Earlier this week, author, speaker and blogger Rachel Held Evans (pictured, right) stirred up quite the controversy when she called Mark Driscoll (pictured, below), a “bully” for his Facebook status update poking fun of “effeminate anatomically male religious leaders.” As Evans observed, Driscoll, founder of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, has a long history of using anti-gay slurs to demonize anyone he deems “unmanly.”
On The World website, Anthony Bradley responded to this firestorm. “One sign of the declining state of Christianity in America is the way in which believers publicly slander one another, which can do violence to love and undermine the witness of the Church to nonbelievers.”
He then proceeds to dissect the term slander, which is defined as defamation by oral utterance. Given Evans penned this piece, technically she should be accused of libel which refers to defamation by printed words. This makes the assumption that Evans is in fact guilty of issuing a malicious, false, and defamatory statement or report, when in fact, she is not.
Your mother may have told you to tell bullies, “sticks and stones may break may bones but names may never hurt me.” But the findings from the National Transgender Discrimination Survey Report paint a bleak picture of the how bullying leads to death. Of the 6,450 US based transgender and gender non-conforming participants who took part in this survey, a staggering 41% of respondents reported attempting suicide compared to 1.6% of the general population.
In Transgressions: Transgressing in the Bible, theatrical performance activist Peterson Toscano illuminates how transgender and gender-variant people can be found all throughout Hebrew and Christian scripture. New research presented in books like Radical Love: An Introduction to Queer Theology explores how God’s love breaks through all boundaries to create radically inclusive communities that welcome all just as they are.
So like it or not, the bible has never been binary when it comes to gender. Jesus’ silence on the topic of human sexuality tells me that this wasn’t a topic that troubled him nearly as much as it does 20th century evangelical Christians. (My piece on Ship of Fools highlights the range of evangelical responses to LGBT rights.)
While reporting on the Philadelphia TransHealth Conference I became aware of the range of genders that people use to self-identify how they express themselves to the world. Hence, we must be careful not to assume that any man with feminine qualities prefers the “homosexual” lifestyle. But neither can we infer as blogger Tony Jones did that men like Driscoll who favor the homoerotic sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) “might be preaching most fervently against the very sin that they are struggling with.”
The outcry following Sojourners’ decision to reject a gay welcome ad demonstrated how many Christians want to stand up for the rights of their LGBT bretheren. Nobel lauraeate Elie Wiesel reminds us, “We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”
When Driscoll responded somewhat to Evan’s posting, the skeptic in me wonders if this might be a well orchestrated PR move on Driscoll’s part given Driscoll and Evans have forthcoming books on the Bible and gender to be released by Thomas Nelson. Over at Religion Dispatches, Elizabeth Drescher keenly observes, “The catholic approach to homophobic misbehavior in the emergent Evangelical church is to send the offender on vacation and settle the uppity Christian chick-lit lady down till it’s all forgotten? Stand by your man, baby.”
For now, Mark seems to be on his best behavior. But all too often I’ve witnessed people that market themselves in the public square as “Christian” author/speaker attack their critics with the decorum one finds in monkeys in a zoo who fling their feces (or worse) when provoked. Watch the Glenn Beck v. Jim Wallis fight to get a sense of how this dynamic works. Both sides need a “perceived” enemy in order to bolster their street cred within their respective camps and garner them additional media attention. In this narcissistic culture, you’re either one of their faithful fans or the antichrist.
So how then does one deal when full grown adults throw childish temper tantrums? Let me suggest we all play the role of the kindergarten teacher—name the bad behavior for what it is. Put the offender in a time out corner. Ignore them until them calm down and use their “indoor” voice.
Yes, this strategy can work. Back in 2007, I told my then editor of the God’s Politics blog that I was through critiquing Ann Coulter after she called John Edwards “a faggot.” By this time, enough reporters had debunked Coulter’s false assertions. Hence, continuing to hammer her only fed into her faux claims of being “persecuted” by the liberal media. Like Pat Robertson, who faded away from the media spotlight after one gaffe too many, Coulter no longer has the impact she once did. I predict that ignoring Beck will produce similar results.
Now, I don’t expect Driscoll to record a video anytime soon for the It Gets Better Project. But unlike Coulter and Beck, he seems actually willing to chat on some level with at least a few of his critics. So far, so good. But should this cussing pastor start blasting his brand of missional machismo and the emergent church crew fires back in kind, I suggest Christians take heed to the words of Jesus in Matthew 10:14, “If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town.” Sometimes one has to put unbiblical bullies in a time out corner and just walk away.
Becky Garrison’s books include Jesus Died for This?: A Satirist’s Search for the Risen Christ, Red and Blue God, Black and Blue Church, and Ancient Future Disciples: Meeting Jesus in Mission-Shaped Ministries (Forthcoming). Her additional writing credits include work for Killing the Buddha, The Washington Post’s On Faith column, The Guardian, The Revealer, and Religion Dispatches.
Sorry, did I miss something? Isn’t the genius of Tony’s piece in the absurd satire of it all? I don’t really understand this standing on an island and preaching at everybody thing you are doing.
Needs more funny, Becky.
Very well done, Becky, and courageous. You may experience some bullying yourself now that you have made this public statement. Many of us are with you in this.
”He [The Truck Driver] asked some questions about the Bible, and whether the Bible said anything about the kind of guy who should do the music. I explained the main guy doing the music in the Bible was David, who was a warrior king who started killing people as a boy and who was also a songwriter and musician.”
I find this strange, Driscol IMHO make 2 errors in this statement… 1) That killing people is what makes you a “Man” or even macho and 2) That because David killed people and wrote music and if that made him macho then subsequently all Musicians/Worship leaders ought to be macho!?
Where does he get the idea that David is a universal archetype for Worship leaders? Or even that there are any universal archetypes from this??? This to me smacks of using Scripture to justify a belief… and in fact I would say he is in danger of “compromising scripture” in an attempt to make the Gospel attractive to “Blue collar men” something Driscol slams emergents etc. for doing!
I appreciate this perspective Becky. I found myself thinking along similar lines when it comes to dealing with a celebrity Christian who routinely misbehaves: http://inamirrordimly.com/2011/07/12/what-to-do-when-christian-celebrities-are-offensive/.
I noticed on twitter that you mentioned the “It Gets Better” project as a constructive alternative. I think what we’ve been missing in the outrage over this side or that side is an alternative that folks will want to embrace. My hope is that we can one day drown out insensitive comments with something stronger and more compelling. Hang in there!
If you search the word Driscoll on Rachel’s site, she has pages of articles that reference Pastor Mark. I read thru the 1st 15 or so blog posts that go back several years. Every single one was a harsh critique of the man and there was not one single nice thing said about him. She even states emphatically in one post that she does not like the guy.
So how do any of you take serious the words of someone whose starting point is strong dislike of the guy and she has never said a single good thing about him? She has an anti Driscoll agenda that she continues to drum on…. and I believe this is why Driscoll did not apologize.
I can’t find a single reference of Mark criticizing Rachel. We have a bully here alright, it’s the woman in this saga.
Becky, Thank you! A well put summation of the situation.
Far more thoughtful and useful than Jones or Elizabeth Drescher. Actually, one of the more clear-headed and “grown-up” commentaries on “things Driscoll-related” I’ve ever heard.
I won’t be posting on this controversy over at’ radref’. Evans had 513 comments on her original piece. Driscoll’s remarks were offensive, but that’s why we have Matt 18. I’m running a piece on the dubious ethics of tax avoidance. Result? Four comments. I don’t a ‘take’ on this ill-tempered public bickering, apart from thinking it isn’t important.
Thanks all for the feedback – a few points of clarification.
2. David and 17. Phil – Both Driscoll and Tony J. issued what are seen in the LGBT community as anti-gay slurs – yet when two women point this out, Tony chooses to attack us instead of addressing the issue at hand.
8. Mark B. – Driscoll & Co. are part of the muscular Xnity model where David is used as a role model to justify some really horrid sins (see C-Street scandal) on the grounds that well, David did it and yet look how God used him? It removes any real accountability out of the picture.
11. Ed – yes we do need to model different models of behavior – I have documented some churches that put this in action that are profiled in a book coming out with Church Publishing and hope to continue this conversation.
12. Mark D. doesn’t address people directly by name but he has a long history of slamming sissy men, uppity women and the like. And he uses a rather large global bully pulpit to get his message across.
AS I noted in the article – this bullying has been exposed. Now is the time to just ignore it and move on to exploring ways to be truly radical of those who have been left on the outside for far too long.
I was just reading the book “Hitler’s Pope” in which the author suggests that if the Catholics had put up some resistance instead of seeking their share of the power, they might have even prevented Hitler from gaining power. The reaction of the churches was Hitler’s worse fear. Definitely something to think about even as our ideals such as freedom of religion or freedom from religion are today being endlessly attacked.
When religions go further and use the same tactics of intimidation as the Nazi’s, it is a sad day in America.
Many folks want to serve God, but only as advisers. Arrogance is compensation for a sense of weakness and boasting is ammunition shot from the gun of inadequacy.
I won’t be posting on this controversy over at’ radref’. Evans had 513 comments on her original piece. Driscoll’s remarks were offensive, but that’s why we have Matt 18. I’m running a piece on the dubious ethics of tax avoidance. Result? Four comments. I don’t a ‘take’ on this ill-tempered public bickering, apart from thinking it isn’t important.
All people deserve good life and personal loans or just small business loan can make it much better. Just because freedom depends on money.
As soon as I detected this website I went on reddit to share some of the love with them.