Homodox

All In: Faith

Faith is something you need to be in all in about.  Faith, for my purposes, is quite separate from religion.  Faith is the pure relationship between humans and God whereas religion is a manmade construct that presumes to understand an incomprehensible God.  I've always been all in with Faith, but I can't take credit for it.  Because of Grace, I believe.  I can't tell you why and give a rational and logical explanation.  It just is.  So, I truly believe in God and I believe that God, on my behalf, went all in for me.  So I believe.  What I can't do (and what religions can't do, although they think they can) is explain the details of why things are the way they are.  I'm not sure why I'm on this spinning bit of real estate in a vast universe, but I'm completely sure God created it and me.

Asking For Lightning To Strike

In the frivolous law suit category:  A gay man is suing Bible publishers.  How about not reading those passages?  Try Psalm 117.  Always works for me.

Theophobia or Christianophobia

In June, PrawfsBlawg coined the term Theophobia for the occurrence of disdain or disbelief that a university professor can also be a Christian.

Just a few days ago, I was discussing a mutual friend with a former colleague. The latter was astonished by our mutual friend’s Christianity: “What’s up with that?!” he exclaimed, expressing bewilderment and even nervousness at the thought that a well-regarded – indeed, by academic standards, famous – professor could believe in the existence and beneficence of an omniscient and omnipotent God. 

The writer doesn't actually say what he said verbatim, but I'm guessing it was akin to "he's a Christian."

In the 1970s, the term Christian was co-opted out of its original meaning.  A Christian, who is a follower of Christ, can be Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Protestant (in all its many versions), Mormom, Coptic, Maronite, Nestorian, Chaldean, and a few others I've probably missed.  Some Unitarians identify as Christian.  However, a specific subset of Christians in the U.S. that practiced a fundamental and evangelical brand of Protestant Christianity hijacked the term Christian.  "Are you a Christian?" was code language for are you my kind of Christian?  "Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal savior?" and "Have you been born again?" were also part of this distinction within the Christian community.

Out of the Hellfire and Into the Frying Pan

So imagine you're 15 years old and was brought up Pentecostal.  And you're gay, so you are told that the Bible says you're going to hell.  Through situations that weren't your fault, you wind up in the Dept. of Social Services.  Two gay guys become your mentors.  However, these are not any gay mentors.  In their house, there is not anything from Abercrombie & Fitch, but 25 Bibles in assorted languages, including the original ancient Hebrew and Greek texts.

So, when the Bible and being gay comes up in conversation, as it did last night, we (the mentors in question) were ready.  Interestingly of all the so-called clobber passages we were ready for such as Leviticus or Romans, the verse in question was from the Book of Revelation 22:15 "Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. (NIV translation).  My New Oxford Version renders sexually immoral as fornicators.  

Now, Michael flew over to his original Greek text and looked up that word and our poor teenager got a lesson in ancient Greek and specifically on the word porneia.  So be careful what you wish for!  The gay dads who don't know Dolce from Garbana do know their Bible!!

It's the Culture Stupid

If I needed any further proof of why GCN wasn't meant for me, it came this week. The same people who rent their garments over the death of Tammy Faye Bakker and many others, doesn't have a memorial thread for George Carlin.  I'm genuinely sad about his passing unlike so many other celebrities where I go "whatever."

Carlin is my kind of humor.  Of course, we're both New Yorkers.

George Carlin, Believer

In his op-ed on the death of George Carlin, Jerry Seinfeld said: I know George didn’t believe in heaven or hell. Like death, they were just more comedy premises.  Online bloggers responded the same way, such as Ann Althouse and Ezra Klein.  I think they're all wrong.  No one could get that worked up about God without believing.  He was, if anything, making fun of himself for believing in a specific religious tradition he was brought up with, that he no longer had confidence in.  However, religion and belief in God are two totally separate things.  He saw religion for what it is: bullshit.  And unparalleled bullshit at that.  If religion weren't so arrogant with its certainty and couched their theologies more in doubt and faith, Carlin (and I) would have been (and would be) much happier.  I was watching the clip below and couldn't believe I've said so many things that Carlin said.  Alright, I don't worship the sun, but I can certainly understand praying to Joe Pesci.

George Carlin 1937-2008

Despite the calendar that says it's 2008, I still live in the 20th century in my mind. It's hard when an icon of that time period passes away. I was a kid in the 1970s and Carlin's 7 Dirty Words You Can't Say on TV or Radio was one of the funniest and naughtiest things you could listen to. Later on as an adult I came to appreciate his social commentary that was interwoven in his comedy. This is his Ten Commandments bit. RIP!

Very Rev. Henry Chadwick 1920-2008

Professor Chadwick once called ecumenism “a good cause to die for.”

His most quoted line, spoken during a debate at the Anglicans’ General Synod in 1988, summarizes his own life’s work of finding answers in history. Professor Chadwick said, “Nothing is sadder than someone who has lost his memory, and the church which has lost its memory is in the same state of senility.”

It's The Thought That Counts

For people who should know the Bible, it's Leviticus 18:22 not Ecclesiastes. For those of us with a long memory, Whoopi, in her Broadway show in 1985, knew people were born gay. She gave us the parable of the birds.

IQ and Biblical Literalism

 As if we didn't already guess this, but it seems IQ and taking the Bible literally are inversely related.  And if you think IQ is a poor measure, it works the same for SAT scores.  Of course, I don't believe that it's purely lack of intelligence, but more a product of voluntary ignorance on the part of those believers in Christ.