Unfundamentalist

Above All, Love

Trump and Dobson: Constantine and Faust

by Robyn Shepherd in Christian Issues

This guest post is by Robyn Shepherd.

As a child, I regularly listened to the radio broadcasts provided by the conservative Christian organization, Focus on the Family–both the daily broadcast on family issues and the weekly broadcast of the radio drama for children, Adventures in Odyssey.

My understanding of family life and the meaning and content of Christian faith was heavily influenced by these broadcasts. I listened carefully to the dangers of straying beyond the strict confines of conservative Christian morality, and I can still hear the emphatic tone of voice in which Dr. Dobson warned his listeners that the process of falling in love that begins with holding hands will inevitably “end up in bed” if nothing is done to stop it.

Adventures in Odyssey was entertaining and funny, with engaging characters and high quality production and story editing. I enjoyed listening to the adventures and getting to know the characters. It was only later in life that I began to sort out the potentially damaging messages within the drama from the more simple moralistic ideas of parental love and good behavior. I still like to listen at times, for nostalgia’s sake, but I am increasingly concerned by how the blithe and joyful nature of the program masks what frequently amounts to bigotry, ignorance, and intolerance. I am grieved that such a special part of my childhood is turning into something that is little better than a propaganda tool for extreme… [Read more…] about Trump and Dobson: Constantine and Faust

Lions: A Novel by Bonnie Nadzam

by in Book Reviews

Bonnie Nadzam’s newly-released second novel, Lions (Grove Atlantic/Black Cat, $16), is a ghost story–a ghost story about the spirit of a dying Colorado town called Lions, so named “to stand in for disappointment with the wild invention and unreasonable hope by which it had been first imagined, then sought and spuriously claimed.”

It is also a story about the ghosts that haunt the town’s few remaining inhabitants: the ghosts of their ancestors, the ghosts of their hopes and ambitions, the ghosts of an uncertain future.

Lions is a bleak place, “comprised of no more than searing light and eddying dust. Nothing but wind and white sun.” Its people eke out meager lives from barren land, and are slowly but surely abandoning their homes to escape–or perhaps to chase–the ghosts that haunt them.

One person not intending to leave is John Walker, the owner of a welding shop. His family has lived in Lions for generations, and his skillful craftsmanship and stoic virtue are legendary in the county. When, in the opening chapters of Lions, a stranger and his dog wander into town, Walker unquestioningly gives him food, clothing, and money.

But in Lions, good deeds count for little. Tragedy falls upon the unnamed stranger, as well as on the Walker family. Over the course of the summer, Walker’s son, Gordon, and his son’s girlfriend, Leigh, must wrestle with these tragedies, and with life in a place that seems never able to escape its past, never able to move forward… [Read more…] about Lions: A Novel by Bonnie Nadzam

On Saying Goodbye to the Night: Thoughts on Fireworks, Spaceships and Justice-Making

by Jill Crainshaw in Christian Spirituality

This guest post is by Jill Crainshaw.

Where were you five years ago on July 4th? Nothing is recorded on my Google calendar for that date, and I don’t remember what I was doing.

A Google search uncovered some of the news that headlined on July 4th five years ago. The cover of Time posed the question, “Does the U.S. Constitution Still Matter?” Debates were raging on Capitol Hill over tax revenue and the debt ceiling. Environmental scientists warned of a creepy-crawly insect interloper from China, the ash borer, that had killed 60 million trees in 15 states. And NASA was one month away from launching a spacecraft named Juno into the cosmos on a journey to Jupiter.

Juno has been speeding through space for five years now on its way to Jupiter, more than 360 million miles away from the ground under my earthbound feet. I only know this because I happened to listen to NPR in my car today as I drove to my neighborhood coffee shop for an iced coffee and a few hours of writing.

Until I heard the NPR story, the only night sky spectacle I anticipated for this July 4th was the annual fireworks extravaganza scheduled for after the Winston-Salem Dash baseball game. Now I know that while fireworks engineers stitch kaleidoscopic colors into the night sky, scientists will be holding their breath and watching to see if their timing is perfect enough to sync Juno with Jupiter’s gravity on the first and only try.

As I type these words, NASA scientists are preparing to press… [Read more…] about On Saying Goodbye to the Night: Thoughts on Fireworks, Spaceships and Justice-Making

Toward a Radical Inclusiveness

by Michelle Schohn in Christian Issues

I have been thinking a lot about pronouns lately.

Much of it stems from the recent debate over bathrooms and who gets to serve as the potty police. I am not transgender, and yet the debate is personal to me.

Among my people, I am considered a “Two-Spirit,” or someone who possesses both a male and a female spirit. This has always fit with how I feel myself, neither really male nor really female, but both. I am very comfortable in my own skin.

But there are those who are not comfortable with me. These are the ones who have called me “sir” since long before I cut my hair short. Some quickly apologize. Some laugh nervously. Some snicker. Because I feel like I am both, it has never bothered me, except on the rare occasions when the person seemed hostile.

I fear those occasions are increasing. I see more and more reports of attacks on trans* people. And these attacks aren’t limited to trans* people. There are all sorts of gender non-conforming people being accosted in restrooms, even if they are using the restroom that corresponds with the sex to which they were assigned at birth.

One such person is a friend of mine who is a sergeant in the Marine Corps. She is part of the elite group of Marines who guard our embassies. And she has been thrown out of the women’s bathroom because she looks too much like a boy. A nice thank you for your service.

A recent piece by UCC minister Emily Heath describes a similar struggle. She too is female, but gender non-conforming. She jokes with… [Read more…] about Toward a Radical Inclusiveness

Sundown Town

by Christina Krost in Christian Issues

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I live in a sundown town.

I’ll admit, I’d never heard that term until college. But it’s stuck with me since my husband attended a talk by author James Loewen, author of Lies My Teacher Told Me and Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism.

The gist is that though northern states were not as overt in racial segregation as the southern states, there were still places that, if you were black, you were not welcome. Some towns posted signs to the effect of “Don’t let the sun set on you here,” meaning those “unwanted” folks had better clear out before dark, or else.

The spread of this rule relied heavily on oral tradition, though some towns had official ordinances on their books. Consequences included threats of physical violence, damage to property, and/or police action to those in noncompliance.

I read that the sundown town sign in my small, rural, southern Illinois town was up until the past decade or so, when it was removed to accommodate a public works project and was not replaced after the work was completed. And I recently heard a story retold by a member of our church about a former pastor in the 1950s bringing home a black friend from seminary and the pastor’s experience of having to explain to his guest why he had to stay inside his host’s home after dark.

As a point of fact, there are not many African-American residents in my town or surrounding towns to this day. That a sign like this could exist for so long in… [Read more…] about Sundown Town

Bible-believing Bisexual?

by Franziska Garner in Christian Issues, LGBT

“A simple layman armed with Scripture is greater than the mightiest pope without it.”

How highly controversial! Scripture alone is enough. Scripture is self-authenticating, clear, its own interpreter, and sufficient as the final authority of Christian beliefs. The idea is that whoever bases their faith on Scripture, whoever seeks guidance and answers in Scripture, doesn’t need anything or anyone else and will never be disappointed.

This concept of Scripture Alone or Sola Scriptura was introduced by the same man who said those words in the beginning of this article: Martin Luther, the German reformer who saw so many flaws in the Catholic Church of the 15th century that he simply had to speak up against it. His idea that Scripture alone stands at the center of an individual’s striving for and learning about God was eagerly adopted by many, and eventually by the younger evangelical denominations in the United States. To this day it is a key principal of many conservative Baptist and Lutheran churches and all those who call themselves “bible-believing.”

I firmly believe that the Bible is indeed God’s love letter to us, his children, and that all the guidance and nudges we need to come closer to this love are right there in Scripture. So yes, I call myself bible-believing.

Wait. How can a progressive Christian who is living in a same-sex marriage be bible-believing? How can someone like me adopt the same term as conservative Christians? Do I believe that my… [Read more…] about Bible-believing Bisexual?

A Bolt of Hatred

by Joe Kay in Christian Issues, Current Events

This guest post is by Joe Kay.

One of my roommates in college was gay. He confided in me about his sexual preference, knowing I’d respect his confidence. Back then, gay people were openly ridiculed, rejected, and attacked.

I wish I could say this was no longer true, but obviously I can’t. We’ve come a long way, but what happened in Orlando and the reaction to it provide harsh reminders of how people hate those who are different from them in some way.

Still so much hatred.

I’m the associate minister at an open and affirming United Church of Christ church. We accept everyone just as they are. I’ve heard many stories about how members of my church family have been treated horrifically by their families, their former “Christian” churches, and co-workers because of their sexual orientation.

Their openness touches me. Their courage inspires me. Their stories remind me how I enjoy a sort of “straight” privilege. Nobody has ever threatened me because I was holding a girl’s hand, or refused to rent me an apartment because I was dating a woman. Nobody has ever refused to bake me a cake because I’m straight.

I have never had to worry that my sexual identity was going to get me killed.

One thing about the reaction to Orlando troubles me greatly. People who have said so many hateful and harmful things about LBGT people are now trying to distance themselves from what happened. They’re trying to frame it as merely another instance of extremism by different people from a… [Read more…] about A Bolt of Hatred

Hell Might Be Empty

by Brian Niece in Christian Issues

This guest post is by Brian Niece.

Theologian Jürgen Moltmann once said in a discussion, “In the final analysis I believe hell will be empty.”
God’s Future
This theological idea comes from Moltmann’s understanding that all who are dead are dead in Christ, just as the living are alive in Christ, whether they acknowledge the presence of the deity or not. God’s presence is in all and through all. Therefore everyone, the living and dead, are contained in the loving presence of the God who Jesus called “Father” and are moving with this God toward God’s future.

That’s some heady stuff, for sure.

Moltmann further asserts, as do many Christian theologians, that all time is already contained in the life of God. Past, present, future, and eternity all glow with God’s presence.

More heady stuff, I know.

If you, like me, are an outsider to the Western institutional church, it could be for any number of reasons. It pains me to know how many friends I have who walked away from the whole faith thing because they were told that anyone who didn’t measure up to an institutional standard was going to hell.

Maybe you’ve experienced the very damaging and un-Jesus like narrative that creates an “us” versus “them” mentality. The kind of thinking that elevates groups of the “ins” over the “outs.” Please hear this: you aren’t going to hell.
Unbounded Grace
See, God’s grace, as displayed through Jesus of Nazareth, is unbounded grace. There is no limit to it. So there’s no way that… [Read more…] about Hell Might Be Empty

Spiritual Terrorism

by Robyn Shepherd in Christian Issues

This guest post is by Robyn Shepherd.

Some months ago, as I was preparing to go on maternity leave, the church where I had been training as a student minister was preparing to make a very important decision. This decision came after years of conversation, but the opinions in the church were still deeply divided.

One Sunday morning, an elderly member of the congregation cornered me after the service to assure me that he had been given a message from God, and he would set the meeting straight. Accustomed to his language, and certain no words of mine could alter his purpose one iota, I adopted my usual response–smile and nod–as he described his plans with his usual passion and depth of conviction. Within myself I could only be grateful that it would not be my job to counter his “message” or to deal with the fallout of his words.

Not that there would be much fallout. I expected that the result of whatever he felt compelled to say would be silence, the unspoken reactions to his words ranging from bewilderment to frustration. Since he had done similar things at other meetings, but never succeeded in providing a coherent argument or a discernible plan, his “messages” tended to amount to a rant about his convictions followed by a judgement on the church for failing to be led by the Spirit, or something similar.

It is not my desire or intention to mock this man or dismiss his deeply-held convictions, but his way of sharing his beliefs about the church and its future… [Read more…] about Spiritual Terrorism

Responding to a Christian tract handed out at an LGBT Pride Parade

by in Christian Issues

I was standing on a street corner in downtown Great Falls, Montana, waiting for the annual Big Sky Pride Parade to begin. All sorts of rainbow-clad people roamed up and down the street, happily enjoying the sunshine and positive atmosphere of the day.

But the guy walking toward me looked a bit out of place in his pleated khakis and plaid button down shirt. He briskly sidled up to me and handed me a leaflet, saying, “Here’s something for you to read while you wait.” I glanced down at it, but before I could even say thank you, he was gone.

The brochure seemed benign enough–it was titled “Instant Gratification,” and included a bunch of brain teasers, stuff like “A man went outside in the pouring rain with no protection, but not a hair on his head got wet. How come?” There was no obvious religious message, so I flipped it over and saw that it was from “Living Waters Publications” and was given out “Compliments of:” followed by a glaring white space.

I try to keep tabs on wacky Christian apologists, so I immediately recognized Living Waters as Ray Comfort’s organization. I opened the flyer again to try and find what I must have missed. And there it was, sandwiched between quiz questions 20 and 21: an “editorial” that consisted of Comfort’s idiosyncratic presentation of the Gospel.

Since the guy who handed me the tract hadn’t stuck around to chat (I get it, there were a lot of souls that clearly needed saving), I’m going to respond to its message here. The text from… [Read more…] about Responding to a Christian tract handed out at an LGBT Pride Parade