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From the Christian mother of a transgender teen

by 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?

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?

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

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?

Is… [Read more…] about What would Jesus make of Southern Baptist leader Al Mohler’s argument for the death penalty?

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

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

Top 7 claims for why homosexuality is "unnatural" refuted

by Lynette Cowper in Christian Issues, LGBT

Anti-LGBT groups routinely claim that homosexuality is “unnatural.” Let’s look at the seven most common arguments offered in support of that claim, shall we?

1. Only humans engage in same-sex relationships, so it must be unnatural.
False. Over 1000 species have been shown to engage in same-sex mating and pair-bonding.

2. Reproduction is the purpose of sex; same-sex intercourse cannot produce offspring; ergo, homosexuality is unnatural.
Based on an incorrect assumption. While reproduction is one function of sexual intercourse, it is far from the only one. Many animal species, including humans, engage in non-reproductive sexual behaviour. Among humans, the benefits of regular sexual intercourse are myriad. Various studies have found that it: improves one’s ability to deal with stress; lowers blood pressure; boosts antibody production; burns calories; reduces the chance of a heart attack; improves self-esteem; deepens intimacy; builds trust; makes one more generous; raises pain tolerance; reduces the risk of prostate cancer; reduces incontinence; improves sleep; stabilizes the menstrual cycle; improves bone and muscle health; keeps one’s skin looking more youthful; promotes longevity; improves tissue repair; reduces cholesterol; reduces depression; increases creativity; improves flexibility; relieves nasal congestion; heightens the sense of smell and taste; slows tooth decay; protects against osteoporosis; protects against… [Read more…] about Top 7 claims for why homosexuality is "unnatural" refuted

Samurai Ken Ham and the Biblical Watermelon

by in Christian Issues

As I’ve previously discussed, Ken Ham’s argument for Young Earth Creationism depends upon his slicing science into two kinds of science: historical and observational.

Ham contends that observational science, upon which everyone generally agrees, forms the basis of our modern technological accomplishments. But when it comes to historical science, Ham claims that we end up with profoundly different conclusions — for instance, evolution versus creation — because we’re analyzing the evidence from different worldviews. According to Ham, being a Christian (or a true Christian, anyway) means interpreting the historical scientific data through the Bible alone. If you’re not a Christian (or are simply a very misguided one), then you interpret the historical scientific data according to your own terribly flawed and sinful understanding.

To Ham, his interpretation of the historical evidence rests on God’s infallible Word, while everyone else’s interpretation of that evidence rests on their own utterly fallible assumptions. While Ham’s division of science is decidedly problematic (not to mention blatantly self-serving), there is a division to which all Christians really should pay attention: the text of the Bible and our interpretation of that text.

On the one hand we have the text of the Bible, written and collected and compiled and edited by many authors for many reasons over many, many years. Great! Unfortunately, we don’t have any of the… [Read more…] about Samurai Ken Ham and the Biblical Watermelon

The Embarrassing Speculations of Ken Ham

by in Christian Issues

This guest post is by UC supporter Pete Lefevre.

Out of a morbid sense of curiosity, I watched the Bill Nye/Ken Ham debate this past week. For me, the origins of our earth and our species have been amply explained through scientific inquiry and those who argue for a 6,000-year-old earth — who treat Genesis as a science and history textbook — have not fully considered the numerous and powerful arguments that might disturb their closed system.

That accusation might well be hurled back at me, so if you’ll allow me some special pleading, I was an adherent to the creationist view for many years. I’ve spent inordinate amounts of my life in American Evangelical Conservative Protestant churches. While this particular subculture of religious expression may not have a printed list of required political, historical, and scientific beliefs I can assure you that if you show any deviance from the expected norm (if, for example, you accept observation of redshift as a reliable dating mechanism for the universe, or accept natural selection as an explanation for the development and variety of life) you may find yourself isolated if not shunned. These churches are not open-ended discussion groups. It’s believe or leave.

So I suited up, showed up, and saluted the flag in a manner of speaking. But my inveterate reading habits did me in. I took great comfort and courage from much of the Bible. I also took great comfort and courage in reading Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, and Michio… [Read more…] about The Embarrassing Speculations of Ken Ham

Did the Ham/Nye debate really happen?

by in Christian Issues

While there’s plenty to discuss about what was (or wasn’t) said during the Ham/Nye debate, I think the crux of the whole affair comes down to how one understands science.

The foundation of Mr. Ham’s argument is his distinction between what he calls historical and observational science:
There’s experimental or observational science as we call it, that’s using the scientific method: observation, measurement, experiment, testing … all scientists, whether creationists or evolutionists actually have the same observational or experimental science … When we’re talking about origins, we’re talking about the past, we’re talking about our origin, we weren’t there, you can’t observe that, whether it’s molecules-to-man evolution or whether it’s the creation account. And when we’re talking about the past, we like to call that origins or historical science, knowledge concerning the past.
For Mr. Ham, this differentiation between past and present methodologies has profound implications:
You can’t observe the age of the earth, and I would say that comes under what we call historical origins science. Now, just so you can understand where I’m coming from, yes, we admit we build our historical origins science on the Bible … There’s only one infallible dating method, it’s the witness who was there, who knows everything, who told us, and that’s from the word of God.
But differentiating between observational and historical science is a contrived manipulation that bisects science in a way… [Read more…] about Did the Ham/Nye debate really happen?