T-shirt Evangelism

Anglican Mainsteam today highlights this story from breakpoint.org about one teenager’s court battle to defend her right to wear a t-shirt bearing the slogan ‘Be Happy Not Gay’ which brought her into conflict with her school. This story is unremarkable in itself (many similar stories of the alleged repression of Christians are highlighted weekly on Anglican Mainstream), however one line is typically infuriating:

“In effect, the school has outlawed Christian beliefs and free speech.”

Which implies that all Christians have the same beliefs which, on this issue, we absolutely and undeniably do not . These beliefs are not ‘Christian beliefs’, they are the beliefs of many Christians*. Not the same thing at all. It is the resolute and stubborn refusal to accept that not all Christians share the same viewpoint that makes this issue so heated – there is nothing more anger inducing than the feeling that however much you try to lead a Godly life, you are, and always will be, invalid in another’s sight and your beliefs, and the beliefs of those that support and love you, count for nothing, because your beliefs are not ‘Christian beliefs’. Believe me, being gay is easy to deal with in comparison to the crushing knowledge that other Christians find your relationship with God to be unpalatable and will do whatever they can to keep you in separation from Him.

* According to this page on the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches site, the Evangelical Alliance survey of 21st Century Evangelicals found that 26% were “uncertain” or “disagreed” to some extent that homosexual actions are always wrong. This may be a minority, but it is nonetheless a significant number, especially as the survey is from a subset of Christians not noted for their liberal views.

‘New Age’ is not to be confused with ‘The Age to Come’

Anglican Evangelicals are in a lather about a new controversy to hit the church in the UK, and, no, it’s not Rob Bell’s Love Wins which hasn’t really hit us yet, but a one day ‘New Age’ style festival in Manchester Cathedral. The ‘Spirit of Life‘ festival, organizers say, will provide ‘clear Christian alternative to the usual offer at Mind, Body Spirit events’ and will include such controversial pastimes as ‘choral evensong’ and ‘contemporary spiritualities’ (whatever they may be). Needless to say, the quick to jerk their knees are jerking: concerned emails are flying throughout the church community and prominent websites (for instance, here, here and here) have been quick to wade in. Accusations of ‘tarot reading’, first made in the UK press, have been swiftly rebuffed, but the organizers have goofed up royally in the PR department and some people are rapidly trying to distance themselves from the event.

Needless to say, few people really know what is going to happen on the day in question, but the propaganda machine is well and truly at full-throttle and the more adept are quick to make the link with he ‘homosexual lifestyle’ and the LGBT community (even though the event has apparently nothing to do with either) because one of the ‘contributors’ allegedly has ‘an ideological commitment to homosexual lifestyles’.

We’re looking forward to the seeing how this spat develops. It should be thrilling.

God can change you

An interesting point is made in this testimony from a Presbyterian minister who changed his mind on the Gay issue. He says:

“Looking back, I see how much my own opinions had been formed by the fact that I was representing a split congregation. Our church, like so many, was divided. And while the people who believed it should be accepted were not going to leave if we maintained a position of non-acceptance, those who felt it was a sin would bolt in a heartbeat if we ever allowed gay clergy or gay marriage. If they bolted, half our budget would go out the door. I knew the issue could tear the church apart. What I didn’t realize was how it could tear apart the people in the church as well.”

I suspect a similar dilemma may trouble the leadership of of many other churches. I remember the words of the former vicar of one of London’s most influential Evangelical churches having listened to my impassioned plea for understanding as a gay Christian: “My heart wants to believe you, but my head cannot.”

Do please read the article.

Coming Out Christian

I was really struck by the ‘Who We Are’ statement on the site Coming Out Christian. Hopefully they won’t mind if I reproduce part of it here:

“We are followers of Christ, first and formost. We are gay people who have prayed for healing. The healing came… but not in the way that we expected. We prayed to be straight. Instead, God opened our hearts to the amazing fact that He loves us and accepts us just as we are.”

This is very much my own experience, with a slight difference. I prayed for understanding, in the firm resolve that if God showed me that he wanted me to change my ways, I would do so. Far from condemning me, he has reassured and confirmed me and my relationship in countless ways.

I know that God does not want me to stop being who I am, he wants me to use it.

Quakers ‘brainwash’ children, apparently

Anglican Mainstream have found some ‘actual footage’ of Quakers ‘brainwashing’ children. Wow. ‘Brainwashing’. Strong word.

No bible, no God

In this article, Colin Coward picks out a fascinating quote from Albert Hohler, discussing Rob Bell’s new book Love Wins:

“Like so many others, Bell wants to separate the message of Jesus from other voices even in the New Testament, particularly the voice of the Apostle Paul. Here we face the inescapable question of biblical authority. We will either affirm that every word of the Bible is true, trustworthy, and authoritative, or we will create our own Bible according to our own preferences. Put bluntly, if Jesus and Paul are not telling the same story, we have no idea what the true story is.”

This quote perfectly illustrates the quicksand on which the faith of so many ‘biblical’ Christians seems to be built. Their faith rests on the affirmation that “every word of the Bible is true, trustworthy, and authoritative”. Without this absolute, they would have to figure out God all over again which would be a daunting prospect for many. It’s no wonder they stick to their position so forcibly: without the Bible, where would God be? They would have to find him.

Christian Insitute warns us against voting for AV

Beware, says the Christian Institute: if you vote for the Alternative Vote system, you’ll be in danger of voting in ‘Progressives’, who have a tendency to be ‘socially liberal on issues like abortion, marriage, feminism and homosexual activism’. Just so you know. Be aware also that by voting for AV you will probably be supporting groups such as Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, Liberal Judaism and Ekklesia, all of whom (the Christian Institute reminds us) have been called ‘progressive’ faith groups. And it goes without saying that you will also be supporting Ed Miliband. You can read the article here. In case you have not yet got the message, you can also read the article on Anglican Mainstream.

Dr Peter Saunders attacks David Cameron

Here’s an example of stretching the Bible to support an argument. In David Cameron and his comments on homosexuality and tolerance | Christian Concern, Dr Peter Saunders makes the case that David Cameron’s position on tolerance is at odds with the words of Jesus: ‘Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality…’. This passage is cited as Revelation 2:18-29, which of course is from the vision of St John. To use it as if it were the recorded word of Christ in such an argument relies on the fact that most people don’t read the Bible very much. It’s all to easy to persuade people that that the Bible says x about y, but we’re living in a grown up world and a ‘revelation’ somebody had two thousand years ago is hardly going to be persuasive a contemporary debate. Dr Saunders is going to have to do better than this if he wants to persuade non-Christian, let alone Christians who consider tolerance a virtue.

Loopy pastor

For his next stunt the completely loopy and irresponsible Pastor Terry Jones is threatening to put the Prophet Muhammad ‘on trial’.

You’d think the amount of deaths his and Wayne Sapp’s antics have already triggered by burning the Koran would be enough. If he goes ahead the consequences will almost certainly be much worse.

Love is an Orientation

It will be old hat to many of you but here’s a book I would really recommend: Love Is an Orientation: Elevating the Conversation with the Gay Community, Andrew Marin. Get it. Read it. The author really does try to elevate the debate around the gay issue in Christianity and it’s highly refreshing.