Two More Resources re: Non-LGBTQ-Affirming Policy of Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Shane Claiborne's Refusal, as a "Progressive Evangelical," to Affirm Queer Folks Unambiguously

When a commitment to a doctrine overshadows the ability to see other people’s humanity, one has conceded their own humanity for ideology.

— Broderick Greer (@BroderickGreer) February 11, 2018

 

Two items I'd like to share with you today as a follow-up to yesterday's posting noting what's now happening in the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, as the church creates a two-tiered structure for its employees that allows rights and privileges to straight folks denied to queer ones. In addition, my posting yesterday focused on the controversy that has ensued after Shane Claiborne, a "progressive evangelical" who refuses to affirm LGBTQ people unambiguously, announced that he and his Red Letter Christians will be sponsoring a revival of "progressive evangelicals in Lynchburg, Virginia, in April.

Alan McCornick on Cardinal Marx, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship on LGBTQ Employees, Heated Debate About Progressive Evangelicals and LGBTQ Lives: News

Trump's Statement on Alleged Abuser #RobPorter: 'Him-He-Him-Him-He-He-He-He-Him-He-He-He-He-He-He-Him-Him-He-He' - https://t.co/4r5XVaIB4s It's been a "tough time" for top aide accused of domestic violence, but nothing to say about ex-wives who suffered

— Common Dreams (@commondreams) February 9, 2018

I'd like to recommend today good commentary by my friend Alan McCornick about the story of Cardinal Marx and the case of the disappearing yes (aka, My God! No! We can't possibly bless you!).  Alan's commentary, entitled "The price of a blessing," is at his Hepzibah blog. Alan speaks German fluently and has an advantage many of us lack, when it comes to reading and summing up what the German media have been saying about this story.

Back from Trip, Thinking About American Catholicism, the "Both-Sides" False Equivalency Argument, and Ethics of Survival

I'm sorry to have been silent for a week. Steve and I spent last week in New Orleans visiting friends and family, and as we did so, I couldn't keep up with blogging — even, to any great degree, with following the news. I'm back now, and among all that I might talk about (the dire situation in Puerto Rico and the morally bankrupt response of the Trump administration to it; the event of mass murder in Las Vegas last evening), what is foremost in my mind today, for the purpose of this blog, is a discussion I read in the past day or so at the National Catholic Reporter site.

David Gushee's Still Christian: Following Jesus Out of American Evangelicalism on His Experience When He Spoke Out vs. Anti-LGBT Theologies

In his book Still Christian: Following Jesus Out of American Evangelicalism (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2017), David P. Gushee speaks about what happened as he began to revise his understanding of how the churches treat queer people — as he began to change his thinking as a religion scholar specializing in the field of ethics whose academic career was spent teaching in Baptist-affiliated institutions (Southern Baptist and Cooperative Baptist Fellowship). When he began to speak his mind and publish about these matters, he found himself slapped, excluded, shunned, disinvited from lecturing at places that had invited him to lecture, receiving hate mail, hate email, and hate tweets. He found his books yanked from shelves in Christian bookstores. Here (and above) are some excerpts for you (clicking graphics makes them enlarge):