Maybe you've heard.
President Obama expressed his support for same-sex marriage yesterday afternoon. He is, as one deduces pretty quickly, the first sitting president to do so.
Barack's Big Decision, revealed in a television interview and confirmed in an e-mail sent to supporters, is no doubt News with a capital N, and is no doubt worth celebrating.. (My favorite line: "Even at my own dinner table, when I look at Sasha and Malia, who have friends whose parents are same-sex couples, I know it wouldn't dawn on them that their friends' parents should be treated differently.")
Still, the miracle here is not that a President "courageously" came down on the side of compassion and equal rights for all citizens. It's that a middle-aged outspoken Christian role model can no longer be legitimately defined by his homophobic attitudes.
I'm not exaggerating. According to a study done by the Barna Group (an evangelical polling company), the first word or phrase that unchurched 18-to-29 year-olds use to describe Christians is "anti-gay."
Not "Christlike"; not "compassionate." Not "exclusive"; not "hypocritical". Not "loving"; not "religious."
Just anti-gay.
It's not like the final numbers are all that close, either -- that's the first thing mentioned by 91 percent of respondents. The first thing! By nine in ten young adults! Hating gays is the defining characteristic of Christianity, by a long shot, from the outside looking in. Remember, this poll was conducted by a company run by evangelicals.
(While that sinks in, here's an advertisement. If your interest is piqued, this is the book in which the study appears. It's an exploration of young people's attitudes toward the Church and its members.)
Commercial break over. There's a not-too-ancient spiritual song that you'll recognize if you grew up in the church. The opening line goes, "They will know we are Christians by our ..." Well, by our what? According to the song, the next lyric is "love."
Pshaw. Fantasylandtalk. The people have spoken, and the way they plan on knowing someone is a Christian is by detecting disdain for gays.
Congratulations everyone. Turn to your neighbor in the pew, and give him a well-earned pat on the back. Not the lower back, though. TOOO GAAYYY
To dig deeper into David Kinnamann's research in unChristian, and even, to a point, his new book "You Lost Me", (Which he will be disucssing here in Seattle on the 22nd...actually....plug, plug, plug.) you should check out Jim Henderson's "The Outsider Interviews" and watch the DVD that comes with it. I really think you'd enjoy it, John.
ReplyDeleteI think so too! (Now going to look up details about the Kinnaman visit to Seattle.)
ReplyDeleteIf the evangelical church wants to survive more than just another generation, it's going to have to change its mind on some gay-related issues. Obviously the text of the Bible can not be rewritten. (Not officially.) But right-wing Christian thought leaders are going to have to make the conscious choice to relegate homosexuality to the legalistic back burner, much as they've had to do with other outdated cultural biases. (Or they could go along their merry way and continue to be known for their hate, and not their capacity for love. What do i know?)