Minority Report

How would you feel if I told you that a country was passing a law that would severely restrict the rights and freedoms of Christians? That the government of a country, which was entirely controlled by followers of another religion had decided to band together and do something about the “Christian threat”? What if they published the names of people they suspected to be Christians in the newspaper, and encouraged the public to harm them or refuse to associate with them? What if they passed a law so that if you were caught practicing your faith in your own home you could be thrown in jail for 7 years? What if they made it a law that if your neighbour found out you were a Christian they were forced to report it to the police or face 3 years in prison themselves? What if that law had a provision in it that if you were caught multiple times you could be put to death?

How would you feel? Angry? Sad? Would you be motivated to do something about it? Would you ask your member of parliament or senator to approve sanctions against the country treating your Christian brothers and sisters in such a way? What would you do?

Now stop. Because it IS really happening right now. In Uganda.

But there is one difference, which is why you probably haven’t heard about it.{continue...}

[via Bridging the Gap]

Lessons from The Ted Haggard Story

[via kingdom grace]

Contributes A Lot

Anyway, back to Twilight and relating it to my own life. Even though Scott and my relationship is much different than Edward and Bella for obvious reasons (the main one being that he is actually attracted to her ;-), I couldn’t help but hear Scott’s voice and things he has said to me over the past couple of months in Edwards words, but relating to something completely different. Edward is amazed that Bella loves him and accepts him for who he is. And he keeps questioning why and how she could continue to love and support him, a vampire. In my world, Scott has been similarly amazed at my acceptance of him, that I love him just as much, and maybe even more, now that I understand what he is and that being gay contributes a lot to who he is.

[via Serendipity]

Chance To Prove, If Not Secure

I sat on an ottoman wedged in the corner of the wine bar. It was after hours and I was providing support to one of our directors as he shot a focus group for a local ad agency. The shoot pretty much ran itself so my support ended up being more of the moral variety. It was a multi-night job and I spent most of the time surfing the internet and writing on my laptop. The groups, which consisted of African-American women of different age ranges were interesting to listen to…at first. The uncomfortable ottoman mixed with my own natural predisposition for boredom set me off in search of websites that featured shiny new gadgets of the plug-in variety.

When the moderator asked the women what an Obama victory would mean to them, I looked up from my screen. I was curious to hear the opinion of the election from the perspective of a Southern middle-class African-American woman. Many of the answers I anticipated. Words like, “empowerment”, “hope”, and “affirmation” were said. One unexpected word I heard was “anxiety”. The moderator asked the woman to clarify her statement, she continued to say, “Barack Obama is our chance to prove ourselves. If he is elected and fails, it will be devastating for African-Americans and who knows when we will get another shot?”

I knew what I was getting into with this blog. I fully intended to be an example of someone who was living as an active member of the church, but I have a very uncomfortable, shifting-my-chair feeling when people look to me as a “poster boy” for gay Mormons. Because, quite simply:

What if I fail? {continue...}

[via Soy Made Me Gay]

(Un)Charitable

Project Angel Tree is a Good Thing. Or it would be a Good Thing if the people running it would just get out of the way.

The program, part of Charles Colson's Prison Fellowship, collects and distributes Christmas presents for the children of prisoners. This is heartwarming and noncontroversial. It's also a fine example of Matthew 25-style Christianity in action: "I was in prison and you came to visit me." What's not to like?

PatWell, it turns out there's a problem. The folks at Prison Fellowship want to help these little kids at Christmas, but not quite as much as they want to spread the Gay-Hatin' Gospel.{continue...}

[via slacktivist]

"Self-Pity", "Me and Ted," and "How (Not) To Speak of God, post 3"

[via The Paris Project]

Conscientious Objectors?

Right now in Canada there are two cases before the courts which pit the religious freedom of an individual against the law of the land. In the first, two BC parents who are Jehovah's Witnesses will go before the Supreme Court of British Columbia because three of their four surviving sextuplets were given blood transfusions against their wishes. The children were legally removed from their parent's care long enough for the transfusion to take place.

In the other case, a marriage commissioner here in Saskatchewan is being brought before a Human Rights Tribunal because he refused to perform a same-sex marriage. Orville Nichols, who is a Baptist, does not believe in same-sex marriage and refused to perform the ceremony even though as a marriage commissioner he is legally obligated to do so.

When does the religious freedom of the individual trump the law of the land? As a country, Canada has been known for it's tolerance. Sikh's who become members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are allowed to wear their turban instead of the standard RCMP head wear. The college I went to had a prayer room set aside so that Muslim students could fulfill their prayer obligations. But what about the two recent cases I outlined above, are we as a country guilty of selective tolerance?

[via The Headbanger Theologian]

Defined By Inner Turmoil

Are we really surprised anymore by reports that religious leaders have been charged with sexual or financial misconduct? From the good old days of Jim and Tammy Faye to the ongoing scandals in the Roman Catholic Church, such shenanigans have become so commonplace that news about clerics who live by what they preach is actually far more startling.

And yet, the news of Ted Haggard being outed by a gay male prostitute did come as something of a surprise. That the pastor of a Colorado Springs megachurch, president of National Association of Evangelicals, friend of powerful politicians, and one of the leading voices against gay marriage in America might himself be gay, or at least bi-sexual, raises questions that most of us in the religious world would just as soon not deal with. With few exceptions, even mainline Protestant denominations have embraced the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policies of the American military....

No entity plays a bigger role in the current debates over sexuality than the religious community, and this not just a Christian issue. Our entire society’s sexual mores are influenced, if not determined, by sacred texts of all denominations, most of which appear to frown upon homosexuality. Our debates and our conversations seem to center around how we view and interpret these texts. And it’s far more than an academic exercise, because human lives are at stake.

Pastor Ted initially took the ill-fated Bill Clinton approach, denying the allegations and insisting that everything was just fine at home. But as the evidence against him mounted, he was forced to admit that maybe some of the accusations were true. What he found difficult to confront was his lifelong struggle with homosexual tendencies that he’d tried to suppress. I’ve read recently that at least a few of his friends had an inkling that something was amiss, but I’m sure the revelations came as a shock to everyone near him, particularly his family and his church.

I completely understand why Haggard chose to resist the urges that would be his undoing. He felt called by God to serve the church. Should he admit to what was going on inside, he would have to leave behind what he honestly considered his true vocation. Thus, he was a man of contradictions. Even as he campaigned against gay marriage and spoke out about the sinfulness of homosexuality, it’s been reported that he could also be welcoming and supportive to gays and lesbians. He was, essentially, defined by his inner turmoil, and his unsuccessful attempt to control that turmoil.

[via SoMA Review, emphasis mine, HT: Ponderings on a Faith Journey]

Related: Ted Haggard's Sin [via Ponderings on a Faith Journey]

Daring to pray for Gayle and Ted Haggard

[via Get Religion]

Respectability vs. Responsibility

Sometimes people act respectable as though it substitutes for responsibility.

The Ted Haggard scandal is a case in point. Both Haggard and Jones exemplify stereotypical versions of respectablity and homosexuality. Haggard became irresponsible by hiding his desires and looking functional; Jones became irresponsible by simplifying his identity and pursuing pleasure. Consider the following:

1. When gay indentity can be associated with overindulgence and risky behavior (in Jones's case), it dilutes any impact.

2. When homosexual behavior can be just covered by religiosity and deception (in Haggard's case), it doesn't fix anything.

Perhaps we should expect more responsibility from all involved.

Not Well-Served

Imagine the conversation in the back of Ted's head everytime he addressed homosexuality. There is nothing to suggest that he is some kind of Elmer Gantry, so we have to believe he is a true believer. He had to have been completely devastated everytime he visited that man. I can only imagine the prayers to take away that temptation.

I really feel for the man when I think of how tortured he must feel. And, as others have written, I can only imagine the horror of being taken down this way; gone from national evangelical figure to pariah over a weekend; the impact on his wife and kids....

It seems to me that the Christian right could learn from the Haggard experience. Here is a man devoted to his church, to his God, to his ministry. A man, by all accounts, who tried to love his wife and certainly his kids. If any person on the planet could have prayed this away, don't you think it would have been him? Don't you think he would have given anything to not be gay?

I don't think our sexuality works that way, and I don't think the conservative church is well served by this.

[via Streak's Blog]