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Above All, Love

Current Events

Your "Deeply Held Religious Belief" Isn't Biblical

by April Kelsey in Christian Issues, Current Events

Most of us know the story. An Oregon bakery was found guilty of discrimination and ordered to pay $135,000 in emotional damages for refusing to make a wedding cake for a gay couple, the business owners claiming that such an act would violate their “religious beliefs” against gay marriage.

The phrase “deeply held religious beliefs” has taken center stage in several recent legal battles — most notably in the Hobby Lobby birth control case, and again when a photographer in New Mexico refused to photograph a gay wedding.

The more I hear the words “deeply held religious belief,” the more uneasy I feel. I wasn’t sure why until I had read through the umpteenth article on the subject. And that’s when I realized that the so-called “beliefs” being defended aren’t actually rooted in scripture.

The verse that nearly all of these Christians cite in support of their behavior is Romans 1:32, claiming that it says God not only judges people who sin, but also those who simply approve of sin.

First of all, there is absolutely nothing in the Bible that says selling someone a product in the course of legal business shows approval of the buyer’s lifestyle or behavior. Nothing.

Second, that’s not what the scripture even says. Here it is, in context:

“Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness,… [Read more…] about Your "Deeply Held Religious Belief" Isn't Biblical

Flags, Guns and Christians

by in Christian Issues, Current Events

Last Friday the Confederate flag came down in South Carolina, the result of a national debate prompted by photos of Charleston shooter Dylann Roof proudly holding that flag.

I fully support the exclusion of the Confederate flag from public life. It’s a symbol of hatred, violence, and divisiveness that has no meaningful place in modern American society. When a symbol becomes a constant reminder of the worst of human behavior, when it instils fear and incites violence, when it divides and provokes, then it’s time to relegate it to the dustbin of history.

But amid all the hullabaloo over the Confederate flag, we’re ignoring a far more important issue. How is it that nine innocent people can be brutally gunned down by someone who shouldn’t have had a gun in the first place, and we end up talking more about a flag than the murder weapon?

The decision to ditch the Confederate flag is a small concession that, though symbolically important, overshadows the far more significant issue of gun violence in America. We’re living through an alarming rise of gun-related violence, yet as a society we remain frustratingly divided on the issue of guns.

Why haven’t the shootings in Aurora, Oak Creek, Newtown, Charleston, and myriad other locales across the United States spurred us to action?

Why aren’t Americans united in an effort to pass tougher gun laws, to plug legal loopholes, to develop better mental health resources, and to end the epidemic of gun violence?

And why aren’t Christians… [Read more…] about Flags, Guns and Christians

Breaking Down Southern Baptist Rhetoric Against Same-Sex Marriage

by Chuck Queen in Christian Issues, Current Events

While Southern Baptists have been vocally repenting of their support for slavery and Jim Crow since 1995, they have done virtually nothing to actually make amends. One of their own members, an African American pastor, noted that if the SBC was serious they would champion policies that would actually make a difference, such as criminal justice reform, education reform, and the alleviation of child poverty (and we could add others like immigration reform and confronting voter suppression laws).

So, did Southern Baptists make any attempt to bring forth fruits worthy of repentance when they met in Columbus for their annual meeting (the hate killing of the Emanuel Nine took place after their convention)? Oh no, it was oppositional energy that fueled the fire, not a vision for the common good.

Instead they passed a resolution against same-sex marriage asserting that traditional marriage is the clear teaching of Scripture. In a statement supporting the resolution issued by current SBC President Ronnie Floyd and signed by 16 past presidents they affirmed, among other things,
What the Bible says about marriage is clear, definitive, and unchanging. We affirm biblical, traditional, natural marriage as the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant for a lifetime. The Scriptures’ teaching on marriage is not negotiable.
Ronnie Floyd, addressing the Convention said,
Our first commitment is to God and his word – nothing else and no one else. And I want to remind everyone today, humbly,… [Read more…] about Breaking Down Southern Baptist Rhetoric Against Same-Sex Marriage

Will Someone Please Tell Christians That the LGBT War Is Over?

by in Christian Issues, Current Events, LGBT

View image | gettyimages.com

On March 9, 1974, Hiroo Onoda, a Lieutenant in the Imperial Japanese Army, at the behest of his former commanding officer, turned over his sword and rifle and formally surrendered to authorities, thus ending his 30-year holdout in the Philippines where he had continued to fight in a war that he refused to believe was over. He was one of the last Japanese holdouts, soldiers who, due to poor communications or misguided loyalty, continued to fight for months and years after Japan’s surrender.

On June 26, 2015, the United States Supreme Court, in its decision on Obergefell v. Hodges, declared that same-sex marriage is legal in all 50 states. But Christians across the country refuse to accept the implications of that decision. Like the Japanese holdouts after Word War II, they continue to fight on, seemingly oblivious to the political, social and theological realities around them.

Here are a few excerpts (reproduced verbatim) from some of the emails received by the NALT Christians Project in just the last 3 days from Christians who have hunkered down in their theological bunkers and continue to take pot shots at anyone who poses a challenge to their beliefs:

While the bible does not mention homosexuality in the majority of scripture, the fact that is in mentioned and clearly defined as sin, is enough.

—————————————————-

u err, and teach others to do the same. which makes u a… [Read more…] about Will Someone Please Tell Christians That the LGBT War Is Over?

Love Doesn't Really Win (or does it?)

by Chuck Queen in Current Events

View image | gettyimages.com
On Friday, June 19, Dylann Roof, charged with nine counts of murder in the shooting deaths that occurred at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, appeared before a bond hearing court. Family members and friends were permitted to speak to the suspect. Roof could hear them, but he couldn’t see them.

Chief Justice James Gosnell powerfully set the tone before inviting statements [these statements can be read here],
 Charleston is a very strong community. We have big hearts. We’re a very loving community. We’re going to reach out to everyone, all victims…

We have victims, nine of them. But we also have victims on the other side. There are victims on this young man’s side of the family. Nobody would have ever thrown them into the whirlwind of events that they have been thrown into. We must find it in our heart, at some point in time [the judge here perceptively knows that forgiveness is a process], not only to help those that are victims, but to also help his family as well.
What a great example of how a magistrate can create a context for grace to prevail over condemnation.

Anger was clearly acknowledged, but in redemptive, not destructive ways. Felicia Sanders, mother of Tywanza Sanders said,
We welcomed you Wednesday night in our Bible study with open arms. You have killed some of the most beautiful people that I know. Every fiber in my body hurts … and I’ll never be the same. Tywanza was my son … my hero … may… [Read more…] about Love Doesn't Really Win (or does it?)

Compassion for the Charleston shooter

by in Current Events

View image | gettyimages.com

As I learn more about the shooter, even through my anger, I can feel compassion for him.

How? Why?

Because he’s a screwed up kid who had a shitty life who clearly never had the love he needed to be nurtured and whole. And who, in that void, filled his life with destructive things.

So let’s talk about white culture … and how it throws children away.

Let’s talk about how heterosexual marriages of one man and one woman aren’t some utopian panacea of ideal parenting.

Let’s talk about the lack of family counseling, the lack of human knowledge and understanding of human psychology, the lack of healthy communication and relationship development.

I’ve asked myself, “who am I angry with?”

And it’s us. I’m mad at us. I’m angry that in 2015, with all that we know and all that we have — the vast resources available to us as a country — we still can’t get our shit together to have a better society than we do.

And I’m angry with people who don’t get it, people who don’t understand, who can’t see the big picture, and who return to their self-protective ego defenses of denying, defending, deflecting, minimizing and rationalizing in matters such as these.

If you don’t understand racism — don’t act like it doesn’t exist.

If you don’t understand human psychology – don’t act like it doesn’t exist.

If you don’t understand why we’re so upset “this time” — you haven’t been paying attention to the cumulative effect of all the other times.

As mothers, we… [Read more…] about Compassion for the Charleston shooter

The Duggars: Privilege and Personal Irresponsibility

by Don M. Burrows in Christian Issues, Current Events, Fundamentalism

View image | gettyimages.com

Nothing has laid bare how obviously conservatives’ own privilege trumps the “personal responsibility” they demand of everyone else than the ongoing saga regarding Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar’s oldest progeny and his apparent teenage preoccupation with molesting young girls.

On the one hand, the Duggars are so committed to sexual responsibility that they adhere to a rigid gender and procreative ideology that eschews all sexuality outside of heterosexual marriage, birth control (even within said marriage), and of course abortion, to the point that they will blithely imply that anyone who falls outside their sexual orthodoxy is prone to molest and prey on children.

On the other hand is their son Josh Duggar, who we now know made it a recurring habit as a youngster to not only molest females while they slept, but to do so to his own sisters, who were as young as 5 years old, annihilating pretty much every sexual taboo across cultures worldwide.

Yet of course, the Duggars are the true victims, as they told Fox News Wednesday night, because:

Liberals have it in for them, because they’re “Christian.” Actually, if liberals have it in for the Duggars, it’s because of the very public campaigns they’ve waged against equal rights for gays and lesbians throughout the years. Liberals don’t have a problem with “Christians” overall. Many liberals are Christians.
The wicked Springdale Police Department released a report via the… [Read more…] about The Duggars: Privilege and Personal Irresponsibility

Welcome Dan Wilkinson, UC's new editor

by in Current Events

Since its launching in June 2013 I’ve been editor of this blog, choosing, editing, and finding an image for each piece published here, interfacing with the folks at Patheos, etc. It’s work in which I’ve taken a great deal of pleasure. Running this blog, which has been viewed over 1,340,000 times,  has allowed me to recapture some of the cooperative team spirit I so relished during the years I worked as a magazine editor. Finding and respectfully presenting new writing talent is one of my favorite things in the world to do.

From its inception, Dan Wilkinson (that’s him above, turning a mountain into a Barcalounger) has proven invaluable to this blog. Besides being a web Jedi always ready to solve any techie-style problem that arises on the blog, Dan is a fine writer who possesses a keen analytical mind that he has used, through his writing on this blog, to become a respected book reviewer.

It was Dan who, years ago, first phoned me to ask if there was anything he could do to help Unfundamentalist Christians become more than a document I wrote. And he’s been with me ever since. No one could ask for a better partner.

Today I’m handing the UC blog over to Dan; he is its new executive editor. As I’ll soon start sharing about on my blog, my life has altered in such a way that I can no longer properly serve this blog’s writers or readers. That is a positive thing for me, and is certain, with Dan at its helm, to be a positive thing for this humble little outpost in… [Read more…] about Welcome Dan Wilkinson, UC's new editor

Shoe Polish, Gospel Gratitude, and Teacher Appreciation Week

by Jill Crainshaw in Current Events


Today (May 4) through May 8 is National PTA’s Teacher Appreciation Week.

“Shoe polish,” he said. “Listen to the words. Consonants and vowels feel and sound a certain way when you say them. ‘Shoe polish.’ Don’t you just love that sound?”

Mr. Rogers was my high school English teacher. He loved words and the artistic work of putting words together to make sentences. Mr. Rogers was also enamored of novelists who wove sentences together into tales in which memorable protagonists grappled with life’s deepest questions.

“Every one of you can write beautiful words, sentences, and stories,” Mr. Rogers said. “You can be writers and artists. You can change the world.”

I was sixteen years old. I wanted to believe him.

Political decisions in many cities and states have created complex challenges for public school teachers. In North Carolina, where I live, legislative actions have decreased resources for public schools and teachers, and some schools face significant teacher shortages. Teachers are weary and discouraged. Many are moving to other states or seeking other careers.

And yet, each year parents let their kindergarteners go into a world of public education, where their hearts and minds will be forever shaped by those who teach them about grammar and history, math and science, literature and art. Each day of the school year, teachers like Mr. Rogers stand in that boundary place between home and public life, and urge our communities’ children to read,… [Read more…] about Shoe Polish, Gospel Gratitude, and Teacher Appreciation Week

Our 2014 Favorites

by in Current Events

The Unfundamentalist Christians team is an eclectic bunch. Though there’s plenty we don’t agree on (including some of our tenets!), each of us brings something unique to the table, so we thought it would be fun to share a few of our favorite things with you, our faithful readers. So without further ado, here, in no particular order, are some of our 2014 favorites:

My favorite movie of 2014 was God’s Not Dead. It perfectly captured the subtleties of thoughtful theological debate and rigorous scholarly inquiry. —D.B. [Don’s full review]

Malala Yousafzai winning the Nobel Peace Prize. —C.C.

Radio Free Albemuth, a long-in-production film adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s semi-autobiographical novel, was finally released to video-on-demand and Netflix this year. An excellent film involving human contact and interaction with VALIS (Dick’s interpretation of God) and the efforts of a dictatorial American government to stop that contact because they think they’re terrorists. —B.D.

Favorite book I read this year: Far From the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity by Andrew Solomon. It led to a lot of conversations about neurodiversity. My favorite movie of the year was Guardians of the Galaxy. My family all loved it. Great music and I loved how it was worked into the story. I loved that Drax has some autistic characteristics (like not getting metaphors). And Groot. Just Groot. —L.C.

South Carolina… [Read more…] about Our 2014 Favorites