Unfundamentalist

Above All, Love

power in the blood

by Jill Crainshaw in Current Events, Poetry

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I have been searching for what to say or even think about the Orlando massacre. All words fail. The story of the hundreds of donors who gave blood for those who were wounded inspired this poetic response:

power in the blood

aunt gertrude played the antique upright in church every sunday
sometimes by ear
sometimes the old-timey way
reading notes shaped like diamonds or triangles
but the hymn she cherished most
her fingers knew by heart

power in the blood
wonder-working power

as much as i loved to hear gospel favorites
spilling from Aunt Gertrude’s fingers
blood hymns troubled my soul
too violent
too brutal
i knew even as a kid
how much life and hope
the old old story had bled out over the years

early that vicious sunday morning
shots rang out
precious blood
wonder-working blood
spilled out
on the dance floor
in the streets
spattering shoes
dancers
doctors
nurses
police officers
lovers
friends

as we gathered for church that day
several states away
in orlando they did it the old-timey way
by heart
for those too often discarded
discounted
disremembered now dismembered
a mile-long vein opened up
friends and strangers enfleshing care
until a flood of plasma pulsated through the city
into wounded souls
and as my little group of worshipers
lined up at the communion table
to eat the bread
drink the cup
share the holy body
i remembered that old hymn flowing out from
aunt gertrude’s hands and… [Read more…] about power in the blood

Is it more important to believe the right things or to do the right things?

by Randal Rauser in Christian Issues

Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?”

The King will reply, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” —Matthew 25:37-40 (NIV)

Right belief and right practice: you might call them the two oars in the rowboat of a healthy Christian disciple. But if you had to choose to prioritize one of those two oars, which one would it be?

Growing up as an evangelical, the answer was simple. Belief is the starting point of salvation, in particular the beliefs that Jesus is Lord and God raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9). Salvation may require more than this in terms of belief and action, but it surely could not require less.

That idea worked for me for several years. But the more I examined that simple position, the more cracks appeared. In this article I want to consider one of them. In order to see it I want to propose a simple thought experiment, one that is based on two real life cases, one of a Christian who believed the right doctrines but acted wrongly, and the other of a Muslim who (according to Christian doctrine) believed the wrong doctrines but acted rightly.

The setting is the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Commentators have noted that this… [Read more…] about Is it more important to believe the right things or to do the right things?

What if the Orlando shooter was gay?

by Franziska Garner in Current Events, LGBT

Who was Omar Mateen?

The evidence is getting stronger. The Orlando shooter, Omar Mateen, was frequently seen at the Pulse nightclub in the months before the attack. He also had profiles on gay dating websites and his (more or less intimate) contact with gay men reaches back at least ten years. On at least one occasion he expressed the desire to date another man.[1]

Nevertheless, he was married to women twice. His first wife divorced him after only four months claiming he was unstable and abusive. His second wife mentioned that he was not very religious. Allegedly, he called 911 during his attack, pledged allegiance to ISIS, and spoke about being inspired by the Al-Nusra Front. The two organizations are enemies. It is therefore highly questionable why someone who really sides with one of them would be supportive of both.

Scripture Abuse

Omar Mateen was raised in a Muslim home. Islam does, just like Christianity, condemn homosexuality–at least as long as we don’t look too closely. In the Bible, Genesis 19:1-29 tells about Sodom and Gomorrah. The story speaks about two cities that were destroyed by God for a very grave sin–allegedly homosexuality. This passage is often used to demonstrate God’s treatment of and disgust with homosexual people.

A reference to the very same story is given in the Quran, stating that yes, God does not like LGBT people and will punish them horribly:

“And [We had sent] Lot when he said to his people, “Do you commit such immorality as no one has… [Read more…] about What if the Orlando shooter was gay?

The Good Book of Human Nature

by in Book Reviews

When it comes to the Bible, negotiating the span between religious reverence and secular scorn can be a daunting task of intellectual funambulism. Too often, the faithful view the Bible solely as a divine message from God, immune to critical analysis. Likewise, the non-religious often dismiss the Bible as an irrelevant–or even dangerous–collection of outdated and ignorant writings.

In their new book, The Good Book of Human Nature, (Basic Books, $29.99), evolutionary anthropologist Carel van Schaik and historian Kai Michel capably bridge this gap, boldly defending the thesis that the Bible is the most important book in the history of humanity. Though both agnostic, they believe that the Bible offers an invaluable key to a better understanding of ourselves. Through the lenses of cognitive science, evolutionary biology, archeology, and religious history, they explore what the Bible reveals about human nature and the cultural evolution of our species:
“In the Bible we find answers to humanity’s greatest questions. We do not mean this in a religious sense. Rather, it teaches us why we fear death, how we deal with great misfortunes, and where our deep-seated desire for justice originated. The Bible shows us how we learned to survive in large, anonymous societies, why our modern lives sometimes seem so pointless, and why we are so often nagged by what we should describe as a longing for Paradise. When viewed without its halo, the Bible has something important to say to… [Read more…] about The Good Book of Human Nature

Dear Non-LGBT-Affirming Christians, Please Search Your Hearts

by Emma Higgs in LGBT

I’ve just seen a news article showing the faces of those killed in Orlando’s Pulse nightclub on Saturday night.

Face after face; beautiful, young, LGBT+ people, their eyes full of light and life.

Lives so precious, unique, fragile, sacred.

Each one reflecting the image of their Creator.

Each one a beloved son or daughter. Their loss is a gaping wound, a searing pain, an everlasting ache.

LGBT+ people around the world are feeling the impact of the Orlando shooting deeply. They are mourning the deaths of these people as if they were family, connected somehow by invisible but unbreakable strands.

This is because they know.

They know what it’s like to be despised for who they are.

They have felt the hatred in the cold glances and suspicious stares.

They know how it feels to have disapproval and disgust pushed down upon them like a suffocating pillow.

They have felt the fear of physical attack.

Non-LGBT-affirming Christian, I know you know this.

I know you are outraged by this shooting. I know you feel the anguish and pain of the friends and families and are praying for them.

But when you say that you “love the sinner, hate the sin,” or offer condolences with the qualification that you “don’t agree with homosexuality,” do you realize what you are doing?

You are preventing people from being fully alive.

In trying to save people from their sin, you are oppressing… [Read more…] about Dear Non-LGBT-Affirming Christians, Please Search Your Hearts

Orlando: A Hopeful Lament

by Franziska Garner in Current Events

The undisturbed surface of the communion wine forms concentric circles when hit by a single tear. The symbol for the blood of Jesus Christ himself—blood that was given in an act of radical love for the everlasting unity between us and God—trembles with shock on this Sunday morning. It wasn’t the only tear.

Making sense of the senseless

We are at a Metropolitan Community Church, a congregation with a specific outreach to the LGBT community. Most people in the room identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender.

The younger ones in the church, those who believed that winning the right to marry ended a decade-old gay civil rights movement, are shocked into helpless rage and sickening grief. Their tears flow bitterly and with the sudden fear of a child who understands for the first time that they are not loved by everyone.

Then, there are the older congregants who have been through so much more than the young ones can imagine. Seasoned warriors who have been thrown into jail for dancing with someone of the same sex. Who, during the AIDS crisis, had to take care of the bodies of their dear friends themselves because even hospitals would turn them away. They shed tears, too.

These tears, however, are strangely different. There is a certain resignation in them, almost a routine. Witnessing another vicious crime against their siblings opens old wounds, triggers old memories, and reminds them what being victimized feels like. It is a familiar feeling to all of them.

They… [Read more…] about Orlando: A Hopeful Lament

Rethinking the Phrase "God Allows" In Response to Evil

by Mark Gregory Karris in Christian Issues

As a pastor and therapist working with those who have experienced trauma, I have recently come to the conclusion that “God allows,” in regards to evil and suffering, is a terrible theo(il)logical phrase that can unfortunately erode trust in a profoundly loving and trustworthy God.

Deconstructing “God Allows”

The word “allow” is poison to the sensitive, God-seeking, and traumatized soul for two reasons. First, it makes God out to be a voyeuristic monster who arbitrarily jumps into time, willfully intervening in some people’s lives to save them from harm, and willfully choosing not to intervene in others.

For example, God watches a disturbed psychopathic man begin to rape a helpless woman and says to Himself, “I planned this before the foundation of the world, I could stop this but I am going to allow and permit it to happen for a grander purpose.” God, although all-powerful, just watches and does nothing to stop it. Then, in the next moment, God watches another psychopathic man, in another region of the world, attempt to rape another helpless woman, but this time says, “Ah, I planned this before the foundation of the world, I will intervene and stop this man from raping her.” Immediately, God intervened and had a neighbor go over to her house to see how she was doing. The perpetrator became startled, frantically ran out the door, eventually getting arrested at a nearby gas station.
 
It is no wonder people are aghast at the above kind of arbitrary and allowing God,… [Read more…] about Rethinking the Phrase "God Allows" In Response to Evil

Miracles Do Occur

by Ronna Detrick in Christian Spirituality

There is an old, old story told of a woman named Tabitha. (If you care to look, it shows up in the book of Acts in the New Testament.) It doesn’t have the best of beginnings:

She dies!

That is how it starts, but hardly how it ends. Her friends just are not okay with this and so they send for Peter to come and bring her back to life–which he does. He says, “Tabitha. Get up.” She opens her eyes, takes his hand, and is presented back to her community–the women who love her.

Truth be told, there’s a part of me (and probably you, as well) that struggles with this story because, well, she was resurrected! That seems too good to be true: some made-up story to make the “miracle worker” himself look better, an ancient version of the snake-oil salesman.

But what if we reserved such judgment and instead allowed the story in its entirety? Even more, what if we could/would allow her story to be ours?!

What if we allowed miracles into our consciousness, our everyday reality, our lives? Even more, what if we actually believed that we are one?

That just might change everything (which sounds a little like a miracle in and of itself)!

We’ve been conditioned to think of a miracle as something completely outside the realm of possibility. The parting of the Red Sea. Walking on water. The blind and lame healed. And yes, the dead raised to life. But…

What about the miracle that despite our grief and agony and depression and profound sadness, we still hope?
What about the… [Read more…] about Miracles Do Occur

Can Christians Support the Death Penalty?

by in Book Reviews

The answer to the question posed in the title of this post is no. A resounding, definitive, absolute no.

There are a great many issues that Christians can reasonably disagree on, but the death penalty isn’t one of them. A way of life focused on the grace and love of Jesus Christ leaves no room whatsoever for support of capital punishment. Not only that, but the Christian calling demands that we vehemently oppose the cycles of violence and injustice perpetuated by the continued practice of state sanctioned execution.

Don’t agree with me? Then I challenge you to read Shane Claiborne’s new book (released tomorrow), Executing Grace: How the Death Penalty Killed Jesus and Why It’s Killing Us (HarperOne, $17.99). And that’s not an empty challenge. If you’re a Christian who supports the death penalty and you’re willing to read Executing Grace with an open mind, email me at editor@unfundamentalistchristians.com and I’ll send a copy to you.* I’m confident that Claiborne’s passionate, comprehensive, and heart-wrenching examination of capital punishment provides what is, to my mind, an irrefutable case as to why Christians simply cannot support the death penalty.

In Executing Grace, Claiborne explores the theological, historical, and cultural factors that inform the modern practice of capital punishment, giving voice to the victims of unspeakable crimes, and telling the sobering stories of those who have perpetrated… [Read more…] about Can Christians Support the Death Penalty?

Why I Stopped Reading Self-Help Books

by Cherie Lee in Christian Spirituality

In the most Freudian tradition, it began with my Dad.

The Dad who was absent?

No.

The Dad who was reckless?

No.

He’s not that kind of Dad.

The Dad who for Christmas, wanted not the latest James Patterson thriller, but a hefty computer programming manual for his leisurely reading?

Yes. That’s the one.

The Dad whose work centers on graphs and data and code and numbers and other terrifying things?

Yes. This is about that Dad.

I’m sure that some of his analytic tendencies snuck into my DNA.

The benefits? A boundless sense of optimism in my ability to solve computer-related problems.

Firewall? Yep, I got it. VPN? Bandwidth? Defrag? HTML? I’m all over it.

The drawbacks? A boundless sense of optimism in my ability to solve every other part of my life.

Traditionally I would crowd-source answers. If you ask everyone you know the same question, there’s got to be a median response!

Then, along came Google.

That glorious oracle.

Mecca of all the answers.

What’s your quandary? Emotional, relational, spiritual, medical?

Google: is it normal to have one dark black hair on your arm that keeps coming back when the rest of the hairs are kind of blonde-ish?

Yes. Probably normal. Maybe skin cancer. But probably normal.

I would surreptitiously type questions under the table during a dinner date: Google: he didn’t hold the door open for me, is that a deal breaker?

It turns out that Kelly from Illinois had a strong… [Read more…] about Why I Stopped Reading Self-Help Books