How Jack Thompson Gives Christians a Bad Name

Gamepolitics recently ran a series on the trial of Jack Thompson, in which they excerpted parts of the courtroom transcript for public consumption. For legal junkies such as myself, this offered a fascinating way to get a look at the (in)famous man leading the anti-videogame industry.

Thompson's inflammatory writing has always contained religious overtones, but it wasn't until I read his closing statement that I was struck with the immutable and troubling fact: Thompson is, in fact, explicitly doing this all in the name of God. Check out the following quotes:

I’m simply making the argument, Judge, that my motivations - which I have tried to make clear, maybe to the point of nausea - are religious and that my efforts against the distribution of adult material, pornographic material, violent material, adult rated material to children is violative of the law as well as violative of Scripture. I quoted the biblical passage where Jesus says, reportedly: “If any one of you should cause one of these little ones to stumble, it would be better that a millstone be tied around your neck and that you be cast in the uttermost depths of the sea.”

...As I recounted in my book… they found that Jack Thompson is perfectly sane… He doesn’t have brain damage and, in fact, he’s a Christian acting out his faith in this fashion. So they’re stuck with a formal document that they generated to the humiliation of me in my community that I’m simply a Christian acting out my faith when I do these things.

It makes me shudder to hear Jack Thompson quoting scripture. As a progressive Christian, let me just tell everyone who's reading this right now: This man does not represent my people, or at least, not most of them. Here are just a few reasons why.

He Wants To Legislate Morality

Thompson's world is one in which the government controls what you and your kids see, play, and watch. Although some believe that games rating system is broken, few people have a problem with games ratings categorically. But like the movie industry, we should try and let the games industry police itself (with hopefully more transparency than the MPAA uses).

Government legislation is not going to solve most of the issues that Thompson decries. It has to be done from the ground up, with parents getting more involved with their kids lives' and making sure they don't buy their 9-year old Grand Theft Auto IV when it comes out on April 29 (which by the way, I can't wait for. That doesn't mean that I'm going to let my kids play it though). Moral laws are necessary to keep our society functioning, but every theocracy in human history has ended in tragedy. The more Christians try to get the government to do what they think is God's will, the worse off it looks for all Christians, and the worse off we'll be as a society.

He Seeks To Divide, Not Unite

Thompson is opportunistic to a fault. There are ways to make the world change, but trotting yourself onto TV whenever there's a school shooting to blame videogames for all the world's ills is not one of them. Thompson consistently uses inflammatory language that's meant to polarize and divide, not to unite. He recently suggested that Destructoid should "molest a child directly, rather than through Rockstar." While sarcasm is fine if you're a blogger, it's a little bit unbecoming in this case, when you're a lawyer striving to be taken seriously regarding his Christian values. And when you're already not known for being very reasonable, it makes you into a pontificating and dismissive bastard.

He Uses Bad Science

Videogames certainly don't prevent violence but the evidence that they cause it is murky at best. There are plenty of other factors that might play into why a kid who is in a situation where he spends 6 hours on Doom or Counterstrike per day might want to shoot up a school. And that's assuming he even plays videogames at all (see the point below).

Christians already have a bad enough reputation regarding their relationship to science. We don't need another. But don't take my word for it. Check out the argument captured here:



He Deceives

To watch Thompson's performance in an interview with Chris Matthews is to see a deceiver exposed for what he really is (i.e. a man who grossly distorts the truth to prove his misguide point):

See Chris Matthews take on Jack Thompson by clicking here.

You can also see him blame the sniper attacks on Halo below:



But half-truths are only part of the problem. EA's withering statement of Thompson after he offered them his help with the Take-Two acquisition tells a whole other part of the story (i.e. the part where Thompson fabricates lies wholesale):

We have received your letter to EA's shareholder site. In response to your offer to assist in the proposed acquisition of Take-Two, we would strongly prefer that you not get involved in this matter. EA is a strong supporter of creative freedom for game developers. We feel that your past statements - including false claims about content
in our games - make any collaboration with you impossible.

If you're going to take on a controversial cause in the name of God, at least have the decency to ground your work on facts, please.

**

(For a pretty good list documenting the rest of Thompson's antics, see his Wikipedia page.)

The Christian message is about peace, unity, and love. Videogames can sometimes run counter to this message. There are bad videogames out there, games that may have a negative impact on how you perceive the world, games that make you think sad or violent thoughts. And this is not to mention how games can arguably cause you to be disengaged from the reality around you to begin with. But the way Christians should address these issues is not be standing on a soapbox, armed with a J.D., and trying to make it illegal. It should be to build relationships with those around us, trying our best to love them and address their needs.

So parents, pay attention to your kids and what they're playing with. And as for you, Thompson, here's hoping that your day is over soon.

Should This Woman Be Allowed To Kill Herself?

[Again, apologies it's been so long since my last entry. I'll try to ramp it up! :) But please know that the more comments you guys leave here, the more motivation it will be for me to get my next entry out soon.]

Chantal Sebire used to look like you and me, but facial tumors (esthesioneuroblastoma) rendered her face disfigured. Over time, they will destroy her brain and kill her. Sebire speaks heart-breakingly of what she has had to go through:

In 2000, I lost the sense of smell and taste ... and I lost my sight in October 2007. One would not allow an animal to go through what I have endured.

Sebire recently appealed to a high court in Dijon, France, to be given the right to end her own life but was turned down. She's now appealing to President Sarkozy for a change in France's euthanasia laws.

Sebire's case presents one of the most troubling right-to-die cases in recent memory. Her disfigurement and pain is obvious to anyone who sees her photographs, and a restriction against killing herself is equivalent to a sentence of lifelong suffering.

In evaluating these cases from a Christian perspective in contemporary society, there are many conflicting values and norms that come into play. The first is the prohibition against suicide. Most often, people cite 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 to demonstrate unequivocally that God is against suicide:

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own, you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body

It's clear that God values life in the Bible, but the Bible is strikingly unclear as to what level of existence qualifies as life. Would God prefer someone resigned to the abject pain and horrifying struggles of a daily struggle with only a future of slow and torturous death ahead of them, or would he prefer someone that celebrated their life for what it was shortly before taking it? This is the choice I think is offered by Sebire's situation.

One other thing to consider is the advancement of medical technology, which has made suicide an easy and painless procedure, but has also brought into existence life-prolonging drugs and equipment that might benefit the body but not the soul. People live longer today than they were meant to live according to "nature." A pastor who I recently spoke with opined to me that as a result of all this technology, people live longer than they're "supposed to." Maybe we're not supposed to live so far past the time when we still have the ability to feed ourselves, clothe ourselves, and use the bathroom ourselves. But society has deemed that because we can, we should.

But maybe in Sebire's case, keeping someone alive just for the sake of it says a lot more negative things about us as a human society than it does positive.

Tools

(Photo by Docman, via CC)

When I was in high school, some technicians from Sears came over to fix the water heater in our basement. When they left, they took my dad's 108-piece toolset with them (which happened to be lying right next to the water heater). I remember wandering into the dining room one day while my dad was on the phone, arguing with the Sears people. Although dad was unflappable as always, I could tell that he was not happy with the situation. And who would be? Ultimately, the Sears people agreed to purchase my dad a new set of tools, albeit a crappier one. At the end of the whole ordeal, my dad said to me something along the lines of, "In all my time in America, I have never met anybody like this," referring to the toolman.

That's not to say that he hadn't, in his dealings, met any incompetent, inconsiderate or even cruel people. Rather, it was the gall with which these Sears technicians took his things, then lied to his face about it. Then, they didn't respond to his complaints with compassion, but with more obfuscation. And when they finally did make up for it, it was with useless half-measures.

I've been on the internet for a long time now (since AOL was a dial-up service!) and I've met a lot of pretty mean people. On this blog, I've been called a whole host of evil things, and occasionally I've been informed that I'm going to hell. Still, in all that time, I never thought I'd have to say what my dad said, about meeting someone that terrible, that inconsiderate, that cold, that calculating.

Until now.

I recently met someone online that epitomized all these above characteristics. This person lied to me and tried very hard to steal away my dignity. This person showed me the limits of friendship on the internet, and how ultimately, we can't really trust anyone. My anger burned against them for their deceit.

I've had some time to cool off, to realize that, in the end, no one's perfect. I've tried my best to realize that this person's crimes against me aren't that much more serious than my crimes against others. I'm reminded of a Bible verse that people don't really speak of that much these days:

You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

These were the words of Jesus, thousands of years ago. Today it's much more politically fashionable to rail against abortion clinics and teen sex (although apparently, it's become less and less fashionable as each day passes by). But despite an encouraging surge in attention towards social justice, few people really talk about these verses anymore. Jesus led through an example of self-sacrifice, where revenge was noticeably absent. Righteous indignation is still okay, but punching someone's lights out after they piss you off is not.

We all meet these types of people in our lives. Every day we encounter them when they cut us off on the road, when they are curt to us in the supermarket line, when they tell you to "Shut the f**k up" at your team meeting (true story). May we show them the courtesy and respect they so completely fail to show us.

Is The Era of Religion in Politics Over? According to Jim Wallis, "Yes."

Jim Wallis was on "The Daily Show" recently and in the interview, he declared that the era of religion in politics is over:

Click here for the clip

Like it or not, Americans, as a whole, are religious. But as we've seen throughout history, and especially in the last few years, when you mix religion and politics, the result is usually tragedy. Politics is the rule of law over the people. Religion is the rule of God over man. But because God didn't make it 100% clear exactly what he wanted, differing interpretations, each of which is convinced of its own veracity, can lead to a great deal of strife. Your god may believe that I shouldn't be allowed to marry someone of the same sex, but my god does not. Your god may believe that I should be able determine what happens within my own body, but my god does not. And the beat goes on...

The religious right was the reason why John Kerry lost the election in 2004. It's why Huckabee won the caucus in Iowa. It's part of the reason why every single president we've ever had has been a believer, and will be for the foreseeable future.

So is the period of religion in politics over yet? I don't think so. But my hope is that the era of James Dobson and Pat Robertson is soon coming to a close, that Christian demogogy will soon be trumped by Christian compassion and progressivism. For the sake of our country, I pray it.

News roundup

(Photo by me!)

Hey guys,

Sorry it's been quiet around here lately...I usually get off at least one substantial post per week but that hasn't happened recently just due to life circumstances. I will try to get back on track this weekend and next week. In the meantime, there's been a TON of stuff happening recently all over the news, much of it relating to religion. Here are some links for your pleasure:

More Evangelicals Concluding that God Is Green - After years of believing that the world is ours to do what we want and that "The Rapture is going to come any day now, so who the heck cares how much we pollute?", some Evangelicals are finally waking up to the notion that yes, our children might be the ones that have to shoulder the consequences of the disastrous violence we've inflicted upon the environment. About time.

Pat Robertson Back Giuliani - What?! Ultra-conservative Robertson backs a presidential candidate who has had three wives (one of which was his second cousin), who cross-dresses on occasion and is a supporter of gay and abortion rights?

It Will Take Us at least a Generation to Recover from the Bush administration - From the war to the disastrous tax cuts, this administration will leave a legacy that has an impact in all the wrong places. I fear for my children and their children if our next president doesn't recognize the problems and turn things around.

Obama Supporters Tried to Keep Stephen Colbert Off the Ballot - Because we could all afford to laugh a little less in this horrendous political climate, am I right guys? Seriously though, their actions were understandable but completely unnecessary.


That is plenty of reading for now. If you like this type of thing, maybe I'll try to do one of these a week, plus a post. Let me know, and thanks for reading!

Welcome To The Turning of the Tide

Alternet reports on a new study by the Barna group:

A study released last week by the Barna Group, a reputable Evangelical research and polling firm, found that under-30s -- both Christian and non-Christian -- are strikingly more critical of Christianity than their peers were just a decade ago. According to the summary report, Barna pollster David Kinnaman found that the opinions of non-Christians, in particular, had slid like a rock in that time frame. Ten years ago, "the vast majority" of non-Christians had generally favorable views of Christianity. Now, that number stands at just 16%. When asked specifically about Evangelicals, the number are even worse: only 3% of non-Christian Millennials have positive associations with Evangelicals. Among the Boomers, it's eight times higher.

What you reap is what you sow; we are finally beginning to see the deleterious effects of the Christian Right's misguided and self-defeating war on homosexuality. The anti-gay movement is not something that Jesus fought for, and it's probably something that Jesus would have fought against.

Addicted with power, conservatives like Dobson and Falwell knew they could use Christian's visceral homophobia as a way to galvanize a political movement. But what they failed to see, and what we're finally beginning to see now, is that such a movement was not sustainable in the face of progressive politics and culture, and that ultimately, a plan like this would lessen, not strengthen, the Christian political movement.

Young Evangelical Christians are the future face of the movement. I'm one of them. And we're all sick and fed up with what we see. It's time for a politics of peace, not a politics of hate. It's time for a change. Welcome to the turning of the tide.

Dobson and Friends Show What's Most Important to Christians...Again.

Every time the Christian Right makes political statements like the ones in the news recently, it not only displays its ignorance: it broadcasts it. According to the New York Times:

Alarmed at the possibility that the Republican Party might pick Rudolph W. Giuliani as its presidential nominee despite his support for abortion rights, a coalition of influential Christian conservatives is threatening to back a third-party candidate. The threat emerged from a group that broke away for separate discussions at a meeting Saturday in Salt Lake City of the Council for National Policy, a secretive conservative networking group. Almost everyone present at the smaller group’s meeting expressed support for a written resolution stating that “if the Republican Party nominates a pro-abortion candidate we will consider running a third-party candidate,” participants said.

This story sees the confluence of two hot-button issues: Right wing conspiracies and abortion. As with all stories of this nature, what really irritates me is that Christians are choosing this one issue as a catalyst for their vote, ignoring, at their peril, other equally important issues like poverty, health care, and education. It's nothing new, just the same ol' same ol'. And that's what keeps my anger flowing.

Ironically, the introduction of a third-party candidate may split the conservative vote, paving the way for Democratic victory. If that does happen, we'd certainly be left with the lesser of three evils. But don't thank the Christian Right; they won't have any idea what's going on.

Man Sues God, Gets Response

(photo by Flickr user papalars, via CC)

A story in CNN shows what happens when you try and talk back to God, legally:

State Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha sued God last week, seeking a permanent injunction against the Almighty for making terroristic threats, inspiring fear and causing "widespread death, destruction and terrorization of millions upon millions of the Earth's inhabitants."

Not so, says "God." One of two court filings from "God" came Wednesday under otherworldly circumstances, according to John Friend, clerk of the Douglas County District Court in Omaha. His response argues that the defendant is immune from some earthly laws and the court lacks jurisdiction. It adds that blaming God for human oppression and suffering misses an important point. "I created man and woman with free will and next to the promise of immortal life, free will is my greatest gift to you," according to the response, as read by Friend.

It's a funny little story and reminds me of another story in the Bible that was not so funny. At the end of that one, God's response was a little less playful:

"Who is this that darkens my counsel
with words without knowledge?
Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
"Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone-
while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels [ag] shouted for joy?
"Who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,
when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,
when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,
when I said, 'This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt'?
"Have you ever given orders to the morning,
or shown the dawn its place,
that it might take the earth by the edges
and shake the wicked out of it? (Job 38)

The moral of the story is: Don't question God. He's better than you and sometimes, He'll let you know it.

Fundamentalist Mormonism = Worse than Fundamentalist Christianity?

(From Flickr user paulsid, via CC)

Sorry for the lack of updates recently folks. Work has been destroying me, but I had a window tonight to write some, so here I am.

Several stories have surfaced in the news recently that paint a disturbing portrait of fundamentalist Mormonism. In the New York Times, there was a heartbreaking story of boys cast out of Warren Jeffs' polygamist camp:

When his parents discovered his secret stash of DVDs, including the “Die Hard” series and comedies, they burned them and gave him an ultimatum. Stop watching movies, they said, or leave the family and church for good. With television and the Internet also banned as wicked, along with short-sleeve shirts — a sign of immodesty — and staring at girls, let alone dating them, Woodrow made the wrenching decision to go. And so 10 months ago, with only a seventh-grade education and a suitcase of clothes, he was thrown into an unfamiliar world he had been taught to fear.

Then, on CNN today, this story from the flipside, of a girl who fled because she feared being promised to a stranger:

Sara Hammon saw some of her sisters pulled out of school to be married to men they didn't know. She dreaded a similar fate. And so, she ran away from home before she was old enough to drive legally. She left behind 19 mothers, 74 siblings, and a father she says could never remember her name, even though he repeatedly molested her. And, she left behind a culture she says was oppressive for young women.

Fundamentalism presents a great challenge to modernity. It claims to know the truth in a world of relativism. It insists on separating itself from the rest of society. And ultimately, it is viewed with disdain by mass-culture as oppressive and backwards. What's interesting is that this is true of Fundamentalist Christianity as well as Fundamentalist Mormonism.

I think it's too easy for Christians to read these stories and look down on Mormons. It's easy for Christians to think to ourselves, "Well, they obviously have no idea what the hell they're talking about." But in reality, Fundamentalist Christianity also takes the Christian message and basically destroys it, stripping away grace and putting in its place wrath. That's not the message of Jesus Christ.

Jesus said we should be in and not of the world. Too many people forget the first part.

The Humanity of Larry Craig

By now, almost all of you have probably read about Larry Craig's unfortunate misdeeds:

This incident was discussed by several, very intelligent panelists on "Meet the Press":

I was really struck by what James Carville had to say about the subject (4 minutes into the video), which is that Craig was completely hung out to dry...by everyone! By his friends, by his enemies...everyone.

To solicit sex with a stranger in a public restroom is a disgusting thing. To solicit gay sex in a public restroom is an act that is outright revolting to many right-wing conservatives and Christians. This explains, but does not condone, the words that have been spoken about Larry Craig since these accusations first came to light.

Larry Craig is, ultimately, a human. He has a family. He has served Idaho for the last 24-years of his life, but this is the single thing he will be remembered for. They won't remember how he fought for immigrants rights. They won't remember how he exposed Bill Clinton's arms shipments to Bosnia. They'll remember his wide stance, and how he tried to have gay sex in an airport bathroom with an undercover police officer.

His political career is basically over, despite his attempts at trying to resuscitate it. His wife and children have been disgraced. And at the end of the day, Larry Craig is just a human being like you and me. He's probably a little bit confused about himself (which is why he overcompensated his public image by being so politically anti-gay), but he feels shame, he feels guilt, he feels sorrow, he's a person, just like you and me.

Try to treat him like one.

From Evangelical to Orthodox?

(From Flickr user Bjarne via CC)

Jason Zengerle from the New Republic has written up a very interesting piece about the Orthodox Church, and how Evangelicals (including, most notably, Pastor Wilbur Ellsworth) have converted in recent days. It seems like the main reason why people are leaving Evangelical churches is because of intellectual bankruptcy and a lack of respect for history and for the sacred. I found the following quote by Ellsworth very profound:

"Evangelical theology is rooted in only the last twenty-five percent of the history of the church, the post-Reformation period. Orthodoxy goes back to the church father; it goes back to the roots and the first seventy-five percent of church history. There is a very real sense of continuity.

Worship has now basically been reduced to entertainment. That carries people for two years, and then they start looking for something with more depth. Those are the people who we pick up: serious Christians who are hungry for more."

It's a tough balance to strike, between applicability in the modern world and a reverence for God that translates into our worship services. But it's a balance that I think is worth striking.
It's a balance that hopefully keeps Christianity relevant but deep, accessible but profound, modern but hallowed.

Thoughts? Have your worship service become entertainments? Or do they remain a reliable way to commune with God and fellow Christians?

God and Hitler: The Problems of Christian Attribution

I heard a sermon last Sunday that troubled me greatly. The sermon was on the age old question: "If God is good, why is there so much evil in the world?" For the most part, the sermon went okay. The pastor started off with the assumptions that Harold Kushner used in his classic book, "When Bad Things Happen to Good People":

1) God is good
2) God is all-powerful
3) Evil exists

The idea behind this list is that all three of these assumptions cannot be true. And since we know that evil exists, God must either not be all good or all-powerful. The pastor's answer to this was to list a 4th assumption:

4) Therefore, God sent His son.

You can probably guess where it went after that.

It was a typical sermon about the subject with nothing really earth-shattering or particularly revelatory. But about 2/3rds of way through, the pastor said something that ground my mental gears to a halt and made me almost walk out. He said that some people ask the question, "Why didn't God stop Hitler?" The pastor's answer? "People don't realize that God DID stop Hitler. Hitler died a horrible death!"

Whoa, stop right there. That's a huge claim to make. In that instance, the pastor's question and answer encapsulates one of the greatest and most frustrating problems of modern Evangelical Christianity: The problem of Christian attribution.

There are two basic problems with this whole line of thinking that I think non-Christians simply find literally incredible: 1) The fact that Christians attribute only the good things to God and all the bad things to human evil, and 2) The fact that we must try to extract meaning out of every event.

With regards to the first point, I'm getting to the point where I'd rather just believe that we can't know what God does. Did God make me lose my keys today? Did he give me that promotion? Did he cause my grandmother to die of cancer? Typically, Christians attribute the good things to God and don't attribute the bad things to Him. However, they certainly believe that God allowed the bad things to happen; so how is that different than being responsible for them? Rather than spend copious amounts of my time contemplating what God is responsible for or not, I'd rather enjoy the life I have and feel blessed. Because ultimately, how can we really know?

Relatedly, regarding the second point, sometimes, stuff just happens. Tectonic plates shift on this planet. Rain falls. And people die. And even though Romans 8:28 says God will work all things for good, that doesn't mean WE have to try to work them for good. The insistence that we can derive meaning or pull something, anything out of tragedy can be blatantly offensive. Sometimes, there are no answers; only questions. To suggest otherwise is an act of sheer arrogance.

As for Hitler, what exactly was God doing before Hitler died? Biding his time while Hitler killed over 5 million people? And furthermore, isn't it easier and perhaps more respectful to just conclude that the death of those millions was evil and senseless, and not try to derive a deeper meaning from that fact (other than, of course, not allowing such a thing to happen again)?

Sermons like the one I heard make atheism seem appetizing.

Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll

Billboard has a review of Ex-Korn guitarist Brian Welch's book, "Save Me From Myself." I remember first laughing when I heard that a member of Korn had accepted Jesus Christ as his personal savior, because I had heard their music and recognized the sense of darkness that came from it. But I guess in the end, it's the people whose lives have been most destroyed by sex, drugs and rock and roll that might feel the need for God the most.

From the review:

One refreshing piece of Welch's tale is that he doesn't claim life became perfect when he was saved. He has still drifted, trying to determine his path as he sought spiritual mentors, donated to charity, sued his band over money before making peace with them, battled another crippling depression and had a crisis of faith. He will also perk ears with his belief that "All of the man-made religion crap in this world has to die . . . All that prideful, controlling religious crap is what drives young people away from churches." That message might convince the rebel crowd that he's not a holy roller out to shove doctrines down their throat.

I think the Korn story is a powerful one because, like many rock band redemption stories, it brings into stark relief the potential relevance that a life of faith can still have in today's culture. It's a great encouragement to have high-profile stories of transformative faith, because it's a sign that maybe, maybe God can still changes lives in our secularized, sex-saturated culture.

High Point Church Finds Out War Vet Is Gay, Cancels Memorial, Gets Flayed By the Media

I'm not one to defend churches very often, but today a line has to be drawn. On the front page of Reddit Saturday morning was this story about High Point Church:

A megachurch canceled a memorial service for a Navy veteran 24 hours before it was to start because the deceased was gay. Officials at the nondenominational High Point Church knew that Cecil Howard Sinclair was gay when they offered to host his service, said his sister, Kathleen Wright. But after his obituary listed his life partner as one of his survivors, she said, it was called off.

So at first I'm reading this, and I'm thinking "Terrible! Yet another example of Christian intolerance laid out for all the world to see. How awful an example this High Point Church has set for everyone."

But look closer.

The church’s pastor, the Rev. Gary Simons, said no one knew Sinclair, who was not a church member, was gay until the day before the Thursday service, when staff members putting together his video tribute saw pictures of men “engaging in clear affection, kissing and embracing.”

Simons said the decision had nothing to do with the obituary. He said the church offered to pay for another site for the service, made the video and provided food for more than 100 relatives and friends.

In other words , the church went above and beyond to call of duty (no pun intended) to provide services for the funeral of this person who was not a church member. All they asked for was that the funeral not take place on the church. For their kindness and their beliefs, they get a flaying from the media.

His sister, Kathleen Wright, had the following inflammatory remarks to say about the situation:

“It’s a slap in the face. It’s like, ’Oh, we’re sorry he died, but he’s gay so we can’t help you,”’ she said Friday

Liberals are often confused at why conservative Christians think believe themselves to be victimized when the Republicans have ruled for so long. One answer? Ridiculous articles like this. All this church wanted to do was to advocate its beliefs in the privacy of its own congregation. It treated the deceased veteran with care and respect, but declined to host the funeral. Its only crime was defending and sticking by its own ethics. The Associated Press and Kathleen Wright should be ashamed of themselves.

Also, I say this completely unironically: You never hear about the Christian churches that DO graciously host funerals for gay people. Only the ones that cancel them. The media has all sorts of biases but portraying the church in a positive light is not one of them.

***
Related articles:

The Romeo and Juliet Effect

Premarital Sex: Where Christians Get It Wrong

More Thoughts on Abortion

***

God DOESN'T Hate Fags, Fred Phelps. He Really Doesn't

I can't believe I've written this many blog posts without giving a shoutout to Fred Phelps. According to the Minnesota Monitor:

The Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., plans to stage protests at funerals of victims of the 35W bridge collapse to state that God made the bridge fall because he hates America, and especially Minnesota, because of its tolerance of homosexuality.

Here's the thing: Fred Phelps isn't completely useless as a human being. In fact, I believe he contributes to public discourse on religion in America by challenging the very notion of Christianity to its very core. Here is a man who goes after people in their most vulnerable, their most hurt, their most grief-stricken states and pickets them with grotesquely offensive signs and messages, accusing them of things that they're not even necessarily responsible for (i.e. tolerating homosexuality). It's absolutely disgusting. And he does it all in the name of God.

One is left with many, many questions. My own personal questions? How can someone take God's message so wrong. And if there is a God, why does He allow this to happen?

The thing that I'm left grasping for is...if there is a God, He doesn't hate homosexuals. I don't think so anyway. All I can think of is Psalm 119. Reflect on these words from the Bible that Phelps so hatefully misuses:

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.
If only you would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!
They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD,
and abhor those who rise up against you?
I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

The truth of the matter is, God made each and every one of us. And although there are so many flaws and so much evil that we're capable of, every one of us is still, in some deep, imperceptible, yet profound way, beautiful.

Weekend Web Finds: This Guy Really Doesn't Like Door-To-Door Mormons

I can't tell whether to make this guy my enemy or my hero...that's how awesome he is:


Door To Door Atheists Bother Mormons - Watch more free videos

Religious Doctors Not More Likely To Treat The Poor Than Non-Religious Doctors

(photo by farshad5475, via CC)

The book of Matthew (chapter 25) says the following:

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

Jesus'/God's compassion for the poor is evident in this passage, as in many others. What, then, to make of the report in today's news about how religious doctors aren't any more likely to treat poor people than any other doctors?

U.S. physicians who identify themselves as religious are no more likely to care for poor, underserved patients than those who have no religious affiliation, researchers have found.

Being a doctor in America is not an easy thing. Years of pre-med classes followed by years of medical school, followed by sleepless residency and hundreds of thousands of dollars in crushing debt. It's no wonder why doctors, on the whole, choose a path that's more financially rewarding. It's not only understandable, it's something that should be condoned given the tough circumstances our society puts doctors in. (By the way, if you haven't yet, make sure you watch "Sicko" for a unique view on the subject)

Yet at the same time, I feel that with great power comes great responsibility, and deep down inside I wish that those in our society that are given the gift, the privilege, the responsibility of administering medicine would make choices that would be more selfless, especially if they ascribe to a faith that advocates complete and utter sacrifice for the glory of something greater. As missionary and martyr James Elliot once said, "He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."

Is It Okay To Ask For Wedding Money From Your Parents?

(Photo by me! Please give me attribution and link to CC if you reproduce it)

I've aroused a lot of anger and disdain for my entry on the wedding industrial complex; if I had to do it over again, I'd probably phrase it differently but my message would probably remain the same. But today I wanted to point you (my readers) to some more that's been written about the matter.

First of all, let me just say that advice columnist Cary Tennis is a genius. The way he plays with words is beyond compare; he makes reading advice columns a mental exercise, instead of a prurient one. If you ask me, he blows away "Dear Prudence" over at Slate.com.

Tennis recently wrote a column about wedding money that I thought was rather poignant (most of his columns are). In the column, a woman asks for advice on whether she should ask her mother for wedding money to use on a down payment for a house instead. His response, reads, in part:

Do ask your mother for help. Yes, ask her for money. But do not tread on her dreams. Think of it this way. Say she has some gold. She has made the gold into a statue. The statue gleams in the sun. One day she plans to give it to you. It represents her hopes and dreams for you. It represents her ideal. So say you come to her and you say, I'd like a chunk of that statue for a down payment on a house. I'm not really into the statue, per se, but I could use a chunk of it for my own purposes. Or say you're thinking you'd like to just melt down the whole statue, convert it to dollars and invest it.

Click here to read the whole thing.

My Take On That Chickenhawk Video

Over the weekend, the following video was posted on the Huffington Post, and subsequently exploded:



Young Republicans are notorious for their lavish, excessive parties and are generally not people I'd want my daughter to be hanging around. This video tries to demonstrate this notion.

So what do I think? I'm not one to pull my punches with Republicans or with Christians, but this video is 50% interesting and 50% travesty. The biggest selling point of the video lies in the fact that he asked a bunch of people why they don't go and fight in the war. While some of them beg off with lousy reasons (embarrassingly lousy, and rightfully so), several of them actually appear to have medical issues, and seem like they genuinely want to serve their country in this way. This seems to be lost on the interviewer/blogger, who casts these situations as spurious. Despite the interesting points he could have made, in the end, the interviewer comes off as more of a jerk than anything else.

As for the Christians made to look like idiots, I can't really say anything in their defense...

Sexual Abuse Cases in LA Reach Settlement

According to the New York Times, the massive church sex abuse case in Los Angeles is finally coming to an end:

Lawyers for more than 500 people who say they were abused by Roman Catholic clergy members said last night that they had settled their lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Los Angeles for $660 million. If approved, it will be by far the largest payout made by any single diocese since the clergy sexual abuse scandals first became public in Boston in 2002. It will dwarf the $85 million paid for 552 claims by the Archdiocese of Boston.

Later in the day, Cardinal Mahony apologized to people for the Catholic Church's crimes:

"There really is no way to go back and give them the innocence that was taken from them ... The one thing I wish I could give the victims, I cannot -- and that is a restoration to where they were originally."

Words escape me when I try to express the horror I feel at such a thing. More than 500 people filed lawsuits. That's 500 lives that were unspeakably impacted by the sick minds and crimes of others. Five hundred lives whose minds will be forever changed, who will never live a normal, unfettered life. Five hundred stories of heartbreak, anger, and despair. And that's just the people who filed a lawsuit. And that's just in Los Angeles.

Someone on Digg pointed out something obvious that I didn't really think of: None of that money is coming from the Vatican; instead it's coming from people's donations, their tithes. This is assuredly not what God had in mind when he asked us to give a tenth of what we earn to further His kingdom.

What drives a priest to molest a child? What drives his superiors, presumably men of God, to cover up the crimes? I don't really have a good answer for the second one, but in answer to the first one, to paraphrase a radio DJ I once heard, this seems like a possible expected outcome when you tell people not to have sex and stick them in a small room all the time where other people are forced to tell them their deepest darkest sins and secrets.

In Mark chapter 9, Jesus says the following:

And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck.

Amen to that. Amen to that...