Going AWOL from the Culture Wars and Loving Humanity
Back when I was working as a youth pastor at my Fundagelical Church, a special music group was invited for a Sunday evening service. I was expecting a group of twenty-somethings playing contemporary Christian music. That's not what we got. What we got was the Libby Family Band. They were a group of six: three … Continue reading Inspired Unicorns of the Bible
Fundagelicals are very uptight about sex. They believe that the only sex that is permissible is sex between heterosexual married couples. It doesn't matter how freaky the sex is, as long as it between married heterosexuals; it's O.K. The Religious Right believes that Father's and husbands control the sexual activity of their unmarried daughters and … Continue reading Masturbation: You can’t beat it.
Despite the scientific evidence, Fundagelicals scoff at the idea of global warming. Science is seen as a liberal plot to attack the truth of the Bible. Global warming is impossible because it's not in the Bible. In Genesis, the story of Noah and the ark, tells how God floods the entire earth. At the end … Continue reading Why Fundagelicals Don’t believe in Global Warming
Welcome to Fundagelical Scripture Twisting 101! You might want to take a few notes so you too can avoid doing all those pesky things Jesus taught. Let's start with love. That whole love your neighbor, love your enemy thing can be very inconvenient. You might have to buy a meal for a hungry person or … Continue reading Twisted Love
When I talk to my old Fundagelical High School friends and family members, it can be a frustrating experience. If I discuss a passage such as Leviticus 18:22 and attempt to contextualize it to the holiness code, limited scientific knowledge, patriarchal society, and cultural preservation, I get accused of twisting scripture and not understanding the … Continue reading The Bible is very clear, except those parts that aren’t, so we don’t talk about those.
Fundagelicals love to tell you the Bible is inerrant. What they mean by that is often fuzzy. Fundamentalists at the beginning of the 20th century were upset about textual criticism applied to scripture. Discoveries like the Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus, two Biblical manuscripts older than the majority text used to create the King James … Continue reading The Bible is inerrant except for all those mistakes that don’t count.
I get into lots of conversations about religion. It goes with the territory. People ask about my religious upbringing, my education, and my church. There is one question I get that tells me immediately that I'm dealing with a Fundagelical. That question is: are you a Bible-believing church? On the surface, this question is incredibly … Continue reading Are You a Bible Believing Church?