…and donkeys shouldn’t be invited to church.
Today’s Denver Post has an article entitled “Recovery more likely in church than politics“, and that has never been truer than in the cases of Ted Haggard and Mark Foley. In Haggard’s case, the church will forgive him because that is fundamental to Christian faith, and while he will likely not step into a leadership role with the church again, he will still have a place and a community within it. In the political arena, his voice has been muted forever, his credibility shattered by his denunciation of the very acts he engaged in.
This is not a bad thing. I wish no ill on Haggard; in fact, my hope is that he can be restored and accepted for who he is, regardless of his sexual preferences and orientation. It’s time for the church to deal with the question of homosexuality in a non-judgemental fashion, because their current (and incorrect) position creates conflicts where none need exist and is antithetical to the fundamental teachings of Christ. (The commandment to love one another as yourself has no caveats that exclude gays)
Yet incredibly, James Dobson appeared today at the Mount Rushmore rally in South Dakota to continue to campaign for ballot initiatives supporting an abortion ban and marriage protection (e.g., banning gay marriage). In his “sermon/speech” to the masses gathered, he blamed the “hatred” on “the Left’s” frustration with the so-called “values voters”, and suggested that the headlines were a clever plot to keep those values voters away from the polls on Tuesday.
Now, there’s something wrong with this picture, isn’t there? Let’s start with Dobson, who should not be held up as any kind of “religious leader”. Dobson is a politician, albeit appointed and not elected. The mistake that is made by the majority of the media is in considering him a pastor, a religious leader, a spokesperson for the churched of America. If churches had internal political parties, Dobson would be on the far side of the opposite party from mine.
Has he learned nothing from the Haggard’s takedown? Haggard made his bed, but the public outing was a direct result of his public stand on political issues. Haggard’s accuser has made it plain that he went public with the accusations because Haggard took a public stand on an anti-gay issue. It’s one thing to engage in acts of hypocrisy and entirely another to publicly denounce them at the same time.
James Dobson has not pieced together what Dave Winer has; namely, that “…party preference may not be an indicator of sexual preference.” He would do well to heed that, instead of spewing inane rot like this:
Dobson warned of a new idea that would be coming our way soon called “gender fluidity.” He said a new push for this concept was coming out of California, and would likely try to find its way into every other state. He said that the idea behind “gender fluidity” is that sex isn’t genetically determined, but is chosen. He said that adherents to this philosophy don’t want 5-year-olds to be told that they are boys or girls, but instead be told that they can work out their gender for themselves. Dobson said this involves unisex bathrooms and not determining whether children dress appropriate to their sex.
There is a part of me, Christian or not, that wants to see a major James Dobson smackdown, because his smarmy self-justification for being utterly judgmental and without mercy is so repugnant.
So much of this could be avoided if the church leaders stuck to leading their churches and the politicians stuck to the politics and everyone went out and voted their own conscience on Tuesday. Ted Haggard would still have paid a male prostitute and bought meth, but the consequences and fallout would have been limited to his church congregation instead of making the national news and distracting everyone from the real issues.
We need to stop hanging crosses on elephants and inviting donkeys to church. What better time to start separating the two than now, before more people are forced into conflicted behaviors and secret lives and both the church and political institutions are further disgraced?
Technorati Tags: Ted Haggard, New Life Christian Church, James Dobson
Elephants don’t wear crosses
…and donkeys shouldn’t be invited to church.
Today’s Denver Post has an article entitled “Recovery more likely in church than politics“, and that has never been truer than in the cases of Ted Haggard and Mark Foley. In Haggard’s case, the church will forgive him because that is fundamental to Christian faith, and while he will likely not step into a leadership role with the church again, he will still have a place and a community within it. In the political arena, his voice has been muted forever, his credibility shattered by his denunciation of the very acts he engaged in.
This is not a bad thing. I wish no ill on Haggard; in fact, my hope is that he can be restored and accepted for who he is, regardless of his sexual preferences and orientation. It’s time for the church to deal with the question of homosexuality in a non-judgemental fashion, because their current (and incorrect) position creates conflicts where none need exist and is antithetical to the fundamental teachings of Christ. (The commandment to love one another as yourself has no caveats that exclude gays)
Yet incredibly, James Dobson appeared today at the Mount Rushmore rally in South Dakota to continue to campaign for ballot initiatives supporting an abortion ban and marriage protection (e.g., banning gay marriage). In his “sermon/speech” to the masses gathered, he blamed the “hatred” on “the Left’s” frustration with the so-called “values voters”, and suggested that the headlines were a clever plot to keep those values voters away from the polls on Tuesday.
Now, there’s something wrong with this picture, isn’t there? Let’s start with Dobson, who should not be held up as any kind of “religious leader”. Dobson is a politician, albeit appointed and not elected. The mistake that is made by the majority of the media is in considering him a pastor, a religious leader, a spokesperson for the churched of America. If churches had internal political parties, Dobson would be on the far side of the opposite party from mine.
Has he learned nothing from the Haggard’s takedown? Haggard made his bed, but the public outing was a direct result of his public stand on political issues. Haggard’s accuser has made it plain that he went public with the accusations because Haggard took a public stand on an anti-gay issue. It’s one thing to engage in acts of hypocrisy and entirely another to publicly denounce them at the same time.
James Dobson has not pieced together what Dave Winer has; namely, that “…party preference may not be an indicator of sexual preference.” He would do well to heed that, instead of spewing inane rot like this:
There is a part of me, Christian or not, that wants to see a major James Dobson smackdown, because his smarmy self-justification for being utterly judgmental and without mercy is so repugnant.
So much of this could be avoided if the church leaders stuck to leading their churches and the politicians stuck to the politics and everyone went out and voted their own conscience on Tuesday. Ted Haggard would still have paid a male prostitute and bought meth, but the consequences and fallout would have been limited to his church congregation instead of making the national news and distracting everyone from the real issues.
We need to stop hanging crosses on elephants and inviting donkeys to church. What better time to start separating the two than now, before more people are forced into conflicted behaviors and secret lives and both the church and political institutions are further disgraced?
Technorati Tags: Ted Haggard, New Life Christian Church, James Dobson