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About Unruly Mobs, Targeting Curches and #boycottIndiana
As I watched #boycottIndiana unfold I felt like the tectonic plates of American culture were shifting right under our feet. When Governor Mike Pence signed Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law, who knew that Miley Cyrus and Ashton Kushner could help unleash a torrent of criticism and threats that eventually brought the government of Indiana to its knees? In one week we saw suppression of dissent against gay marriage by an unruly mob, the targeting of churches and the spread of propaganda—a three-pronged strategy used widely by those aspiring to political power throughout history. Midweek an Indiana ABC affiliate news crew went trolling for any…
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What is the “Authentic Self”?
The concept of the “authentic self” is a wonderful-sounding, important element of politically-correct thinking. Especially if one’s “authentic self” includes a deviation from standard sexuality. Many people are proud of themselves for being progressive in encouraging others to admit and embrace inclinations and desires that a few decades ago were considered shameful. Oprah was a major proponent of the idea. On her television show and her magazine, she encouraged her faithful followers to be open and real about their true thoughts and feelings, desires and dreams, passions and embarrassments. She was (and continues to be) especially insistent on the importance of coming out as LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual or transgender)…
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How Should We Think About Texas’ First Same Sex Wedding?
Last week saw a front-page story of Texas’ first gay marriage. I asked my friend Hope Harris to guest blog for me, responding to this event out of her decades of experience and perspective as a former gay activist before Jesus changed everything in her life. For well over 25 years I lived openly as a lesbian, advocating for gay rights and Marriage Equality. Just over six years ago I trusted Christ, and since then I have wrestled in depth with resolving my faith and sexuality, gender roles and Marriage Equality. Because of my belief that God’s Word is true, I have landed on the side of the Biblical view…
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Did Phil Get it Wrong? Is Homosexuality Sin?
In one of the biggest social media flaps since social media was invented, Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson openly said that homosexuality is sinful. Then the cyber world blew up in a clash of worldviews—the progressive, whatever-floats-your-boat perspective of A&E, the cable network that profits greatly from the Robertsons’ TV show, against the traditional biblical view of sin and sexuality. A lot of people think that Phil’s old-fashioned morality is not only antiquated but unfair. Is it? Is homosexuality a sin? If people are born gay, why would God condemn people for being the way He made them? What kind of God would do that? Let me answer those questions in…
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Duck Dynasty: Should Your Belief Cost You Your Job?
Is it really cause for suspension or termination if when you are directly asked "What in your mind is sinful?" you refer to the Bible and include homosexuality in your response? Gay activists (GLADD) say YES. But their power to shape the national dialogue on the rightness or wrongness of homosexual behavior has been broken this week, or at least dialed down, by an unlikely fellow with a long beard in camo, Duck Dynasty patriarch Phil Robertson. The way gays suffered and cared for their own during the AIDS epidemic of the 80’s infused great moral authority into their struggle for acceptance. But those lessons seem lost in the…
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Glee’s Pro-Gay Theology
Recently, the wildly popular TV show Glee‘s Valentine’s Day episode featured a group of religious students called the “God Squad” discussing whether they should accept money to sing love songs to gay people (their term). The writers had students spouting pro-gay theology that was doubtless quite persuasive to the majority of viewers who don’t know the truth that counters the propaganda. “They say that one out of every ten people are gay, and if that’s true than that means one of the twelve apostles might have been gay.” That’s a very old, very inaccurate statistic from Alfred Kinsey. A more accurate estimate is in the 2-3% range.{1} The idea that…
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The Gender Spectrum
When I use the term “gender spectrum,” you might think in terms of masculinity on one end and femininity on the other. We hear men being prompted to “get in touch with your feminine side.” (For some reason, women never seem to be exhorted to “get in touch with your masculine side.” Huh.) But I don’t think that’s the way it works. In Genesis 1, we are told that “God created them male and female” (Gen. 1:27). I think, rather, that there is one spectrum of masculinity and another spectrum of femininity. I also think that God is the one who chooses where on the spectrum babies are born, according…
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Newsweek’s Gay Marriage Propaganda Piece
The Dec. 15 issue of Newsweek features a breathtakingly biased essay called “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage.” The author, Lisa Miller, has a high view of homosexuality and a low view of scripture—and an even lower view of those of us who dare trust in God’s word. (Managing Editor Jon Meacham supports Ms. Miller’s piece in his column: he says the “conservative resort to biblical authority is the worst kind of fundamentalism.”) Both Ms. Miller’s logic and her understanding of scripture and theology are riddled with problems. Let’s look at a few. The biblical illustrations of marriage are so undesirable that no sensible person would want theirs to look…