We are stuck at this unproductive impasse, fixating on bathrooms, arguing about a threat that both sides know is nonexistent.
Theologian says gender identity a ‘last wall’ in civilization
Allowing children to use the public restroom in school that corresponds to their perceived sexual identity if it differs from their birth biology is a line in the sand for Bible-believing Christians, the leader of an organization that affirms that…
New frontiers for LGBTQ-affirming churches
More and more congregations are undertaking intentional, prayerful processes of discernment and action toward becoming inclusive, affirming, and justice-practicing congregations for LGBTQ people (there are about 100 churches now in the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists). While many churches…
N.C. Baptist church joins fight against transgender bathroom bill
More than 50 people were arrested Monday night at the North Carolina state capitol in a protest of the state’s new law curtailing LGBT protections — a protest organized in a town hall meeting last week at Raleigh’s Pullen Memorial Baptist…
The newest opponents of N.C.’s anti-transgender law: faith groups
As calls increase to repeal HB2, dozens of religious leaders are expressing faith-based opposition to a law they say is discriminatory.
The lawyers behind the recent wave of anti-trans bathroom bills
The speed at which they’ve emerged across the country, often with similar or identical language, raises the possibility that these bills are part of a coordinated effort.
Baptist newspaper supports ‘bathroom bill’
A Southern Baptist state newspaper editor says Tennessee lawmakers should put children’s safety ahead of money when considering a controversial bill that would require public school students grades K-12 and higher to use the restroom that corresponds to their sex…
No great wisdom, just a willingness to speak out
I’m not a “media hog.” I really don’t go looking for ways to get noticed, quoted, published, but it’s not been uncommon recently for a local television station reporter to show up seeking a voice from “our perspective.” It didn’t…
When religious liberty demands cease to be legitimate
I think most Americans, even non-religious Americans, are on board with the idea of religious liberty — in the abstract. But like so many of the things we hold dear, what sounds great in theory becomes deeply complicated when the…
The religion of the New Lost Cause
At Maundy Thursday worship in Wake Forest University’s Davis Chapel, the day after Gov. Pat McCrory signed NC House Bill 2, a transgender divinity school student washed the feet of an African Pentecostal student as the Gospel text from John…
North Carolina: Seeming rather than being
I like calling North Carolina home. It has always been home for me, and I have all of my North Carolina native bona fides to prove it. State bird: cardinal. State shell: Scotch bonnet. State tree: longleaf pine. State mammal:…
In North Carolina and Syria, the politics of ‘home’ is real
I haven’t lived in the place where I was born and raised in a long time. But sometimes a quality of “home” embedded in my consciousness is suddenly awakened — a visceral sense of rootedness in a place, among a…