{"id":13906,"date":"2011-02-15T11:41:08","date_gmt":"2011-02-15T17:41:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/jesuscreed\/?p=13906"},"modified":"2011-02-14T08:45:20","modified_gmt":"2011-02-14T14:45:20","slug":"has-the-weight-shifted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2011\/02\/15\/has-the-weight-shifted\/","title":{"rendered":"Has the Weight Shifted?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Did you see this piece on USA Today<\/strong><\/a>? Has the weight now shifted so that the \u201cbattle\u201d is effectively over? I think it has.<\/p>\n

You get the sense, observing the shifting cultural landscape, that we\u2019ve reached a point on gay rights that is similar to that moment in a football game, or an election, or a relationship, when you know it\u2019s over even though it\u2019s not\u00a0over<\/em>.<\/p>\n

It appears increasingly obvious that social acceptance of gay men and lesbians and insistence on their equal rights are inexorable. If the repeal of \u201cdon\u2019t ask, don\u2019t tell\u201d weren\u2019t enough to signal the turning point, or the classification of several gay-resisting Christian right organizations as \u201chate groups\u201d by the\u00a0Southern Poverty Law Center<\/a>, there came news that Exodus International was ending its involvement in the anti-homosexuality\u00a0\u201cDay of Truth\u201d<\/a> in U.S. high schools. \u201cWe need to equip kids to live out biblical tolerance and grace,\u201d Exodus President Alan Chambers explained, \u201cwhile treating their neighbors as they\u2019d like to be treated, whether we agree with them or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Add it up, and you see a decision point at hand for socially conservative Christian groups such as the Family Research Council that have led resistance to gay rights. Do they fight to the last ditch, continue shouting the anti-gay rhetoric that rings false and mean to the many\u00a0Americans<\/a> who live and work with gay people, or who themselves are gay? Or do they soften their tone and turn their attention to other fronts?<\/p>\n

Prayerful discernment and simple Christian decency would strongly suggest the latter. The alternative looks worse by the day \u2014 a quixotic battle more likely to discredit its fighters and their fine religion than win any hearts and minds for Jesus. Christianity has far worthier causes than this.<\/p>\n

For all its drama and rally-the-troops appeal, \u201cfighting to the end\u201d is a sure loser. More and more Americans \u2014 young people in particular, Christians very much included \u2014 know gay men and lesbians and see how the anti-gay talking points and caricatures fail to square with the reality under our noses.<\/p>\n

\u201cYoung Christians increasingly have family members who are gay, have people in their lives who really matter to them who are gay, and that changes how they approach these issues,\u201d says Gabe Lyons, author of the new bookThe Next Christians<\/em> and a leader and chronicler of the new generation of evangelicals. \u201cThis doesn\u2019t mean their convictions on the matter have changed, but in this new environment, people don\u2019t want to see their friends being discriminated against; they don\u2019t want them labeled as someone who should be feared and blamed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, rubbing some people the wrong way is of little concern if you\u2019re convinced you\u2019re representing the Straight from the Bible, Capital-T Truth, as conservative Christian organizations are quick to assert. The problem is that such a stance is increasingly difficult to maintain as society begins taking a more complex look at what the bible says and doesn\u2019t say about sex, and as growing ranks of unchurched Americans ask why it even matters what the Bible says.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Did you see this piece on USA Today? Has the weight now shifted so that the \u201cbattle\u201d is effectively over? I think it has. You get the sense, observing the shifting cultural landscape, that we\u2019ve reached a point on gay rights that is similar to that moment in a football game, or an election, or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1732],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-public-issues"],"yoast_head":"\nHas the Weight Shifted?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Did you see this piece on USA Today? Has the weight now shifted so that the "battle" is effectively over? I think it has. 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