So, heard a few minutes of NPR and they were talking about and to people of the religious persuasion who signed or...
So, heard a few minutes of NPR and they were talking about and to people of the religious persuasion who signed or helped write or whatever, they were being spokespersons, for these things called the Nashville Statement and the Boston Declaration.
Of course this made me go read them. Oh, boy.
The main part of what I heard on the radio involved the Nashville spokesperson claiming that this wasn't all about homosexuality - which engenders harshly mocking laughter now that I have read said document - and some stuff about how they were a separate community or something and just regulating themselves. I wish I could remember the exact word, but it basically comes out sounding like he's claiming they're some cloistered order, or a group like the Amish or something who keep themselves essentially separate from the world. Which, if true, ok fine. You make up the rules for your tiny, separate little universe. Just for you, though, 'cuz you're not part of the larger world.
Once again I choke with the hypocrisy because they have sought and continue to seek temporal involvement and influence over the secular society they criticize. They don't want to withdraw and protect their little construct. They want to go out into the world and either force it to conform with their tiny little vision or destroy it. They've expended time, money, and energy on altering secular law, pushing their agenda into our politics and onto our courts, and pushing out women, people of color, and "sexually non-conforming" people.
As for the homosexuality, aside from how often it is explicitly mentioned, almost every article of their "statement" refers to gender, sex, sexuality, marriage, secondary sexual characteristics/anatomy, sexual attraction, immorality, and so on. It's all binary, it's all paired male/female, there's no other definitions or constructs, and nobody is allowed to mess around unless they are married and reproducing. Because god said so.
It's ALL about homosexuality.
Meanwhile, the Boston document reads like a bunch of hippies and radicals with an agenda and touches on the whole wide world, but especially the USA. I'm not necessarily critiquing the tone, but it's hard to see how the two documents are even comparable. For one thing, the mentions and treatment of Jesus and what following Jesus means are completely different. One of them wants to get out there and help fix the world. The other one wants the world to get with the program and follow the rules.
It's very interesting to me to see the associated institutions and organizations of the original formal signatories on both documents. I was a little surprised by some of it, but it gives a pretty clear delineation of which "Christian" groups stand where, socially and politically. Yeah, it's such a shame our founding fathers tried to keep religion out of secular governance. #sarcasm
I suppose it'd be informative to listen to the whole thing at some point but here's the program:
http://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2017/12/18/christianity-divided-over-sex
http://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2017/12/18/christianity-divided-over-sex
Of course this made me go read them. Oh, boy.
The main part of what I heard on the radio involved the Nashville spokesperson claiming that this wasn't all about homosexuality - which engenders harshly mocking laughter now that I have read said document - and some stuff about how they were a separate community or something and just regulating themselves. I wish I could remember the exact word, but it basically comes out sounding like he's claiming they're some cloistered order, or a group like the Amish or something who keep themselves essentially separate from the world. Which, if true, ok fine. You make up the rules for your tiny, separate little universe. Just for you, though, 'cuz you're not part of the larger world.
Once again I choke with the hypocrisy because they have sought and continue to seek temporal involvement and influence over the secular society they criticize. They don't want to withdraw and protect their little construct. They want to go out into the world and either force it to conform with their tiny little vision or destroy it. They've expended time, money, and energy on altering secular law, pushing their agenda into our politics and onto our courts, and pushing out women, people of color, and "sexually non-conforming" people.
As for the homosexuality, aside from how often it is explicitly mentioned, almost every article of their "statement" refers to gender, sex, sexuality, marriage, secondary sexual characteristics/anatomy, sexual attraction, immorality, and so on. It's all binary, it's all paired male/female, there's no other definitions or constructs, and nobody is allowed to mess around unless they are married and reproducing. Because god said so.
It's ALL about homosexuality.
Meanwhile, the Boston document reads like a bunch of hippies and radicals with an agenda and touches on the whole wide world, but especially the USA. I'm not necessarily critiquing the tone, but it's hard to see how the two documents are even comparable. For one thing, the mentions and treatment of Jesus and what following Jesus means are completely different. One of them wants to get out there and help fix the world. The other one wants the world to get with the program and follow the rules.
It's very interesting to me to see the associated institutions and organizations of the original formal signatories on both documents. I was a little surprised by some of it, but it gives a pretty clear delineation of which "Christian" groups stand where, socially and politically. Yeah, it's such a shame our founding fathers tried to keep religion out of secular governance. #sarcasm
I suppose it'd be informative to listen to the whole thing at some point but here's the program:
http://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2017/12/18/christianity-divided-over-sex
http://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2017/12/18/christianity-divided-over-sex
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