I need to be honest. I hate talking about white privilege. It makes me extremely uncomfortable. And if I am being totally transparent, I don’t really get it. I grew up in a lower middle class family, in a trailer park, in one of the wealthiest counties in the country. I saw privilege all around me all time growing up. But I never felt like I was a participant in it. I never considered that I received any benefits simply based on the color of my skin. I... Read more
Well, what a week this has been. Since the news broke last weekend about my former publisher dropping my book because of my stance on LGBTQ issues, there has been a firestorm of news articles, blog posts, and social media comments from people all across the spectrum- many encouraging and some not so encouraging. But as this week comes to an end, I want to offer some thoughts on how I plan to move forward from all of this controversy.... Read more
Yesterday a piece went live on TIME.com that reported news that I had lost my book contract of over a year due to my theological position on same-sex relationships and my identification with the LGBTQ community. The story at TIME is fair and accurate, I want to take a few moments to elaborate a bit more on my current situation. When I received the news that my contract would likely be terminated last week, I was honestly shocked. My former publisher,... Read more
Notable comedian John Fugelsang interviewed me earlier this week on his radio show on SiriusXM about my viral Huffington Post piece, “4 Teachings of Jesus that His Followers (Almost) Never Take Seriously“. Listen in to these two clips and share your thoughts! Read more
On Wednesday, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention released there “Legislative Agenda” for 2015. The agenda touches on many important issues like immigration reform, adoption, and religious liberties. But of course, no SBC legislative agenda would be complete without touching on the issue of LGBTQ equality. While there is nothing incredibly surprising in the agenda, I was particularly shaken by how clearly the ERLC spelled out their reason for fighting marriage equality. If you have... Read more
Over the last year, I have been completely devoted to working for the cause of LGBTQ equality, acceptance, and inclusion in the society and in the Church. When I first jumped in to full time activism, I didn’t expect to see much movement on this issue among my fellow evangelicals. From where I sat, as a student in one of Americas leading Bible Institutes at the time, evangelicalism seemed to have planted its flag deep into the ground on this... Read more
Tonight, President Barack Obama stepped in front of the nation and our elected officials to give a report on the state of affairs in the United States of America. As President Obama stepped up to the podium to speak to our nation, he unveiled an ambitious path of progress for the US over the final two years of his presidency. Much of what the President laid out will be debated and dissected for weeks to come, while other programs... Read more
On Friday night, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints posted a revised statement on LGBTQ Discrimination to the Churches official website: “Church leaders recognize the existence and difficulty of same gender attraction and acknowledge the difference between having same-sex attraction and acting on it. They censure only the latter, and leaders strongly advocate for understanding, inclusion, and kindness toward people of all gender orientations. The Church website mormonsandgays.org details sincere outreach by the Church within the gay community, including... Read more
Guest Post: Rev. Dr. Jeff K. Hood, Guest Contributor If it was not for your willingness to follow God, I doubt I would be writing. I just received my doctorate from Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University for a project entitled, “The Epiphany of the Queer: An Exploration in Theology.” For so many years, you have inspired me to keep going. There are many who would say that a man married to a woman should not be doing queer theology.... Read more
One of the most frustrating realities that I continue to bump into in my evangelical community is the way that the pro-violence war mindset of many conservative Americans has seeped into evangelical Christianity and has been assimilated with a “Christian worldview.” Last week, when the CIA Torture Report was released, many Americans were shocked at the cruel, inhumane, and frankly, evil practices used by our troops to interrogate war criminals in the Middle-East. The list of practices used to “obtain information” from... Read more
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