Commentary Tidbits

Governing: Is Abstinence-Only Sex Ed on the Rise? 

Tell Me Why the World is Weird: All of the LOLs for this Sermon on "Marrying Young"

Political Research Associates: Dominionism Rising: A Theocratic Movement Hiding in Plain Sight

Alternet: Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson Is the Star of Bizarre New Extreme Right-Wing Movie Featuring Horrific ISIS Murders 

CNN: Three arguments against covert Christian 'spycraft'

Washington Post: Trump’s pitch to Mormons falls flat

Friendly Atheist: Christian Bigot Who Wants Gay People Cured Condemns Christian Bigot Who Wants Gay People Dead

Chicago Reader: Illinois pastors don’t deserve exemption from conversion therapy ban

The Advocate: National Intervention Needed to End Conversion Therapy

The Advocate: Understanding Anita Bryant, the Woman Who Declared War on Gays

The Dust Settles After Indiana's RFRA Controversy

So-called religious freedom laws, which critics claim would legalize discrimination on the grounds of religion, have been a source of controversy in North Carolina, Arkansas, and Louisiana. Recent upheavals in the wake of Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act serve as both a warning and a source of hope for those who oppose such laws.

Back in March, Indiana Governor Mike Pence signed his state's Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) into law. Pence signed the bill while surrounded by Religious Right activists, an inauspicious sign for pro-LGBTQ observers. Backlash from LGBTQ rights advocates, high-powered business interests, and enlightened political leaders was swift.

However, several Religious Right figures, including media voices and political candidates, celebrated the first iteration of Indiana's RFRA as a victory for religious freedom. For example, in a March 29th press release, Family Research Council president Tony Perkins commended Indiana for adopting RFRA. "What is unfolding in Indiana reveals the source of true intolerance; those who want the government to punish people for freely living according to their beliefs," he wrote.

Other Religious Right figures sneered at opposition to Indiana's RFRA. In a commentary piece for Charisma News , Michael Brown was disgusted by the "histrionics" and "shrill outcry" from RFRA opponents. Brown likened LGBTQ rights activists to bullies and warned that "any legislature that stands up for our essential freedoms can expect a similar firestorm."

"Now is the time to make it clear that we're not about to back down or cave in to the pressure and bad press, declaring once again that the bullying will back fire.

As I've said many times before, the unspoken mantra of gay activism is, "We will intimidate and we will manipulate until you capitulate."

The response of millions of freedom-loving Americans remains the same: We're not going to capitulate.

We will love our LGBT friends and neighbors and coworkers and family members, but we will not surrender our freedoms."

Religious Right applause notwithstanding, public outrage persisted, and Pence went on the defensive. In a transcript of his March 31st speech posted at Slate, Gov. Pence defended signing Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law, denying that the law sanctioned discrimination. "I abhor discrimination", Pence insisted, calling criticism of Indiana's RFRA "mischaracterization and confusion".

"Let me say first and foremost I was proud to sign the Religious Freedom Restoration Act last week ... the Religious Freedom Restoration Act is about religious liberty, not about discrimination. As I said last week, had this law been about legalizing discrimination I would have vetoed it. This law does not give anyone a license to discriminate. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act in Indiana does not give anyone the right to deny services to anyone in this state. It is simply a balancing test used by our federal courts and jurisdictions across the country for more than two decades."

However, Pence asked for legislation stating that "this law does not give businesses a right to deny services to anyone."

"After much reflection and in consultation with leadership of the general assembly, I've come to the conclusion that it would be helpful to move legislation this week that makes it clear that this law does not give businesses the right to deny service to anyone. Let me say that again. I think it would be helpful, and I'd like to see on my desk before the end of this week, legislation that is added to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in Indiana that makes it clear that this law does not give businesses a right to deny services to anyone. We want to make it clear that Indiana's open for business. We want to make it clear that Hoosier hospitality is not a slogan, it's our way of life."

Indiana's RFRA would later undergo changes. New language was added to Indiana's RFRA forbidding discrimination based on race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc., reports Fox 59. Reactions to the changes were mixed, with some observers praising the changes and other complaining that the changes did not go far enough.

Pence's speech and the eventual changes to RFRA ignited a firestorm among the far right. The Religious Right quickly responded, with some insisting that Indiana's original RFRA did not sanction discrimination, and others blasting the left and the LGBTQ community. For example, Concerned Women for America posted a series of talking points, defending state RFRAs against alleged assaults on religious liberty. Concerned Women for America CEO Penny Nance penned a commentary piece for the Blaze in which she demonized the "radical left" as an enemy of truth. "The far left and it’s cronies of Silicon Valley, most of whom don’t even know people who are religious, see the need to force people of faith to not just tolerate but to participate in the rituals of “gay marriage," she wrote.

"The loss of our religious freedom signals the loss of freedom for everyone, period. That is why we must stand now. This day. We must sound the alarm with a sense of urgency, for the time is running out.

I know the political power is against religious liberty right now. When we see business giants like Apple, who is close to becoming the first company worth a trillion dollars, using their power to bully states into submission against religious liberty, you know we are truly overmatched in economic terms.

This means that if we are to win, we must win against all odds. And if we are going to win against the odds, we can’t play the odds, as some “conservatives” are suggesting we do. We must stand boldly and speak Biblical truth. That means that with much grace and mercy we decline to participate in ANY commerce or activity that is in direct violation of God’s laws. We are the new conscientious objectors to our culture. If we bow now, what will be next?"

Family Research Council president Tony Perkins issues a press release insisting that Indiana's RFRA did not sanction discrimination.

"The governor addressed the complete falsehood that RFRA is about denying people a seat in a restaurant or a room at a hotel. Christians would never deny people these services but being forced to participate in a ceremony that violates religious beliefs is completely un-American and uncivil. We must ensure that religious business owners are not forced by the government to participate in a same-sex ceremony."

During the April 1st edition of Focal Point, Bryan Fischer warned that concessions to the "homosexual lobby" would compel people to serve customers against their will and thus perform "involuntary servitude". (Hat tip to Right Wing Watch.)

"I'm afraid Governor Pence is dangerously close to allowing the homosexual lobby to get the state of Indiana to compel people ... to provide labor against their will. What do we call it when people are compelled to provide labor against their will? Involuntary labor. What do we call that, ladies and gentlemen? That is involuntary servitude. That is slavery. That is something that is forbidden by the Thirteenth Amendment."

During the April 2nd edition of Generations with Vision, Kevin Swanson was stunned by the "pushback" against "religious liberty". At the 7:21 mark, he had this to say.

"Religious freedoms is the issue of the day if you are one of 35 million evangelical Americans. You need to be aware that the battle for religious freedom is heating up in Indiana and all over America, but wow! The pushback to any possibility of religious liberty in Indiana has been unprecedented. I'm just amazed."

The progress of Indiana's original RFRA law, and controversies over similar laws in other states, should serve as warnings that the Religious Right's crusade for "religious liberty" should not be ignored. The Religious Right will not relent in its demands for special treatment and license to discriminate. However, the public outcry against the original form of RFRA, as well as the new anti-discrimination language added to the bill, reminds us that activism pays. When concerned citizens, business leaders, and politicians took a stand against Indiana's RFRA, it brought about positive changes and sent a clear message to RFRA's defenders. If supporters of equality can remain this organized, focused, and passionate, we can make great strides.

Religious Right Reacts to Leelah Alcorn's Death

On December 28th, Leelah Alcorn (born Joshua Alcorn) was struck and killed by a vehicle on Interstate 71, near her home in Kings Mills, Ohio, according to WCPO 9. Alcorn, a 17 year-old transgender girl, reportedly posted a suicide note online lamenting that her parents did not accept her as transgender. According to the note, Leelah's parents took her to Christian therapists who told her that she was "selfish and wrong", reports the Guardian.

Leelah's sorrow was not unique. Research indicates that transgender persons experience high rates of suicidal ideation and attempted suicide, no doubt due to the relentless transphobia they experience. After her mother reportedly disregarded her gender identity and prevented her from transitioning, is it any wonder that Leelah grew despondent?

Friends and transgender rights advocates attended vigils in Alcorn's memory, both in Ohio and around the world. On January 10th, supporters of transgender youth attended a rally outside the Carnegie Library in Washington D.C. in memory of Leelah, followed by a march through downtown Washington, reports the Washington Blade.

Leelah's reported negative experiences with Christian therapists have fueled criticism of conversion therapy for minors. According to Gay Star News, the Transgender Human Rights Institute posted an online petition urging lawmakers to enact the "Leelah Alcorn Law", which would ban conversion therapy for transgender persons.

Despite the outpouring of compassion for Leelah and transgender youth like her, many voices from the Religious Right have responded to her death with condescension and scorn. Several Religious Right commentators refused to acknowledge Leelah's feminine identity, repeatedly referring to the youth with masculine pronouns. Moreover, several blasted transgender status as a sign of derangement or spiritual pathology.

First, in a December 31st column at Charisma Magazine, Michael Brown admitted that "we must recognize that issues of transgender identity often run very deep and cannot be trivialized or taken lightly." However, he also claimed to know people who abandoned their transgender identity because they "found a better way". (Hat tip to Friendly Atheist.)

"I personally know individuals who once identified as transgender and who no longer do, and they are so thankful to God that they found a better way. They emphatically discourage parents from affirming their children as transgender (while even more emphatically urging those parents to show unconditional love to their kids). Should we ignore what they have to say? ... Some of these individuals remained suicidal even after having sex-change surgery, and in some notable cases, which I mentioned in my article "Sex Change Regret," some have committed suicide after coming out as the opposite of their biological sex.

Don't their deaths count as much as the death of Joshua-Leelah?"

Brown refuses to take transgender identity seriously, convinced that people can transcend deeply-held feelings about their gender identity. To boot, he ignores the toxic effects of transphobic discrimination and violence, which can plunge transgender people into despair regardless of where they are in their transition. Instead of telling transgender people to find "a better way", we need to confront transphobia.

In a January 7th commentary piece at Renew America, Gina Miller called Leelah Alcorn "mentally ill", blasting Leelah for "selfishly forcing the driver to run him down". Miller accused transgender people of having "a deeply disturbing mental and spiritual sickness", claiming that "demon possession" can play a role in LGBTQ identity. Callously, Miller accused the "sexual anarchy movement" of using Leelah Alcorn's death to further their agenda. (Hat tip to Raw Story.)

"Naturally, the radical homosexual activist community is seizing on this horrific suicide as an excuse to falsely blame the young man's death on the Christian beliefs of his parents. This is to be expected today in our truly insane society, in which all manner of deception and lies are embraced by a fringe minority and spread far and wide by a complicit, dark-minded media. Members of the sexual anarchy movement have in their cross-hairs anyone who publicly opposes their tyrannical agenda, and they will not hesitate to cravenly use an awful event like this kid's suicide to further that agenda.

Just about the only people left with the courage to tell the truth about immoral, unhealthy and unnatural homosexuality and "transgenderism" are Christians. Others are too scared to speak out against it, foolishly don't care one way or another, or they support this degeneracy. Far too many people don't understand the danger to our society and our freedoms posed by this evil movement. It is Christianity that these people seek to thwart and Christians they seek to silence, because the lovers of perversion despise the truth we tell about them and their agenda."

In a January 6th post at the Illinois Family Institute website, Laurie Higgins was dismissive of the transgender community in the wake of Leelah Alcorn's death. She sneered at the idea of transitioning, calling it "butchery", "another deceitful Leftist term", and an indication of "serious delusion or disordered desire". Higgins claimed that rates of depression and suicidal ideation are so high among transgender persons in part because they recoil from God's truth. (Hat tip to Right Wing Watch.)

"Perhaps the depression and suicidal ideation that gender-confused teens, post-op “transsexuals,” and homosexuals experience results in part from societal disapproval, but perhaps their anguish results at least in part from apprehension of the truth that God has written on their hearts regarding homoerotic activity, cross-dressing, and bodily mutilation ... Homosexual and “trans” activists are not interested in finding ways to mitigate suffering unless such ways include promoting their assumptions about homoerotic activity and gender confusion. They will tolerate no discussion of theories regarding causation that may undermine their social and political goals of compulsory affirmation of their non-factual beliefs. The promotion of their self-serving sexuality ideology supersedes everything, including the welfare of others."

Finally, R.C. Sproul Jr. discussed Leelah Alcorn's death in a January 7th podcast. In a transcript of the podcast, Sproul defended the Alcorns for rejecting Leelah's transgender identity, disparaging "the boiling cauldron of sexual identity politics". (Hat tip to Joan's Pants.)

"...Consider the tragic case of Joshua Alcorn. This young man recently took his own life, and left behind on social media his explanation for why. Joshua wanted to go through that process by which some men disfigure themselves and take in chemicals all designed to make him appear like a woman. His parents, professing believers, supported neither this process, nor the notion that Joshua was a girl trapped in a boy’s body.

Now to be sure the death is a terrible, terrible tragedy. This young man was struggling with deep despair. But the “lesson” we are called to learn by the world, that too many professing believers are owning, is that Joshua is dead because of his “cruel, narrow, believing parents.” And we Christians are supposed to repent for our lack of understanding of those struggling with sexual identity. The trouble is, apart from Fred Phelps perhaps, I’m unaware of Christians lacking in understanding for anyone struggling with sexual identity, or any other sin for that matter. I am aware that there are Christians, sadly too few, who are unwilling to call evil good in the boiling cauldron of sexual identity politics. The tragedy of the death of Joshua Alcorn is tragic because of Joshua’s death, not because we Christians won’t get with the program of our postmodern sexual free fall."

What part of ubiquitous transphobia do these commentators fail to grasp? What aspect of Leelah's suffering was unclear in her final message? These commentary pieces are heartbreaking in their refusal to acknowledge the realities of transgender life.

It saddens me that so many Religious Right figures cherish their facile gender paradigms more than the well-being of LGBTQ youth. The attitudes displayed in these commentary pieces are the problem. Too many people ignore the lived experiences of transgender persons, lecture transgender people on how to live their lives, and sneer at the LGBTQ community. If we are to prevent transgender suicides, we must confront these attitudes. We must accept transgender persons and listen to them.


To read additional commentary, visit the following links.

The Guardian: Homophobic, transphobic parents make abusive homes. Let's help LGBT kids get out

Time: Leelah Alcorn’s Suicide: Conversion Therapy Is Child Abuse

Think Progress: Leelah Alcorn And The Quiet Genocide Of Transgender People

Love, Joy, Feminism: Leelah Alcorn and Evangelical Storytelling

Michael Brown Delivers Homophobic Talk at IHOP

Boze Herrington, who blogs at Sketches by Boze devoted a recent evening to live-tweeting a homophobic talk by Michael L. Brown at the International House of Prayer (IHOP) in Kansas City, Missouri. Curious, I pulled up the talk in the IHOP archives, and found a talk brimming with homophobia.

Michael Brown is the founder of the FIRE School of Ministry, host of the Line of Fire radio show, and a commentator at Charisma Magazine. Brown has a long history of making anti-LGBTQ statements, such as framing LGBTQ issues as unhealthy for children, insisting that God can "transform and liberate" gays and lesbians, and expressing outrage over the Supreme Court's ruling on DOMA and Proposition 8.

For his anti-LGBTQ outreach in Peru this spring, Brown was given a dishonorable mention in Human Rights Campaign's new report, Export of Hate. Brown responded by penning a commentary piece for Charisma Magazine, in which he accused LGBTQ rights advocates of trying to "censor opposing viewpoints", "malign conservative Christians", and "incite fear and loathing" toward his brethren.

In his September 12th talk entitled "Can You Be Gay and a Christian?", Brown spoke of love while sharing a message of intolerance and judgment. Even though he implored listeners to cultivate compassion, his stance on LGBTQ persons was decidedly unloving.

"We need hearts of compassion but backbones of steel" with regard to homosexuality, Brown began, insisting that his anti-gay stance was actually a loving, compassionate one at the 2:10 mark.

"Can you be gay and Christian? It's the most recent book that I wrote, and I wrote it with much pain. I wrote it at times with a heavy heart because as much as we can be misunderstood and as much as we can be accused of being hateful, I'm moved and motivated by love ... for God and love for my neighbor."

At the 3:48 mark, Brown told a story in which a friend allegedly saw a vision of a serpent around a gay man's neck, thereby depicting homosexuality as a dangerous spiritual pathology.

"One of my friends who is not prone to visions went to a fundraising event for a large gay activist organization. He and his brother paid to be there, to sit at the table, to watch and observe, to see how this organization operated ... As he was sitting at the dinner table with a gay couple and some others, he suddenly saw a vision of this man ... And he saw a snake wrapped around the man's neck. And he said, 'That snake is going to kill him! I've got to cut the snake off.' But he realized that  if he wasn't careful, he would kill him in trying to get the snake off. We must address these areas with the same sensitivity and precision."

Brown insisted that Christians such as himself care about those who are "struggling" with homosexuality and do not seek to push them away. However, at the 5:08 mark, he also warned listeners that the "gay activist agenda" was threatening American freedoms and had to be resisted.

"There is a gay activist agenda knocking on our door. It has become the principle threat to freedom of religion, speech, and conscience in America, and it must be resisted."

He contended that he felt "love and concern" for gays while condemning LGBTQ rights at the 5:50 mark. He saw no contradiction in these two statements, baffled that others would label him a homophobe.

"I will still be hated by people because of resisting the agenda, because of standing against the redefinition of marriage, because of standing against the normalizing of homosexuality. I will still be called bigoted and homophobic, but God knows, and those who will get close to me understand that there is a heart of genuine love and concern."

Brown was troubled by the existence of gay Christians. He found it easy to disparage gay pride parade antics as "perverse" and "horrific", but found devout gay Christians and their allies to be a much pricklier subject. He discussed his radio interview with Rev. Frank Schaefer, the Methodist pastor who was defrocked but later reinstated after presiding over the wedding of his gay son. According to Brown, Schaefer explained how his love for his gay son shaped his attitudes toward LGBTQ rights. An appalled Brown argued that critical thinking is absent among such people. Brown cited Matthew 10:37, telling listeners that Jesus preached that whoever loved their father, mother, or children more than him was unworthy. "Even those who claim to be followers of Jesus often are not able to really receive what scripture says, and instead they'll just say 'love is love'," he said at the 9:21 mark.

What are you saying here? I thought. That people should ostracize their loved ones for being gay? That obedience to dogma trumps basic decency? If that's the foundation of your faith, I want no part of it.

Brown openly disapproved of pro-LGBTQ Christians. Despite the rise of liberal churches and pro-LGBTQ Christian responses, "no new data to change what we've always understood what the Bible to say," he insisted. "The only thing that has changed is the culture." At the 22:32 mark, he criticized open and affirming churches as part of a "soft, spineless" Christianity spreading across the faith community.

 "The fundamental error of "gay" Christians is that they interpret the Bible through the lens of their sexuality. We must interpret our sexuality through the lens of the Bible ... This is part of a much bigger problem in the contemporary church of America. It's part of a soft, spineless, compromising gospel that has been preached from our pulpits and on their air around America and around the world, exported from America around the world for a whole generation now, and are bearing the fruit of this compromised gospel."

"The Bible is a heterosexual book," Brown asserted, arguing that God's plan for heterosexual marriage and family was emblazoned throughout scripture. At the 12:10 mark, he had this to say.

"The Bible is a heterosexual book. I do not mean that if you struggle with same-sex attraction, you won't find help and hope and life here. What I mean is that what God ordained for the human race and the only thing he ordained for the human race is heterosexual marriage and heterosexual family."

According to the Bible, a "unique complementarity" exists between men and women, in which wives are to submit to their husbands and husbands are to love their wives, Brown argued. At the 15:17 mark, he mocked same-sex relationships because they do not fit neatly into his patriarchal paradigm.

"Let's say you're two men reading the Bible, and you say you're a committed couple and you're "married". Well, I don't mean this to be sarcastic, I don't mean this to be mocking, but which one is the husband, and which one is the wife?"

Brown insisted that all forms of marriage in the Bible, even polygamy, considered the male-female pair to be normative. The irony of citing polygamy escaped him, as he refused to consider how notions of marriage changed in the Bible and across eras and cultures. At the 16:07 mark, he had this to say.

"Even polygamy, which was an accommodation and never God's ideal for the human race, even that was male plus female. So in that sense, the Bible's a heterosexual book, and it's interesting that there is not a single positive statement, even a hint of a positive statement in any way, shape, size or form regarding homosexual relationships in the Bible."

The use of the Bible to condemn homosexuality is correct, but the misuse of the Bible to justify oppression of African Americans and women was wrong, he claimed. The hypocrisy of condemning misogyny shortly after defending wifely submission was lost on him, it seemed.

How convenient. Using the Bible to oppress others is wrong, except when you agree with the oppression, I thought.

With regard to the use of the Bible to justify American slavery, Brown insisted that the Bible does not exalt slavery, and that Hebrew laws about slavery were "humanitarian" for their time (despite multiple Biblical passages in which slavery was neither frowned upon nor humane). No passage in the Bible dehumanizes people due to their skin color or sanctions segregation, he said (despite multiple Biblical passages favoring one ethnic group over another and condoning ethnic cleansing).

Brown frowned upon the Bible being misused to oppress women, pointing to Biblical content that speak well of women, such as Proverbs 31, Jesus' travels with women, and the women who witnessed Jesus' resurrection. However, Brown added that there is a "certain role for male headship" in the home, government, and ministry and "a clear authority in structure in scripture". Unfortunately, Brown refused to recognize male domination and exclusion of women from leadership roles as inherently oppressive to women.

Revealingly, he ignored passages in the Bible that condone honor killing, rape during armed conflict, and sexual abuse of female slaves, not to mention passages that denounce women as inferior, scorn womankind as wicked, and use sexual humiliation of women as a metaphor for divine righteousness. In arguing against the use of scripture to defend oppression, Brown ignored passages that approve of oppression.

Cherry-picking much, Michael? I thought.

Of course, for his argument to sound compelling, Brown needed to ignore the ugly passage of the Bible. He needed to convince his audience that racism and (overt) misogyny are unbiblical, because if modern people were to acknowledge and reject racist and sexist passages, what would stop them from rejecting homophobic passages?

Every scriptural passage on homosexuality is "categorically negative", Brown told listeners. For example, Leviticus 18:22 forbids male-male sex, calling it an abomination. Brown insisted that he was not advocating for the death penalty for gays, but then added that homosexuality was a moral violation that was severely punished in Israel's theocracy. The Bible's ban on homosexuality, like the command against murder, is a universal moral principle, in contrast to other Old Testament laws meant to keep Israel separate from other nations at the time, he argued.

"There is a tremendous temptation to rationalize," Brown said with regard to queer theology, accusing pro-LGBTQ theologians of trying to rationalize sin. At the 44:47 mark, Brown claimed that Jesus' radical inclusion was not the same thing as endorsement of sin, rejecting what he called the "affirmational inclusion" of pro-LGBTQ advocates.

"There are some who say, 'You don't understand. Jesus was inclusive. You are being exclusionary. You are putting some people out. You are saying there's some second-class citizens. Jesus practiced inclusion. Jesus hung out with the tax-collectors who were notorious for corruption. He hunt out with the tax collectors and prostitutes.' True. But did he teach the tax collectors how to steal more money? Did he say 'Hey, here's some helpful tips to extort more money'? Did he tell the prostitutes, 'If you're nicer to the guys, you'll make more money'? No no. Jesus practiced what I call transformational inclusion. He reached out to everybody where they were ... and he changes us. He did not practice affirmational inclusion."

Brown told the audience that God was calling gays "not to heterosexuality but to holiness", a line also used by "ex-gay" activists. At the 1:02:40 mark, Brown claimed that gay people could become heterosexual through God's power or counseling, despite considerable evidence that sexual orientation change efforts are ineffective and dubious.

"Many have experienced change in their sexual desires, and many have gone from homosexual to heterosexual, some through supernatural encounters with God, some through counseling, some over a period of time, graduate change or inner healing comes, and others have not been changed."

In conclusion, Brown's IHOP talk repeated the same anti-gay arguments that fundamentalists have been making for years: homosexuality is sinful, homosexuality is condemned by scripture, the LGBTQ movement is a dangerous boogeyman, homophobia is different from racism or sexism, gays can become straight, ad nauseum. Most shockingly, Brown maintains that these hateful messages are loving, ignoring the many unloving ways that homophobia harms LGBTQ people. This fundamental dishonesty places a loving mask over hateful words.

Sadly, Michael Brown is only the latest speaker at IHOP to promote homophobia. Observers are paying attention, however, and they will continue to criticize IHOP for its messages.



To listen to Michael Brown's September 12th talk at IHOP, click here or here. To listen to the question and answer session that followed, click here or here.

Charisma Magazine Goes Ballistic Over SCOTUS Decision

The Supreme Court's June 26th rulings on DOMA and Proposition 8 have drawn praise from supporters of LGBTQ rights, as well as condemnation from national and regional Religious Right groups. Charisma Magazine, the Christian website that brought us scintillating commentary on demon sex and smelly poltergeists, has gone ballistic over the ruling. Several Charisma commentators with reputations for bombastic columns have penned commentaries on the Supreme Court decisions. Predictably, these commentaries draw from the usual Religious Right rhetoric, claiming that the SCOTUS decisions will result in persecution of Christians, the end of marriage, and a new Christian cultural revolution.

First, in a commentary piece entitled "Supreme Court Decision a Call to Pray for Spiritual Awakeing", Assemblies of God general superintendent George O. Wood frowned upon the scorn heaped on homophobes. Ridiculously, he claimed that LGBTQ progress would herald marginalization and persecution of Christians. The idea that both LGBTQ persons and Christians can enjoy rights, or that someone can be both Christian and LGBTQ escaped him.

"You see this animus in Christians being labeled as haters, homophobes and bigots when the reverse is true. Humanitarian care and love for neighbor is a timeless value demonstrated daily by Christians. If the culture can dehumanize followers of Christ by attaching hateful labels to them, then it’s only a matter of time until Christians are first marginalized for their faith, deprived of their First Amendment rights and ultimately persecuted."

The ever-dramatic Jennifer Leclair depicted the Supreme Court decision as a harbinger of the end times. In the bombastically-named column "Satan's End-Time Strategy to Outlaw Traditional Marriage in Full Swing", Leclair lamented that "the gay agenda has won a victory in the rapidly degenerating land of the free." She wondered aloud if governments will forbid marriage (!?) now that DOMA has been struck down. Calling the LGBTQ movement a "satanic agenda to end a godly institution", she painted same-sex marriage in ominous colors. "I believe the institution of traditional marriage will come under attack in parts of the earth as the deceptive gay marriage agenda continues to gain momentum," she wrote.

Leclair claims that America is seeing Romans 1 play out in real time, a possible reference to God's wrath against a sinful people (Romans 1:18-20), or more likely a reference to a passage condemning homosexual behavior (Romans 1:24-27). She decried apostasy and divergent Christian theologies as a symptom of the end times, a result of "deceiving spirits" that are leading Christians toward a "harlot church".

"We are in the latter times. We are in the end times even now. And many are indeed departing from the faith. Less than 1 percent of 18- to 23-year-olds have a biblical worldview, according to a recent Barna Group survey. Seven in 10 Protestants ages 18 to 30 who went to church regularly in high school said they quit attending by age 23, LifeWay Research reveals. And the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life reports that half of former Protestants who left the church said they turned away from their childhood faith because they stopped believing in its teachings—and about 40 percent said they did so because they do not believe in God.

We are in the latter times. We are in the end times even now. And some are indeed giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons. Look at the likes of Rob Bell, with his “no hell” theology; John Crowder, with his distorted hypergrace messages; and Carlton Pearson, with his universalistic “gospel of inclusion.” Then there’s the false justice movement that talks about Jesus while holding Bible studies, worship meetings and performing good works—but it’s a different Jesus at the center. These are just a few of the doctrines of demons circulating through the church today that are leading us toward the end-time harlot church."

So-called "ex-gay" activist Janet Boynes penned a June 27th commentary entitled "God Is Still on the Throne", in which she too criticized the Supreme Court decision. Such rulings "remind us of man’s proclivity for making bad decisions that contradict God’s Word," she wrote, urging readers to press on and maintain faith in God.

"We are constantly bombarded with distortions and derision from the naysayers in the gay community, but in the end what they say really doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is what God says. In the remnant church of the last days, His Word is the only thing that will sustain us ... Let me remind you there are many men and women who have been changed through the power of the Holy Spirit and have left the homosexual life. Many marriages and families have been restored. Even if you haven’t heard about them, they are out there. God will, in His time, bring their testimonies to light.

We know that homosexuality is dividing families, political parties and churches all over America. Nevertheless, God is still on His throne! If you have a family member or friend living a homosexual life, don’t despair. God saved you, didn’t He? What He did for you, He can and will do for them. Grab hold of His word: “You and all your household will be saved” (Acts 11:14)."

In a June 27th column entitled "The Black-Robed Regiment, Then and Now: A Fresh Call to Revolution", Michael Brown expressed dismay that nine Supreme Court justices could have such "sweeping authority". In the wake of the Supreme Court's decision, Brown accused today's clergy of losing their "moral authority" and "leaving a gaping hole in the soul of the nation" for not engaging in activism with sufficient passion.

Brown asked where one could find "the calls to take up the cross and follow Jesus, regardless of cost or consequences" among religious leaders. Lest he be accused of zealotry, Brown claimed that "[w]hat the world calls fanaticism and much of the church calls extremism, God calls normal." He called for a passionate revolution among Christians in the face of an evolving society.

"Where were our national Christian leaders when the Supreme Court removed organized, public prayer from our schools in 1962 or when the Court declared abortion on demand to be the law of the land in 1973? Why were there so few who took a solid stand?

For the most part, when we have taken action, we have joined ourselves to a political party, only to find ourselves used for their purposes. Otherwise, we have either thought the social realm was not our responsibility; that Jesus was coming at any moment and so things will only get worse; or that the way to win a spiritual war is to become angry conservatives.

Surely we can do better than that. Surely we can—no, we must!—rise up into the revolutionary, Jesus-exalting, Word-based, Spirit-empowered calling that is on our lives, a calling that is on all believers but in particular on the leaders who must the lead the way.

Surely we cannot allow the moral standards of our society be determined by an unelected, unanointed black-robed regiment sitting in Washington, with all respect to their proper authority and with massive respect for the courageous voices among them.

It is time for the leaders to arise—to get alone with God, to get filled afresh with His Spirit, to get clear marching orders from heaven and to make a new commitment to be part of a Jesus-centered, moral, cultural and spiritual revolution."

Brown has been up in arms over LGBTQ progress recently, so the sentiments in his June 27th commentary were nothing new. For instance, in a June 26th commentary entitled "The Battle Is for Your Child's Future", Michael Brown insisted that readers must say "enough is enough" to where society is going. He criticized the American Academy of Pediatricians for rejecting homophobia and promoting LGBTQ visibility, then fumed over the case of a six year-old transgender girl who can now use her school's girl restroom.

We can expect much more of such rhetoric as our country evolves and as fundamentalist Christians are forced to confront secular society. Behind the rhetoric about demons, marriage, persecution, and revolution is fear -- fear of a world that is leaving less and less room for intolerance, ignorance, and fundamentalism.

The Religious Right Reacts to Exodus International's Closure

June has been an explosive month for the so-called "ex-gay" movement. A recent apology by Exodus International president Alan Chambers, followed by an announcement that Exodus International would close, has sent shock waves through the ex-gay community. The Religious Right has reacted with disappointment and disdain, clinging to the dubious belief that homosexuality is sinful and that LGBTQ people can somehow change their sexual orientation.

On June 21st, Focus on the Family president Jim Daly issued a statement regarding Exodus International's apology and closure. Framing homosexuality as a form of sexual sin, Daly insisted that people can still find "true happiness in stewarding their sexuality according to God's plan".

"We understand God’s original intent was for marriage to be a lifelong union between a man and a woman, with children as a natural result. But we also realize that all of us sin in many ways.

“We believe there is hope for those who struggle sexually. Be it a struggle with lust, adultery, pornography addiction, pre-marital sex, same-sex attractions or issues related to identity – there is hope. The hope of a Christian is that our behavior becomes more in line with God and God’s will. He wants us to drink from His full cup of grace and truth – because it’s through Him we can overcome lifelong struggles with sin.”

“God’s help usually doesn’t come as a ‘fast fix.’ It’s often a long process. Many times it takes counseling, Bible study, prayer and community support – but it can be done. Here at Focus we’ve seen marriages reconciled. We’ve seen people who struggle with unwanted same-sex attraction change. We’ve seen people experience real transformation in their thoughts, behaviors, attractions and identity. We’ve seen people find true happiness in stewarding their sexuality according to God’s plan, even when that means sacrifice."

The National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), an anti-LGBTQ organization, released a statement on Exodus International on June 20th. NARTH acknowledged ex-gay ministries that plan to continue their work after Exodus International's closure.

"As we understand it, Exodus was a public relations voice and referral clearing house for hundreds of individual, primarily evangelical ministries who serve church members who are experiencing unwanted homosexual feelings. These hundreds of individual evangelical Protestant ministries along with the outreach ministries in the Catholic, Jewish and Latter-day Saint faith communities still exist and we imagine that they will always exist as long as we have individuals who find homosexual sex incongruent with their personal or religious values."

In a commentary piece at Charisma Magazine, Michael Brown listed six lessons that Christians can learn from Exodus International's closure. Brown defended the dubious idea of sexual orientation change and claimed that Alan Chambers does not speak for the "thousands" of ex-gays and ex-gay ministries.

"When a ministry or church or organization departs from its calling and purpose, it will no longer be backed by God ... Right now, the world is mocking the idea that homosexuals can change, either by the gospel or by professional counseling or both, while many in the church are even questioning whether change is possible.

But Exodus is not closing because God no longer transforms homosexual men and women. It is closing because it has lost sight of its original mission and vision.

Alan Chambers, the current leader of Exodus, has stated publicly that he does not believe change in sexual orientation is possible, also claiming that practicing, unrepentant homosexuals who profess faith in Jesus are heaven-bound and saved. This means that Exodus stopped offering hope to struggling homosexuals and even stopped effectively calling them to holiness.

In that light, while the announcement of the closing of Exodus is bad news because of the reproach it brings to the gospel and the discouragement it brings to gay strugglers, it is good news because Exodus was no longer serving its God-ordained purposes."

Brown claimed that "a massive spiritual attack on those who stand on the front lines of ministry to homosexual men and women" is taking place, as the "world" seeks to discredit the ex-gay movement. He framed homosexuality as incompatible with Christian faith, branding it a sin alongside "rampant no-fault divorce, pornography and immorality in the church".

"There is no way to appease gay activists without departing from the truth of the Word. When I am asked by church leaders what we can do to minister more effectively to the LGBT community, I state that we must first repent of our own sins—including rampant no-fault divorce, pornography and immorality in the church—and then we must ask God to break our hearts with His love for homosexual men and women.

At the same time, I fully realize that unless we celebrate homosexuality, embracing it as morally and socially equivalent to heterosexuality, and unless we tell “gay Christians” that they can follow Jesus and practice homosexuality at the same time, we have not gone far enough in their eyes.

The written apology issued by Alan Chambers leans in the dangerous direction of complete moral capitulation and should serve as a strong warning for the rest of us who want to stand for compassion without compromise."

Finally, in a June 22nd column at Renew America, Mark H. Creech scoffed at the idea of innate sexual orientation, claiming that it is "a broad term developed in modern times to provide credence for the growing number of sexual perversions." He criticized Exodus International for allegedly weakening its message with non-Christian contaminants.

"To water down this message with outside worldly, unbiblical influences, is to risk the loss of Christian identity and collapse, which is exactly what happened to Exodus International.

Indeed this is a landmark event. And every Christian denomination, church, church school or university, organization and ministry, should take note with fear and trembling. Exodus International took flight from its own promised land of deliverance and exists no more."

For all the damage it has done, Exodus International is at least willing to admit its mistakes. Its former allies among the Religious Right, however, still cling to the myths that Exodus International once embraced. I can think of nothing more ridiculous than clinging to a false ideology that has harmed so many people.

Homophobia and the Penn State Sexual Abuse Scandal

On November 4th, former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky was indicted on forty counts of sexual abuse of minors. Pennlive reports that two additional cases of reported sexual abuse were recently opened by Pennsylvania Children and Youth Services, one of which involves a family member of Sandusky's. The Second Mile, a charity founded by Sandusky to help underprivileged youth, has come under fire by donors, and may be sued by one of the young men who reported sexual abuse.

Sadly, some voices from the Religious Right are using this situation to launch attacks against LGBT people. Rather than use this scandal as an opportunity to discuss child abuse in a constructive manner, some voices have used it as an excuse to disparage gays.