The End of History for the Straight White Male

May 15, 2013 By 7 Comments

Richard Lindsay thinks so, reflecting on Jason Collins, Tim Tebow, and the ensuing backlash against Chris Broussard and Tim Brando:

We are entering a period in American history when European ancestry, Christianity, and heterosexuality will no longer be the assumed default. I suspect that the past 30 years of resurgence of fundamentalist Christianity and right-wing identity politics will be seen in the course of history as a temporary backlash to the radical social changes unleashed in the 1960’s. The kinds of predictions Harvey Cox made in the 60’s in The Secular City, which many in the 1980’s and 90’s thought needed to be revised or discarded, are happening now, three decades late.

At the risk of sounding shocking, white Christian people are going to have to find a way to have “white pride,” by which I mean they’re going to have to create an identity for themselves that isn’t based on dominating everyone else or measuring everyone else by their standard.

But you don’t have to have agree with the views Brando expressed to have sympathy for the process of grief he’s going through. As a white, middle class, Protestant Christian who came out at the age of 23, I understand what it’s like waking up one day and realizing you must fight for your little plot of dignity in the world.

The process is nothing compared to what people of color, immigrants, women, Muslims, Jews, or anyone else not of pallid complexion with a y chromosome has had to go through. But as human beings we all need a little understanding sometimes. Even the soon-to-be-extinct white Christian male.

Read the rest: Jason Collins, Tim Tebow, and the End of the White Evangelical Male.

Filed Under: christianity in america, glbt 7 Comments

On the Right Side of History on Gay Marriage

May 14, 2013 By 6 Comments

John Stumme, left, kisses his husband Kyle Hanson in the state capitol’s rotunda immediately after the Minnesota Senate passed a bill making Minnesota the 12th state in the country to legalize gay marriage May 13, 2013. (Courtney Perry)

I realize that it is a grandiose claim to say that, regarding marriage equality, I stand on the right side of history. But that’s exactly what I felt as I stood in the rotunda of the Minnesota State Capitol and held vigil with thousands of others as the State Senate debated HF 1054, extending the right to marry to same sex couples. At 4:19pm, it passed 37-30, and today at 5pm, Governor Mark Dayton will sign it into law.

I stood alongside Doug Pagitt, Jay Bakker, and Russell Rathbun, fellow (straight, white, male) Minnesota clergymen who also support marriage equality. Dozens of clergy were in the crowd, based on the number of clerical shirts I saw. Many of them stood in the middle, leading songs — we were along the edge of the crowd, greeting people we know. Also there were Courtney with her camera (see above), Wendy Johnson and her daughter, our friends Bryan and Scott, and other friends and acquaintances. We were receiving news about the speeches inside the Senate chambers via text message and Twitter.

Marriage equality is a civil rights issue.

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Filed Under: glbt, minnesota, same sex marriage Tagged With: , , , , , 6 Comments

Marriage Equality and a Day of Celebration

May 13, 2013 By 7 Comments

 

Last night, Courtney and I were on hand to help our dear friend, Jay Bakker, launch the new Minneapolis site of Revolution Church.  You can hear Jay’s inaugural sermon, “Vulgar Grace Throws the First Stone.”

The photo above is a detail shot by Courtney of the rainbow communion bread that we contributed to the service. We baked that loaf — the same loaf that Courtney baked with our friends Rachel and Rachet for our (sacramental) wedding — in support of marriage equality. Jay has been an outspoken proponent of marriage equality and has performed several same-sex weddings. When he broke the bread last night, Jay told us to remember not just the broken body of Jesus, but also the broken bodies and spirits of many GLBT persons who have been persecuted for their non-heterosexuality.

Today, Jay and Courtney and I and several other friends will be going to St. Paul to hold vigil as the Minnesota Senate debates and votes on a bill opening marriage in our state to same-gendered couples. It is expected to pass easily (my senator has already emailed me to assure me that she will be voting for its passage), and to be signed into law by Governor Mark Dayton tomorrow.

Our gay and lesbian friends will be able to marry in Minnesota beginning on August 1.

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Filed Under: books, glbt, minnesota, same sex marriage Tagged With: , , , 7 Comments

A Friendly Atheist Critique of Evangelical Acceptance of Gays

May 8, 2013 By 9 Comments

Fellow Patheos mega-blogger, Hemant Mehta, watched my video on evangelicals like Rob Bell and Jim Wallis coming around on marriage equality, and he has some thoughts of his own:

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Filed Under: christianity in america, glbt, same sex marriage Tagged With: , , 9 Comments

Dan Savage vs. Andrew Marin

April 15, 2013 By 52 Comments

Dan Savage and Andrew Marin

I don’t know Dan Savage. I like what he does, I think that Christians have a lot to learn from him, and I’ve gotten a couple Twitter responses from him, but I’ve never met him. I’d like to. I think we’d have a good conversation.

I do know Andrew Marin. I know him well. He’s a good friend whom I get to see a couple of times per year. We email and text a couple times a month, and I last saw him in January.

I have mixed feelings about some of the things that Dan Savage does and writes. His It Gets Better Project is really, really good. It’s Kingdom-of-God good. Some of his sex advice makes me a bit squeamish, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. But when it comes to the Christian faith, Dan is blinded by his own upbringing and by the pain that he has seen inflicted on GLBT persons by those claiming the name “Christian.” While I can’t blame him for the anger he harbors, he is an outspoken atheist — an atheist with an axe to grind against all who claim the Christian faith.

I have mixed feelings about the work of Andrew Marin and the Marin Foundation. They are avowed “bridge builders” in these tense days, as many Christians and churches are still trying to figure out how they deal with the increasing acceptance of GLBT persons in society. As such, both Andy and the Foundation have refused to take a public stance on the questions, “Is homosexuality a sin?” and “Do you support marriage equality?” I don’t agree with this stance, but I do understand why they’ve taken it.

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Filed Under: christianity in america, glbt, same sex marriage Tagged With: , 52 Comments

“Marriage” Changes. Don’t Believe Me? Look It Up.

April 11, 2013 By 26 Comments

On a flight last week, I sat next to a conservative Pentecostal pastor. We talked about demons and miraculous healings. And, probably to the consternation of those around us, argued vociferously about “marriage.” He was, like so many conservative evangelicals these days, in favor of civil unions for GLBT persons. But not “marriage.” No, “marriage” is something totally different, he told me.

Of course, he’s wrong. “Marriage” is nothing more than a word, composed of an assortment of letter — symbols with correlated vocal sounds. The definition of that word has changed since it was first used in English, and it changed over time in the many other languages that preceded English.

We invest words with meaning. That’s exactly what he’s hoping to do with the combination of words, “civil” and “union.” He wants that combo to mean something, and “marriage” to mean something else. That’s fine. But to suggest that the meaning that we’ve invested in the combination of letters m-a-r-r-i-a-g-e is almost shockingly naive.

Take Geoff Nunberg, the linguist for NPR’s Fresh Air. His most recent commentary is about how dictionaries are dealing with the on-the-ground changes to the word, “marriage”:

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Filed Under: christianity in america, glbt, same sex marriage Tagged With: , 26 Comments

Even Rick Perry Is Turning Pro-Gay

April 10, 2013 By 26 Comments

If Rick Perry is softening his stance toward gays, we’ve jumped the shark.

Although some idiocy still reigns — like this guy who says that sexual preference is akin to religious belief — we’ve clearly passed the tipping point when even the looniest Republican politician is signaling that he’s going to support gay marriage. That would be none other than Texas governor and past-and-future presidential hopeful Rick Perry. Gun-totin’-cowboy Perry spoke at one of the most adamantly anti-gay churches in the country, First Baptist-Dallas, last weekend at the dedication of the church’s $130 million addition:

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Filed Under: christianity in america, glbt 26 Comments

Supporting Gay Marriage Is Like…Being a Nazi!

April 1, 2013 By 9 Comments

You know things are getting desperate for “Minnesotans for Marriage” when they devolve to Godwin’s Law:

Minnesota for Marriage is urging pastors to preach Sunday against same-sex marriage.

To assist religious leaders, the group’s allies prepared a “sermon starter” designed to touch on key arguments against same-sex marriage.

Some of the material quotes Bible verses claiming same-sex couples are “detestable,” “an abomination” and an attack on children and Christians.

The material also tries to debunk a body of medical and scientific research that shows gay and lesbian people are born that way.

“They essentially practice Joseph Goebel’s Nazi philosophy of propaganda, which is basically this: Tell a lie long enough and loud enough and eventually most mindless Americans will believe it,” the material reads. “Hear this: God did not make anyone homosexual.”

In October, Minnesota for Marriage endured a wave of criticism after the Rev. Brad Brandon, a religious outreach staffer for Minnesota for Marriage, compared rivals’ efforts on the marriage amendment to the Nazi regime.

via Gay marriage foes draw fire for linking rivals to Nazi propaganda effort | StarTribune.com.

Filed Under: glbt 9 Comments

Why Marriage Matters

March 26, 2013 By 64 Comments

Supporters of Same-Sex Marriage hold up signs to rally against protesters of marriage equality. Photo by @alucidon on AARP Instagram

As I sit down to write this, SCOTUSblog has just tweeted that they don’t expect Prop 8 to be overturned:

That’s too bad. Justice Kennedy may not be ready for it — if so, he’s in line with many in his generation (Kennedy is 76). But, as Rob Bell said last week, that ship has already sailed. Frank Bruni basically said the same thing this week in the NYTimes:

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Filed Under: christianity in america, glbt, same sex marriage Tagged With: , 64 Comments

Rob Bell Round-Up

March 25, 2013 By 21 Comments


In the wake of Rob Bell’s new book being released and his perfectly-timed-to-coincide-with-new-book-release statement affirming gay marriage, the Internet is full of opinions about him. Here’s a little round up.

I blogged about Rob’s affirmation of gay marriage and about why Rob Bell Matters.

Adam Walker Cleaveland agrees that Rob Bell matters:

I believe Rob Bell still matters. Whether you agree with his theology or not, whether you get frustrated that he doesn’t include footnotes for every little reference he makes and writes in a more casual style than you…all of that side, Bell does, in fact, have an impressive platform and he is reaching a generation of folks who aren’t comfortable with more traditional ideas and models of Christianity.

Tim Ghali also stated that Rob Bell still matters to him:

Community is not determined by your current attendance record but by identification and participation. Rob Bell may not be part of your local church community, but it’s safe to say he’s part of the Church. And he still is accountable but there are different levels and forms of accountability.  From what I can see, the chatter out there from the week is at the very least evidence from those who are trying to hold him accountable and Tony is right, in this case, the readers (as well as the publisher/book sales) will hold accountable to a certain degree.

Tripp Fuller mused about various big-name leaders supporting gays:

Bell is the most interesting to me because he took a stand AND continued to embrace his evangelical identity.  At some point the evangelical community is going to have to permit some diversity around this issue and not continue to excommunicate the messenger. Ask former evangelicals stuck in a Mainline situation because of a justice issue like this and many still wish they could go home.

Bo Sanders argues with David Fitch and Geoff Holsclaw (differently than I argued with them):

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Filed Under: christianity in america, glbt, same sex marriage Tagged With: , , 21 Comments