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Culture

MLK and Religious Liberties

“USA Today” columnist Kirsten Powers kicked the conservative Christian hornet’s nest this week with her article, “Jim Crow laws for gays and lesbians?,” by arguing that religious business owners should not be able to refuse service to same-sex couples. The column questioned the legitimacy of a recent bill, which passed the Kansas House of Representatives, that would allow religious employers and individuals to discriminate against gays and lesbian customers.

Powers rankled conservatives by accusing Christian business owners—such as the bakers and florists who refuse to serve same-sex couples who are being wed—of double standards. After all, she said, they serve “unrepentant murderers through prison ministry.” In the article, evangelical mega-church pastor Andy Stanley echoed Powers’ sentiment, noting that if companies refused service to every couple entering into an unbiblical marriage, they’d go bankrupt.

Many criticisms of Powers’ piece centered on her comparison of the Kansas law with Jim Crow era discriminations of black people by white people. But there is at least one religious leader from the past who would likely agree with Powers: Martin Luther King, Jr.

In a lecture King delivered in 1961 to an ethics class at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, the Civil Rights pioneer addressed the issue of whether a business owner in the United States should be allowed to “choose his customers” and those he serves. He responded thusly…

CONTINUE READING…

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February 27, 2014by Jonathan
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Culture

3 Reasons the Abortion Rate is Lowest Since Roe v. Wade

In a time when bad news saturates headlines, pro-lifers have reason to rejoice: America’s abortion rate has plummeted in all 50 states to its lowest point since the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision legalized it in 1973.

According to a paper published by the Guttmacher Institute, there was a 13 percent drop in national abortion rates between 2008 and 2011.

In response, both conservative and liberal activists are rushing to explain why abortions have dropped, predictably attributing the trend to their respective legislative goals. In many cases, the data is conflicting and can be cherry-picked to support one’s presuppositions or hopes. Anyone (including me) who speculates on what is driving this trend assumes the risk of allowing personal bias to influence their explanations.

But as I have surveyed arguments and data coming from both sides, here are three reasons I believe the abortion rate has plummeted:

CONTINUE READING…

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February 27, 2014by Jonathan
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Culture

What Would Jesus Do in Arizona?

Author’s note: This column was co-written with Kirsten Powers

What conservative Christians miss in the religious liberties debate swirling around same-sex marriage.
Conservative Christian groups in Arizona cheered the passage Thursday oflegislation that would allow individuals and businesses in the state to deny service to same-sex couples due to religious beliefs.All eyes have shifted to Governor Jan Brewer, who must now decide whether to sign the bill. Similar legislation died in Kansas last week, but has also been introduced in Ohio, Mississippi, Idaho, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Oklahoma.

The Arizona law seems to apply to services beyond those tied to weddings, but same-sex weddings are the impetus for these bills. Specifically, they are in response to lawsuits against three different Christians who refused to photograph, bake a cake, and sell flowers for same-sex weddings. The backers of these laws claim that a Christian cannot, in good conscience, provide a good or service for a same-sex wedding because it violates the teachings of Christianity.

If these bills become law, we could see same-sex couples being denied service not just by photographers and florists, but also restaurants and hotels and pretty much anyone else who can tie their discrimination to a religious belief.

Many on the left and right can agree that nobody should be unnecessarily forced to violate their conscience. But in order to violate a Christian’s conscience, the government would have to force them to affirm something in which they don’t believe. This is why the first line of analysis here has to be whether society really believes that baking a wedding cake or arranging flowers or taking pictures (or providing any other service) is an affirmation. This case simply has not been made, nor can it be, because it defies logic.  If you lined up 100 married couples and asked them if their florist “affirmed” their wedding, they would be baffled by the question.

CONTINUE READING…

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February 27, 2014by Jonathan
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Louis Lamore: ”There will come a time when you think everything is finished. That will be the beginning.”
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As I argue, “Ideas have consequences, and Southern Baptists must honestly explore whether their patriarchal theology is bearing rotten fruit.”
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Because this is what love is.

Love is not breathlessness. It is not excitement. It is not the promulgation of eternal passion.

That is just being “in love,” which any fool can do.

Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away. And this is both an art and a fortunate accident.

Those that truly love, have roots that grow towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossoms have fallen from their branches, they find that they are one tree and not two.” - Louis de Bernières // #gettingmerida
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To the abandoned and the abused.

To the depressed and disappointed.

To the heartbroken and heartsick.

To the beat up, the beat down, the broken, the burned, and the betrayed.

To all those who liberally gave love to people who didn’t deserve it, who didn’t handle your heart with care.

To those who have waited a thousand nighttimes for love to arrive and are still empty handed.

Happy Valentine’s Day to YOU. Today, may you be seen and known.

You are worthy of the love you long for.

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“If we wake up to our current realities and return to our foundations... the faith's best days may yet lie ahead.” Jonathan Merritt, The Atlantic

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