very lovable. I know this, because my second wife, an even more lovely Christian woman named Rachel, told me so. Rachel also told me that our marriage is a resounding success, and I believe her. We both have no doubt that we will be together until we die, at which point we will be separated. According to her, I will go to hell and she will go to heaven; in my version, we will both simply be dead. Either way, we won’t be together anymore, and that’s sad.
Rachel is a Christian and I am a heretical Jewish humanist. How can this marriage of ours really be a success? How can we fully be together when we don’t share the same spirituality?… [Read more…] about From an atheist married to a Christian
(A woman wrote to share with me that, in all ways but legally, she is equally married to both a man and a woman. I asked my new acquaintance if she would be willing to let me interview her about that. At first she was reticent—but, as she put it, “the opportunity to share with others a glimpse into our life is too good to pass up.” So here’s our interview.)… [Read more…] about A love "bigger than two": one polyamorous relationship
