A Doubter’s Parish reader recently wrote, “How did Christianity become so mean? How did we get from Jesus’ message of love to relentless condemnations against gays, transgender persons, women preachers, immigrants, scientists, educators, journalists and public-school librarians?” She said, “When…
A musical playlist for commemorating Martin Luther King
As I write, the fifth day of Eastertide (which began on Easter eve and ending 50 days later on Pentecost Sunday) draws close. As does the moment in 1968 when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated while standing just outside…
Why Josh Howerton makes me ashamed to be a complementarian
OK, I’ll admit it: I hate to use the term at all. While I wouldn’t consider myself an egalitarian, complementarianism has come to mean so many things I don’t stand for. Between John Piper saying a woman shouldn’t give directions…
Dear Pastor Search Committee
Dear Pastor Search Committee, I appreciate the time and effort you are devoting to this process. Your church has entrusted you with an exciting and daunting task, to find your next pastor. Most churches will only host a few pastor…
Democracy dies in darkness?
Democracy dies in darkness. Sure enough: in the absence of a free press to throw light on the actions and decisions of our political leaders, we the people are left in the dark. We don’t know what they decided, what…
The truth about lying
Somebody is lying. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin examined 116,366 lies told by 632 participants over 91 days. Participants self-reported their lies, which raises the question, “Wouldn’t liars lie about lying?” Maybe that’s why the statistics around lying are…
A new book on the Bible and LGBTQ folks by a straight, white man is not what we need
A conservative biblical scholar has changed his mind about LGBTQ folks. I supposed I should be excited, but I find myself quite appreciative of Anna Sieges’ insightful and appropriately critical comments about Richard B. Hays’ (along with his son Christopher) book…
The healing ‘heresy’ of Richard Hays
As an LGBTQ Christian, one of the realities that has perplexed me from the very beginning of my journey to reconcile my faith and my sexuality was the insistence of Christians, particularly Catholics and evangelicals, that our theologies of sexuality…
Grace Valentine, ice cream and sources of empowerment for women in complementarian circles
After a Good Friday worship service, Anne-Tillery, a divinity school friend and I, were discussing gender roles in the church over ice cream at the local Kilwins. The night before, we had found ourselves among a sizable group of sorority…