Utah Mormon Republican Comes Out as Gay: He "Could Not Continue to Live a Lie”

Nathan Ivie — Photo: Facebook

Those of us of older generations and/or raised in anti-gay religious traditions often struggle for years trying to "pray away the gay" or even undergoing fraudulent "conversion therapy" in order to meet family or religious denomination expectations.  Having undergone this struggle myself for decades, I can assure straight readers that it is a living hell filled with self-hate and self-loathing and, at least in my own case, constant thoughts of suicide which eventually lead to two serious attempts which landed me in the hospital.  Eventually many of us - unless one is Rick Santorum or Ken Cuccinelli - reach a point where we simply no longer have the strength to continue to live a lie and live our lives as actors on a stage playing an assigned role. To say that it is exhausting and soul killing is an understatement.

This is not to say that those of us who married spouses of the opposite gender did not love that other person as much as a gay can romantically love an  opposite gender spouse.  I/we did love them, yet felt guilt because in our heart we could not be what they deserved. This damage to both the gay spouse and the straight spouse is the direct fruit of right wing Christians' - and Muslims' - rejection of modern medical and mental health knowledge on sexual orientation.  Rather than admit that their cherished religious dogma is wrong, these fundamentalist prefer to ruin countless lives. 

As Metro Weekly is reporting, a Mormon Republican  from the state of Utah finally reached the point I reached 18 years ago where he simply could no longer live the lie.  Here are article excerpts:

A Republican lawmaker in Utah has come out as gay after working with families who lost their LGBTQ children to suicide.  Nathan Ivie, a Utah County Commissioner, posted a four-minute video to his Facebook page saying that he had been fighting his sexuality since age 9.

The forty-year-old also detailed a suicide attempt in his early 20s, and said he wanted to help struggling LGBTQ youth know that life is worth living.

“There’s no easy way to say this, I might as well just jump up and say it — I’m gay,” Ivie, who is also Mormon, said. “That’s my reality and that’s what I need to talk to you about today.” Ivie said he had spent “decades…wrestling with who I really am,” and that accepting his sexuality had “not been easy.”

“I understand the impact my discoveries have had and will have on others, yet I’m still the same person I’ve always been,” he said. “I hope, to you, this part of my life doesn’t become my defining trait.”

Ivie said that, when he first realized his sexuality at age 9, he “believed there was something wrong with me.”  “I fought from the beginning to find some way to change myself,” Ivie said. “That battle resulted in a failed suicide attempt when I was 22 years old.”

After recovering from what he called a “near tragedy,” Ivie said he “tried to live the life that was expected of me.” “The truth is, I never felt comfortable in my own skin,” he continued. “I felt I was living someone else’s life rather than my own.”

Ivie said that while he was “as committed today as I have ever been to my faith, family and freedom,” he realized he “could not continue to live a lie. It wasn’t fair, it wasn’t right for anyone.”

The politician noted that he and his wife had separated, but that she remains his best friend and they have discussed at length how to “move forward as a different kind of family to fulfill the responsibilities we took on together to our two amazing children.”

Ivie said he was aware that some would neither understand nor accept his announcement, but that he would “continue to serve my county as Utah County commissioner with all of my heart. I know there are haters in every area of our lives, but we cannot let that be what defines us as a community.”

Ivie said his decision to come out was inspired by working with families who have lost LGBTQ children to suicide.  “That really makes you reevaluate your life, and what you’re doing as a leader to prevent that kind of stuff,” he said.

He added that he wanted young LGBTQ people to know that “it’s OK to be different, it’s OK to live authentically. You can be gay and a Republican…. You need to trust that people will love you for who you really are.”

Speaking to the Salt Lake Tribune, he noted that “somewhere out there” is a younger version of him, who is contemplating taking their own life, and that he wants them to know that it’s worth continuing to live.  “They need to know that it is,” Ivie said. “They need to know they’re valued, they’re loved.”

Tanner Ainge, who serves alongside Ivie on the Utah County Commission, tweeted his support for Ivie’s announcement.

“My instinct is just to embrace [Nathan],” he tweeted. “Today I stand with him as a friend, valued colleague, and fellow Republican. His story will provide strength and hope to those feeling the lonely despair that almost took his life and has taken too many in our community.”

Utah has one of the highest youth suicide rates in America - in my view probably in no small part due the the Mormon Church's historic homophobia.  In my own case, I think I knew from around age 12 that I was gay, but my Catholic upbringing in then conservative Central New York  and family expectations - not to mention the fact that homosexuality was at the time classified as a mental illness - made accepting my true self impossible.  Suicide seemed a far better solution to my problem. Kudos to Ivie for coming out and striving to stop LGBT youth suicides. 

United Methodist Church Rejects Allowing Same Sex Marriage and LGBT Clergy

Sadly, as anticipated, the ignorance embracing elements of the United Methodist Church prevailed at the denomination's General Conference and measures that would have modernized the church's positions to reflect modern knowledge on sexuality were voted down.  Much of the anti-LGBT mindset came from knuckle dragging elements of the church in Africa - much as what happened in the Anglican Communion - and rural backwater areas of the USA.  One can only hope that the LGBT accepting churches will leave the UMC and take their money with them and allow the reactionary churches to wither and die. Metro Weekly looks at the disappointing outcome.  Note how an obvious mental midget from the Western Pennsylvania Conference described the vote as remaining true to Christ's words - the only problem is Christ never said a single word condemning same sex relationships (check your New Testaments if you don't believe me).  The ignorance, bigotry and idiocy of these "conservatives" is stunning. They should call themselves Pharisees, not Christians.  Here are excerpts from Metro Weekly: 

Delegates at a special session of the United Methodist Church’s General Conference in St. Louis have rejected a plan that would have modernized the church’s stances on LGBTQ issues.

The delegates rejected a motion to substitute the so-called “One Church Plan” for the conservative Traditional Plan. The One Church Plan would have lifted prohibitions on individual churches choosing to marry same-sex couples and allowed LGBTQ followers of the religion to become ordained ministers, reports The Nashville Tennessean.

The motion failed by 75 votes, with 449 voting to keep the Traditional Plan in effect and 374 voting to adopt the more LGBTQ-friendly plan.

Currently, the church’s official position is that homosexuality is “incompatible with Christian teaching,” and, as such, has opposed past attempts to liberalize its stances on LGBTQ-related issues.

While much of the debate surrounding the fractures over social issues within the Church has focused on more conservative elements who have threatened to leave should the denomination become more LGBTQ-inclusive, Berlin noted that there are more liberal-leaning members of the Church who will be prompted to leave if the rigid prohibitions on LGBTQ inclusion remain intact.

But Nancy Denardo, a delegate from the Western Pennsylvania Conference, argued that the Church should adhere strictly to Biblical teaching on human sexuality.

“The One Church Plan does not agree with the words of our savior and in so doing deceives young persons into believing that same gender marriage is OK with God when clearly it is not,” Denardo said. “There is danger to that not only to those being deceived but the deceivers as well.”

I'm sorry, but Nancy Denardo cited in the article is a freaking moron who doesn't know the New Testament. Shame on her and shame on whoever put he r in a position to be a delegate. The Western Pennsylvania Conference is as follows if anyone wants to speak their mind:

United Methodist Center
1204 Freedom Road
PO Box 5002
Cranberry Township, PA 16066-0002
(724) 776-2300
info@wpaumc.org 

Indicted Russian Spy Was Also Working to Infiltrate Religious Right

Franklin Graham with Putin.

One of the tactics that Vladimir Putin has used to maintain power has been to bend over backwards to endear himself to the reactionary Russian Orthodox Church which has a centuries long history of supporting autocrats over democracy.  Not surprisingly, Putin's U.S. asset, Donald Trump, followed a similar course and met with a who's who of right wing Christian extremists all the way back in June of 2016 where Trump promised these elements the moon - ending abortion, rescinding gay rights, ending political campaign restrictions on churches, and license to discriminate laws cloaked under the smoke screen of "religious liberty."  Like their Russia counterparts, the Christofascists have closed their eyes to Trumps utter immorality and seemingly will support any foul thing he does. Now, it has come out that Putin wasn't content with Trump's efforts to win Christofascist and evangelical Christian support (the two are often synonymous).  He also had indicted Russian spy, Maria Butina working on direct influence on leading Christian extremist groups.  A piece in New York Magazine looks at this development.  Here are excerpts:

The more we learn about freshly indicted Russian spy suspect Maria Butina, the stranger the 29-year-old Siberian woman’s story becomes. As Eric Levitz explained earlier this week, Butina has had some extracurricular activities that are unusual for a grad student, which is supposedly why she was in the United States to begin with: Previous reporting has suggested that this woman, 29-year-old American University graduate student Maria Butina, tried to broker two separate secret meetings between Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin during the 2016 campaign.

Her apparent associate (or perhaps dupe) in her intelligence operations was U.S. “political operative” Paul Erickson, who was 30 years older than Butina but reportedly lived with her. He’s had his own colorful pre-espionage career, which included Pat Buchanan’s 1992 presidential campaign and a stint as “media advisor” to John Wayne Bobbitt, the man whose wife Lorena famously dis-membered him. In any event, Erickson had lots of useful contacts among U.S. gun activists that Butina, who led a gun-rights group back in Russia, was able to exploit very successfully. Her apparent boss, Russian pol (and Putin ally) Alexander Torshin, attended multiple NRA conventions, and Erickson reportedly hooked him up with Donald Trump Jr. at the 2016 event. He also sought to set up a meeting for Torshin with the mogul himself around that same time. Butina also took advantage of Erickson’s links with the Christian right, as Slate’s Ruth Graham reports, though Torshin had his own relationships in that universe, having attended multiple National Prayer Breakfasts.  In 2016, according to a timeline compiled by the Washington Post, Butina emailed a Prayer Breakfast organizer to suggest that Putin might attend the following year. That didn’t happen, but she and Torshin attended.

Earlier, in 2015, Butina and Erickson also appeared on the radio show of conservative evangelical superstar (and big-time Trump promoter) Eric Metaxas to discuss gun rights and religious freedom — topics that are strangely congruent in the conservative Christian circles in which all these birds flew.

The affection with which many Christian right figures hold Russia and specifically the gay-bashing Putin is hardly a secret, as I noted in 2016: [Putin’s evangelical fan club] includes some pretty big names, like conservative Evangelical leader Franklin Graham, National Organization for Marriage leader Brian Brown, and American Family Association spokesperson Bryan Fischer. In almost every case it has been his distinctive combination of homophobia and Islamophobia that has made Putin one of the Christian right’s favorite international figures.

So there is a U.S. religious constituency that very self-consciously supports Trump’s apparent interest in forming a new world order based on a Washington-Moscow axis, outflanking the decadent, secular, tolerant globalists of Western Europe.

One of the latest tidbits about the rather unusual relationship of Butina and Erickson emerged today in a memorandum from prosecutors asking that she be held without bail, as NBC News reports: In arguing that Butina is a flight risk, prosecutors said her only tie to the U.S. is a “personal relationship” with an unidentified man — which is branded “duplicitous,” suggesting she was using him for her own means. According to The Washington Post, the man’s description matches that of Republican operative Paul Erickson.

“Butina appears to treat it as simply a necessary aspect of her activities,” the memo says. . . . . in papers seized by the FBI, Butina complained about living with U.S. Person 1 and expressed disdain for continuing to cohabitate with U.S. Person 1.”

Yikes. Erickson’s continued freedom may depend on him playing the role of a deceived and spurned lover rather than a collaborator of a foreign spy.

Study Links Religion And Suicide For LGBT Youth

As regular readers know, I have a very dim view of most forms of organized religion, especially fundamentalist denominations and, of course, the morally bankrupt and hypocrisy dripping Roman Catholic Church.  My own Catholic upbringing cause near unlimited amounts of self hate as I tried to deny who I was and sought desperately to conform to Church and by extension family expectations. The result was innumerable thoughts of suicide and two serious attempts that landed me in the hospital.  It literally years of therapy and walking away from Catholicism to find emotional and spiritual peace.   Based on my experiences, I view raising an LGBT child in a fundamentalist or conservative Catholic home as nothing less than a form of child abuse.  I also hold fundamentalist denominations and conservative Catholicism responsible for many needless suicides. A new study linking religion and suicide for LGBT youth confirms these views.  Here are highlights from a piece in Huffington Post:

Faith is supposed to be a source of strength for believers, especially during times of struggle and sorrow. However, a new study suggests that religiosity may be linked to negative feelings among queer individuals ― including increases in suicidal behaviors.

The study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine last month, is a chilling revelation of the ties between suicide and theology that doesn’t affirm queer identity.

“Religious groups who stigmatize LGBT people should be aware of the potential damage they can do to an individual and families, and honestly the damage they do to themselves as an organization,” study co-author John R. Blosnich told HuffPost. 

In order to study religiosity and suicidal ideation among sexual minorities, Blosnich and his fellow researchers turned to data collected by the University of Texas at Austin’s Research Consortium. The students were asked to rate how important their religious or spiritual beliefs were to their personal identity. They were also asked a number of questions about whether they had ever seriously considered or attempted suicide. Analyzing this data, the research team found that while 3.7 percent of heterosexual young adults reported recent thoughts of suicide, the percentages were significantly higher among queer youth. Those questioning their sexuality had the highest rate of recent thoughts about suicide at 16.4 percent, followed by bisexual individuals (11.4 percent) and lesbian or gay individuals (6.5 percent). 

Five percent of heterosexual youth reported attempting suicide in their lifetimes, compared to 20 percent of bisexual youth, 17 percent of questioning youth and 14 percent of gay or lesbian youth.

Notably, the study authors found that religion may have acted as a protective factor against suicide attempts among heterosexual youth. On the other hand, for lesbian and gay youth, increasing levels of religious importance were associated with increased odds of recent suicidal ideation. In fact, lesbian and gay youth who said that religion was important to them were 38 percent more likely to have had recent suicidal thoughts, compared to lesbian and gay youth who reported religion was less important. Religiosity among lesbians alone was linked to a 52 percent increased chance of recent suicidal ideation.

Questioning youth who said religion was important to them were nearly three times as likely to have attempted suicide recently, compared to questioning youth who reported religion was less important. 

“It can be very scary to be caught in a space where your religion tells you that you are a ‘sinner’ just for being who you are,” he told HuffPost. “Sexual minority people may feel abandoned, they may experience deep sadness and anger, and they may worry what this means for their families ― especially if their families are very religious too.”

Studies conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have also found that lesbian, gay and bisexual youth seriously contemplate or attempt suicide at higher rates than heterosexual youth.

While several mainline Protestant and even evangelical leaders have begun to embrace a more inclusive theology, some of America’s largest religious denominations still hold non-affirming views of queer sexuality. Roman Catholic Church doctrine views gay and lesbian relationships as “intrinsically disordered.” The largest Protestant denomination in the U.S., the Southern Baptist Convention, sees marriage as exclusively reserved for one man and one woman and actively rejects equating gay rights with civil rights. Blosnich’s study demonstrates that for many queer people, non-affirming theology is at best problematic and at worst lethal ― “no matter how kindly or compassionately” it is articulated. [I]n Utah, where the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is based, researchers have documented a recent spike in teen suicides. Some advocates for LGBTQ Mormon teens have asserted that the spike is connected to the church’s policies on queer sexuality, although research hasn’t confirmed this link.  The Mormon church views queer relationships as sinful. In November 2015, it declared that Mormons in such relationships were to be considered apostates. 

Diane Oviatt, a Mormon mother with a gay son, is part of Mama Dragons, a group of parents who have banded together to advocate for their queer children. She believes that non-affirming theology has a “direct” effect on suicidal ideation among LGBTQ youth and young adults. . . . . “There is absolutely no room for homosexuality anywhere in the doctrine,” she told HuffPost. “Our kids are stripped of hope and faced with the notion that they, by virtue of their sexual identity, are ruining their celestial ‘forever’ family and will be separated from them in the hereafter if they choose a same-sex partner.”

What is just as troubling to me is that many of these anti-gay denominations care little or nothing about the lives being lost or damaged.  Sadly, the leaders of these groups care more about retaining their power and/or refusing to face the untrue aspects of their dogma than the lives of living, breathing individuals. I suspect that Christ would be appalled.

Southern Baptist Convention Continues to Shed Members

The latest figures released by the Southern Baptist Convention hold good news for those who value science, knowledge and an end to religious based bigotry: the denomination again has experienced a loss in membership, church attendance is down and so are baptisms.   While the number of churches is purportedly up, some of the congregations must be small indeed.  Most ironically, the SBC leadership blames the decline of the denomination on lack of prayer and a failure to get the SBC's message out.  Truth be told, the SBC's message of hate, fear, intolerance and the embrace of ignorance is getting out all too well and is fueling the exodus.   If we are lucky, the delusional leadership will continue to drive the SBC towards extinction.  Here are some of the figures released via the Baptist Press:

[T]he churches lost more than 200,000 members, the biggest one-year decline since 1881, according to the Annual Church Profile (ACP) compiled by LifeWay in cooperation with Baptist state conventions. Average attendance, baptisms and giving also declined.

One of the biggest declines last year was Southern Baptist church membership, which fell 1.5 percent to 15.5 million -- still the largest Protestant denomination by far, but at the lowest level since 1993. Weekly worship attendance declined 2.75 percent to 5.67 million Sunday worshippers.

Baptisms declined for the third year in a row, although the rate held steady with one baptism for every 51 members. Churches recorded 5,067 fewer baptisms, a decrease of 1.63 percent to 305,301. Reported baptisms have fallen eight of the last 10 years, with last year's the lowest total since 1947.

Total and undesignated church receipts according to the ACP data also declined last year, 0.49 percent and 0.24 percent respectively. 

"This new data confirms SBC President Ronnie Floyd's call for next week's convention to focus on prayer for a great awakening. Programs and meetings are not going to revive our people -- only prayer and repentance will lead our people to revival."

As I said, all good news.  The SBC continues to have strong ties with white segregationists and is among the most homophobic denominations in America.  Its demise would be a divine blessing, if you will, on the America.
 

Nonreligious 'Nones' Are Driving LGBT Equality in America

I have often said that conservative Christians will be the ones who ultimately kill Christianity in America.  Their brand of hate and fear based dogma is growing increasingly repellant to more and more Americans, especially those under age 30 a third of whom have walked away from organized religion entirely.  As a story in The Advocate notes, one of the consequences of this growing disdain for religion is that the so-called "Nones" are helping to drive LGBT equality.   The take away?  That it is important to continue to spotlight the ugliness of the Christofascists not to mention their never ending hypocrisy and all too typically ties to racist organizations.  Scratch a "family values" organization and underneath you find former advocates of segregation.  Here are highlights from The Advocate:

This past week it emerged that Josh Duggar, the eldest son of the 19 Kids and Counting family, had molested at least five underage girls as a teenager, allegedly including two of his sisters. The revelation forced Duggar to leave his job with the Family Research Council, officially an antigay "hate group," where he vocally opposed laws protecting LGBT people.

The entire Duggar family has also been deeply enmeshed in antigay, right-wing politics. Notably, they have vocally supported religious conservatives like Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee, while matriarch Michelle Duggar last year recorded a robocall that accused transgender people of being child molesters.

The Duggars have held themselves up as a model of Christianity in America: wearing their religion on their sleeves, the family is politically active, deeply conservative, anti-LGBT, patriarchal, and anti-science.

"Real Christians" like the Duggars would like to think they're doing God's work. But if they're judged by the fruits of their tree, as the Bible teaches, they've actually driven Americans away from churches. And new research indicates that their entrenched, anti-LGBT positions are part of why Americans are abandoning the faith in record numbers — and not coming back.

When Pew Research Center released its latest religion in America survey results, it highlighted a trend that has been ongoing for years: people are leaving organized religion in droves. . . . . The number of people who identify with any religious denomination keeps shrinking.

There are now approximately 56 million religiously unaffiliated adults (those identifying as agnostic, atheist, or “nothing in particular”) in the U.S., according to Pew. In light of this group’s “none of the above” attitude toward existing organized religion, the group is sometimes referred to as the “Nones.”    The Nones are more numerous than either Catholics or mainline Protestants . . . .

[T]he Nones also tend to be one of the most solidly Democratic and pro-LGBT demographics as well. This isn’t coincidental; prior studies from the Public Religion Research Institute have shown that up to a third of Millennial Nones left traditional faith communities because of religious intolerance toward LGBT people.

Certainly, there are other factors at play. Generational replacement is failing to happen — for every person who has joined a religion after having been raised unaffiliated, there are more than four people who have become religious “Nones” after having been raised in some religion, revealed Pew.

Dr. Brittney Cooper, an Assistant Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies and Africana Studies at Rutgers University, summarizes the problem posed by conservative Christianity to Millennials like herself in a powerful essay alleging that right-wing religious fanatics have concocted a bigoted “white supremacist Jesus."

“I cannot stand in a church and worship on Sunday alongside those who on the very next Monday co-sign every kind of legislation that devalues the lives of Black people, women, and gay people,” writes Cooper. “I am a firm believer that our theology implicates our politics. If your politics are rooted in the contemporary anti-Black, misogynist, homophobic conservatism, then we are not serving the same God. Period.”

The Pew survey shows the American Catholic Church’s numbers are in almost as steep a decline as mainline Protestants. Reactions to the trends detailed in the survey vary greatly across church leaders and devout members.

Others point to a groundbreaking 2010 study by Putnam and Campbell, which argues there is a strong link between Millennial disenchantment with Christianity and the rise of evangelical conservatism in the 1980s and ‘90s. That study hypothesizes that Millennials have come of age in an environment where being Christian means being conservative (and Republican). More socially progressive Millennials — which is most of them — view the choice before them as an ultimatum of sorts: identifying with one’s political identity, or their religious identity. When it comes down to brass tacks, Millennials are apt to change the latter, given how little effort it takes to drop out of organized religion. In short, when there is a conflict between religious and political identity, the path of least resistance involves giving up the religious one.

The solution, from Putnam and Cambell’s perspective, would be to sever the link between religion and politics. But recent polling indicates that 57 percent of Republicans want to see Christianity as the official religion of the United States.

Relatedly, research shows that increased Internet access — especially when used to access progressive media sources like Right Wing Watch and ThinkProgress — helps tighten the spiral of religious de-identification by consistently pointing out the link between conservative religions and politics. 

Whether the rise of the Nones — and the concurrent decline of moderate religions — ultimately speeds up or slows down efforts to secure legal protections for LGBT people as a whole remains to be seen. What we do know is that is that the rise of the Nones and the increasing acceptance of LGBT people are strongly linked. 

Richmond Area Minister Gets 3 Years for Sexual Relationships with Teen Girls

Once again we see a minister from a far right fundamentalist denomination going to jail for sex offenses against minors.  I'm not saying that "liberal" denominations don't have some bad apples, but it seems that a disproportionate number of the sexual predators in ministry come from conservative denominations that are utterly obsessed with policing people's sex lives.  A case in point: Troy A. Mitten, a youth minister at Trinity Assembly of God in Chesterfield County, Virginia.  The Richmond Times Dispatch has the tawdry and all too common details (note how he preyed on the most vulnerable - just like many a Catholic priest - and Southern Baptist pastor):

As a talented and engaging youth minister for Trinity Assembly of God in Chesterfield County, Troy A. Mitten had a gift when it came to nurturing the spiritual and emotional needs of the church’s young set.

“The congregation loved and respected him,” said the Rev. Quarles Lowell, the former lead pastor of the defunct church that met at 233 N. Courthouse Road.

But unbeknownst to many, Mitten had a salacious side that a prosecutor described as “not overtly sexual.” He used his exceptional skills as a youth leader and mentor to subtly prey on at least three of the church’s young teenage girls in the 1990s.

Nearly two decades later, Mitten, 53, on Thursday was sentenced to 10 years in prison with seven suspended for taking indecent liberties with two teenage parishioners beginning when they were 14.

In sentencing Mitten, Judge Frederick G. Rockwell III said the pastor used the power of his position to sexually exploit the girls. And he could not escape punishment despite all his positive ministerial work.

Both victims, now 32 and 35, testified about their yearslong ordeal and how the man they once loved as a father figure and spiritual counselor had betrayed them. The sexual contact began after Mitten gained their trust and affection.

One of the women bluntly described Mitten as a “patient predator.” 

“He patiently waited for me to trust him” before initiating sexual contact, she said. The other victim, who was similarly groomed for a sexual relationship, said, “I wanted a dad, I wanted to be loved, and I wanted a family.”

The attention, however, eventually progressed to rubbing and touching, which the girls initially discounted. Mitten began talking to them about sex and sexuality as they grew older, and that developed into inappropriate touching and various sex acts in a Wendy’s parking lot and on bike rides into the woods.

Declining Southern Baptists Double Down on Homophobia

Albert Mohler - Hate Merchant

As noted in prior posts, the Southern Baptist Convention ("SBC") has seen at least seven (7) years of steadily declining membership as the denomination's extremism drives more and more individuals  and member churches to simply walk away.  Yet, rather than recognize that the denomination's bigotry and unloving treatment of others, the leadership seeks to double down further on the SBC's homophobia and general modern day Pharisee like behavior.   Leading the effort to make the denomination even more toxic and opposed to modernity is the delusional Albert Mohler.   In someways the SBC's isn;t surprising when one remembers that it came into existence because of its support for slavery and later segregation.  A piece in Religion Dispatches looks at the SBC's effort to redouble its hatred towards LGBT individuals.  Here are excerpts:

Despite declining membership and growing acceptance of same-sex marriage around the country, the Southern Baptist Convention is getting ready to double down on its anti-gay message. As an added bonus, their condemnation has gone all inclusive as they take special aim at the transgender community, who, up until now, had been largely ignored by the conservative Protestant denomination.

As members gather this week in Baltimore, Md., for their annual meeting, Albert Mohler Jr., president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, has already fired the opening salvo, condemning New Hart Community Church near Los Angeles for changing its anti-gay stance after pastor (a word the Christian news puts in scare quotes) Danny Cortez's 15-year-old-son came out as gay. Instead of condemning his gay son and casting him out from the church and his family (which I suppose the SBC would have seen as the Christ-like thing to do), Cortez loved and accepted his son.

Mohler was further enraged by the church's move to, y'know, love and accept their pastor (or "pastor," as they write) and let him keep his job. The church has declared itself a "Third Way" congregation - open to LGBT people but not declaring itself either liberal or conservative.

On his blog, Mohler opined: "[T]he Convention's constitution states explicitly that any congregation that endorses homosexual behavior is 'not in cooperation with the Convention,' and thus excluded from its membership. [ ... ] there is no middle ground, and no 'third way.'"

One of its churches accepting gay people is just the tip of the controversy iceberg for SBC leaders during their meeting, however.   . . . . The SBC is taking direct aim at transgender people at their meeting, opposing the "normalization" of gender identity issues.

[B]ashing gays doesn't get people to the polls anymore.

While 30 percent of Americans say they strongly oppose gay marriage, if only half of them think it's even somewhat important to their vote, you can deduce that only about 15 percent of Americans feel passionately enough about the issue that it has any impact on their vote.

Fifteen percent. SBC, do you hear that? Your base of supporters these days—those who are willing to join you in doubling down against the rights of their fellow LGBT human beings—makes up about 15% of the population. Seems to me the end of your journey to the dustbin of history is closer than you might think.

The SBC definitely ranks among the denominations that has turned Christianity into something very ugly.  Thankfully, more and more people are walking away from its message of hate and bigotry.

 

Southern Baptist Convention Increase Anti-Gay Military Chaplain Rules

Since its take over by the far right elements some years ago, the Southern Baptist Convention ("SBC") has become increasingly strident in its anti-gay agenda.  The result has been that congregations - like the one my father-in-law attends - have opted out and become either independent Baptist churches or aligned themselves with less reactionary Baptist affiliations.  But among the "true believers" at the SBC, they prefer to continue to drink the proverbial Kool-Aid and drive away those not so psychologically disturbed and obsessed with gays and gay sex.  Indeed, the new SBC rules (see the guidelines at the end of this post) for military chaplains seemingly make it impossible for SBC chaplains to remain in the military.  Bob Felton at Civil Commotion looks at the SBC's growing batshitery.  Here are excerpts:

I pointed last week toward new guidelines adopted by the SBC’s North American Mission Board, drawing especial attention to the compulsory separatism which proscribes even cooperation with chaplains who are differently-minded in the matter of same-sex marriage. Now comes a Presbyterian elder to say that the guidelines are so out-of-step with military requirements for cooperative activity that SBC chaplains should resign the service outright.

While these restrictions are consistent with Southern Baptist beliefs that hold marriage to be “God’s lifelong gift ‘of uniting one man and one woman in covenant commitment for lifetime,’” in their present form, the “guidelines” are incompatible with military ethics and regulations.

If these Southern Baptist chaplains were civilian pastors, there would be no problem. As civilians, they undisputedly have an absolute First Amendment right to believe, preach and counsel in accordance with their denominational tenets. But they are not civilians, and have a duty to not only God, but also country. It is instructive that they are not salaried by the NAMB but by the American taxpayer.
[ ... ]
It is likely some NAMB-endorsed chaplains do not agree with the position taken by the NAMB. For them, rather than resigning, an alternative would be to seek the endorsement of another denomination or faith group, one that truly endorses inclusion, collegiality and pluralism.
For those chaplains who do support the guidelines and feel compelled to follow them, the only honorable course is to resign from the military chaplaincy and return to civilian ministry.

This is strong language, but I see no defect in his reasoning. It cannot possibly serve the military well for SBC chaplains to refuse to even cooperate with chaplains who think differently in matters of shared interest. What is more, it can only serve to divide service members — a course which makes the SBC the instigator of the very evil it warned against when objecting to open service by gays and lesbians. 

Do we want a military divided on religious grounds even as we fight a global war against religious nutcases?

Personally, I believe that the U.S. military needs to cease funding the chaplain corps.  Let denominations fund these activities.  Better yet, move them entirely off of military bases.

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Military Chaplain Who Failed to Condemn Gay Marriage Hounded from Job

Tech. Sgt. Erwynn Umali and Will Behrens at Service Attended by Wagoner

The far right's war against anyone who recognizes the humanity of gays and who understands that our relationships have worth continues.  Earlier in the month I wrote about the civil union service conducted at the McGuire Air Force Base chapel and noted that Col. Timothy Wagoner,an Air Force chaplain affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention for 20 years, had been present at the service.  Wagoner had been quoted as saying:

"I don't feel I'm compromising my beliefs ... I'm supporting the community."  .   .   .   "We have to respect the faith requirements of the chaplain and we have to take care of the needs of the airman."  .   .   .  "As a Southern Baptist, why was I here? I was here to lend support," Wagoner said. "I was here supporting Airman Umali. I've worked with him. He's a comrade in arms."   "I'm also supporting Chaplain Reeb," he said. "She gave a beautiful ceremony."

In the fear and hate based world of the Southern Baptist Convention ("SBC"), Wagoner was apparently guilty of heresy and the North American Mission Board of the  SBC has announced that Wagoner is abruptly leaving the SBC.  Yep, the bitter modern day Pharisees simply could not tolerate anyone who doesn't view gays as sick, diseased sinners.  Here are highlights from the announcement:

The Air Force chaplain who attended a same-sex civil union that took place in June has notified chaplaincy leaders at the North American Mission Board (NAMB) that he is leaving the Southern Baptist Convention.

“Southern Baptists love and pray for our chaplains. That being said, we only want to endorse chaplains who can support Baptist doctrine and belief without reservation,” said Kevin Ezell, NAMB’s president. “When it comes to what our chaplains believe and practice, we do ask and we do expect them to tell.”

NAMB chaplaincy leaders contacted Air Force Chaplain (Col.) Timothy Wagoner after an Associated Press article appeared in early July describing him as “watching supportively” during the civil union. At the time, Wagoner indicated to NAMB he did not support the ceremony. He also gave assurances of his support for Baptist Faith and Message 2000 and for the biblical definition of one man, one woman marriage.

“If an SBC chaplain concludes he cannot conduct his ministry in harmony with SBC beliefs and doctrine, then it is best to part ways,” Ezell said.

  

Wagoner sounds like he's a decent man and one can only hope that should he desire to continue his work as a chaplain that he can become associated with a less hateful and backward thinking denomination.  We need more people like Wagoner and far, far few like those on the North American Mission Board.  And based on the soaring number of "nones," the SBC along with similar denominations best known for hate and intolerance seems to be slowly killing the Christian brand.  In my view, the SBC version of Christianity can't vanish from the planet soon enough.  So many lives are harmed by such ignorant and bigoted beliefs.

SBC's Richard Land Gets Slammed for Racist Comments and Attacks on Obama

After the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy and the leadership of the Mormon Church there are few supposed religious leaders who are more anti-gay and more strongly aligned to the Republican Party than Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention -a church denomination that, given its strongly racists and pro-segregation past, ought to know well enough to steer clear of racial issues all together. But such prudence and discretion and acknowledgement of the SBC's foul history did not deter Richard Land from running his loud mouth against Barack Obama and in the process exposing the SBC for what it is. Right Wing Watch has details. Here are some highlights:

Richard Land, head of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, yesterday took up a defiant tone against charges that he used racially-insensitive language during his radio show in his attack on President Obama and civil rights activists over the Trayvon Martin case, saying that he is being “mugged” by the media for simply “criticizing this rush to judgment.” Land on his show had said that “it was Mr. Obama” who turned the Trayvon Martin shooting into a national issue” by pouring “gasoline on the racialist fires” in order to help “gin up the black vote” for his re-election with the aid of “race hustlers.”

But black SBC pastors, including the incoming-president of the convention, criticized Land’s comments and one threatened to introduce a resolution condemning Land at an upcoming meeting, and other Baptists commented that it was reminiscent of Southern Baptists’ past work against the civil rights movement and helped feed “the deep-seated resentment toward people of color held by some white Southern Baptists.” Land’s problems didn’t end there.

Land kept up with his “sorry if you misunderstood” mantra in a letter to SBC president Bryant Wright posted late on yesterday where he again offered a non-apology about the “misunderstanding” regarding his comments, complaining that he “overestimated the progress” the country has made on issues involving race . . . .

Let's be clear. Land is a bigoted douche bag who hates blacks pretty much as he hates gays even as he wraps himself in false piety and false religiosity.

The Truth Hurts the Feelings of Anti-Gay Anglicans

Yesterday I wrote a post about the aftermath of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia's legal victory over the break away parishes who found the election of openly gay Gene Robinson as bishop to be more than their hypocritical sensibilities could tolerate. Apparently, hearing the views of someone who has experienced anti-gay bigotry first hand (e.g., forced from a law firm for being gay and tried in my divorce for "choosing to be gay", etc.) disturbed one member of the break away Anglican faction which has aligned itself with distasteful elements in the Anglican Church of Nigeria. True to course, the offended individual said that they would pray for me. I would argue that perhaps they would be better served to pray for them self and their fellow haters - not to mention the many victims of the bullying and abuse that their anti-gay beliefs continue to foment. Here's a sample of our e-mail exchanges:

THE READER: I saw your posting today on your blog, Virginia Episcopal Church Regains Property from Gay Haters. I feel very sad reading your post and that you see the separation in the Diocese of Virginia as between those who love gay people and those who hate gay people. I could tell you that isn't true, but I am not sure that would really change how you feel. I am very sorry, very sorry. This is how you feel and I need to listen. Please know you are in my thoughts and prayers.

MY RESPONSE: I am sorry that you find my blog post upsetting. Sadly, actions speak louder than words and the fact that parishes chose to exit from the Episcopal Church because of Gene Robinson's elevation to the status of bishop despite their lip service about not hating gays speaks volumes. I by no means intend to brand the break away Anglican parishes as the only hypocrites when it comes to this issue. Having been raised Catholic (but now happily a member of the ELCA) I am all too familiar with denominations that talk about treating gays with "dignity" even as they demonize us and do everything to harm us short of outright inciting physical violence against us.

The first thing that truly disturbs me is the hypocrisy of those who cite the Bible as justification for their anti-gay views even as they totally ignore inconvenient Bible passages that would impinge against their own actions. A case in point is a former law partner of mine who helped lead the break away group at Galilee Episcopal in Virginia Beach. He cited the Bible as condemning me for being gay (after I came out of the closet later in life), yet he himself is divorced and remarried. The Gospels are very explicit on the status of those who divorce and remarry - they are adulterers. Yet my former partner felt he could "confess" his failed marriage and move on freely forward in a new marriage. Meanwhile, he and his gay rejecting cohorts do not cut gays any similar slack. If the Bible is inerrant - personally I don't hold this view - then its adherents who hold that belief do NOT get to selectively pick and choose what they want to hold as inerrant. It's an all or nothing proposition.

The second issue I find disturbing is the fact that you break away Anglicans have aligned yourselves with the Nigerian Anglican Church. I don't know what was done in terms of due diligence, but Peter Akinola (former archbishop) seems to be a truly nasty piece of work and there are reliable sources that indicate he likely ordered the murder of over 600 Muslims, including many women and children. That's right an outright massacre. A gay bishop is viewed as horrific but a bishop who ordered the murder of women and children is fine? What kind of Christian behavior does that demonstrate?

The third point that I would make is that more and more studies confirm that anti-gay positions by religious denominations such as yours are driving more and more Americans - especially younger generations - away from organized religion. Indeed, the fastest growing religious segment, if you will, is "Nones" - those with no religious affiliation. Many "nones" deem themselves to be spiritual, but they are over the hypocrisy of the "godly Christian" crowd and those who cling to homophobia even thorough ALL legitimate medical and mental health associations deem homosexuality to be a normal subset of human experience and something that is not a "choice' or something "changeable." Personally, I believe that your denomination and those like it are killing Christianity as a brand. Moreover, I suspect more and more of the younger generations agree with me.

Lastly, I would add that given Jesus' tendency to hang out with the outcasts of society as opposed to the Pharisee set, I suspect He'd be more likely to be found in a gay club than he would be to found in a break away Anglican parish. You might not like my message, but I believe it's accurate based on the facts as I see them. In closing, I suggest you go see the movie "Bully" and get a taste of the fruits of anti-gay attitudes such as your denomination's are yielding. Such views are literally killing people.

I am sure that some will think me harsh. But, I would argue that such blatant homophobia fuels the abuse of LGBT youth and drives the disproportionately high suicide rate among LGBT teens and adults. This mind set also contributes to the high percentage of homeless youth who identify as LGBT and who have been thrown out of their homes by their "godly Christians" parents. Yes, mindlessly following the Bible on a selective and hypocritical basis can be very comforting for those who seek to avoid having to think and use their intelligence. But it also has very damaging and sometimes deadly consequences such as the two young men I knew who ended their lives because they could not escape from the internalized condemnation of the religious traditions in which they had been raised.

Member of Board of Catholic Charities Stands Up to Dolan

Listening to New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan yesterday on Face the Nation was almost enough to make me want to vomit. The man is a liar, and enemy of religious freedom for all citizens and likely has dirty hands in terms of the handling of child rapists within the ranks of the Catholic priesthood and doing all in his power to screw over victims of sexual abuse by priests. Frankly, in my view, the man's credibility ranks in about the same category as Tony Perkins of FRC and similar hate merchants. Dolan is nothing short of a raging homophobe despite his efforts at a jovial persona and he's a true enemy of LGBT citizens. Finally, one young gay Catholic, Joseph Amodeo (pictured at right), has said enough to Dolan's bigotry and has publicly resigned from involvement with Catholic Charities which increasingly has been used as a vehicle to push the Dolan's disingenuous claims that "religious liberty" for Catholics is threatened. The only threat to religious liberty is Dolan himself and other doyennes of the Christian Right who seek to force their religious views on all. Huffington Post has an explanation of Amodeo's actions by the man himself and his resignation letter that correctly calls out Dolan. Here are highlights:

In light of Archbishop Timothy Cardinal Dolan's comments directed at the LGBT community, I resigned from the Executive Committee of the Junior Board of Catholic Charities. By this action, I seek not to disparage the work of Catholic Charities, but to voluntarily remove myself as a leader with an organization under the pastoral leadership of Dolan. Below is an open letter that I sent to the Chief Development Officer and the staff person assigned to the Junior Board:

[I]t is with mixed emotions that I submit my resignation as a member of the Executive Board of the Junior Board of Catholic Charities. Although I have a great deal of respect for the work of the organization and the incredible talent behind its efforts, I have found it difficult in recent weeks and months to reconcile serving on the Executive Committee of a board under the pastoral leadership of Archbishop Timothy Cardinal Dolan. The comments that His Eminence has made regarding same-sex couples, the LGBT community in general, and his recent in-action in response to the Ali Forney Center's plea for pastoral assistance, has left me with no other choice but to resign. Contrary to His Eminence's response to Ali Forney's Executive Director, Mr. Siciliano's comments were not inflammatory, they were truth; they were a call for help; and they were expressive of the cry in the wilderness that LGBT people have been making for far too long. As a religious and pastoral leader for millions of Catholics, his voice is needed as together we work to create homes that are safe, affirming and welcoming for LGBT youth.

As someone who believes in the message of love enshrined in the teachings of Christ, I find it disheartening that a man of God would refuse to extend a pastoral arm to the Ali Forney Center and the hundreds of LGBT youth that are housed, fed, educated and provided free health services. These are concerns that I will share with the Office of the Cardinal and the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council as well.

As a gay Catholic who teaches religious education (more than eight years in service to the Archdiocese of New York), is active in parish life and supports Catholic organizations, I'm afraid that the Archbishop has caused my heart to ache and my soul to feel pierced. With a discerning mind, I have tried to overlook the Cardinal's actions and comments, but this has now become impossible in light of his curt words to Mr. Siciliano and New York City's homeless LGBT youth.

I submit this resignation with great respect for Catholic Charities and with hopes that one day the vision of peace and love that Christ promised will be realized.

I have long argued that the Catholic Church cannot be changed from within given the Church's archaic feudal power structure. Only massive losses of members - and most importantly, financial support - will cause the horrible, bitter men in charge accept modernity and move into the 21st century and leave behind their current 13th century mindset. Amodeo, Andrew Sullivan, and many others need to vote with their feet and walk away from the Catholic Church and encourage others to do likewise.

Mormons Working to Overturn Maryland Gay Marriage Law

Like the Catholic bishops, many in the Mormon Church hold contempt for the concept of religious liberty for others. They - like the child rapist protecting bishops - are only happy when they are forcing others to live their lives in accordance with Mormon religious beliefs. Now, as the Washington Blade reports, the members of the Mormon Church are seeking to mobilize Mormons in Maryland to push to overturn the recently enacted same sex marriage laws in that state. One can only wish we could start a referendum to wipe out the civil rights of Mormons to let them experience the type of bigotry they so willingly inflict on others. I hope that this effort to write religion into Maryland's laws will remind voters that Mitt Romney is a loyal Mormon who gave $10,000 to take away the rights of same sex couples in California. Here are highlights from the Blade story:

Members of the Mormon Church in Maryland are working to overturn the state’s recently passed marriage equality law, according to an email obtained by the Washington Blade. In the message dated March 29 sent to D.C. and Southern Maryland-area church members, the writer states that a coalition of inter-denominational Maryland churches has joined to place a referendum before voters in November on the marriage law before it goes into effect.

“We need to collect approximately 200,000 signatures by the end of May,” the email states. “We are looking for people to gather signatures within the LDS community.” LDS refers to the church’s formal name, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Those involved with the effort have told the Blade the message isn’t an official message from church leadership either at the local level or from its headquarters in Salt Lake City, but is rather part of a local ad hoc effort to challenge Maryland’s marriage law.

An informed source said the email was sent to the entire congregation in D.C. and Southern Maryland, which consists of between 500 and 1,500 church members and former members. According to the source, the author is Wallace, one of the named organizers in the email and wife of one of the junior pastors of the congregation.

The LDS member named in the email as leading the effort, Schaerr, who failed in her bid to win a seat in 2010 on the Montgomery County School Board, isn’t a stranger to anti-gay activism. In 2007, Schaerr was reportedly a board member of the Fairfax, Va.-based Family Leader Network, an organization that — along with Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum and Parents & Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays — led the effort against a Montgomery County law instituting lessons for 8th through 10th grade students on safe-sex practices that included gays.

Wallace, the other named person in the email, was also involved in the fight against the curriculum. According to an LDS publication called Meridian Magazine, Wallace objected to the gay-inclusive Montgomery County sex ed curriculum, and attended a school board meeting while holding a sign expressing her opinion. The article is no longer on the magazine’s website, but has been reposted on a Mormon online forum.

The Mormon Church is disavowing any involvement in the organizational effort proposed in the email. Dale Jones, an LDS spokesperson, said the church has no direct involvement in the effort to overturn the marriage law in Maryland.

Note the wording of the denial: "No direct involvement." Does that mean the Mormon Church supports the effort but is merely denying support with a wink and a nod to Mormon Church members?

Quote of the Day: Christianists Are Creating Agnostics and Atheists

A number of studies and surveys have shown that the fastest growing religious category is the so-called "Nones." These nones espouse no religious affiliation and are reacting to the increasingly ugly face of religion and Christianity in particular in America and around the world. Andrew Sullivan sums the situation up wonderfully in a post today. Here's the pertinent part of the post:

Is Christianism Breeding Atheists? Why would it not? The way in which the next generation has been exposed to Christianity this past decade has been toxic to the faith. Christianism isn't just corrosive of our political order; it is deeply destructive to Christianity itself. Go to any college campus and ask the uncommitted their views of Christianity. What I hear is intolerance, anger, anti-gay prejudice, sexual obsession, and hatred of Islam. How many people Rick Santorum has scared off Christianity for life is beyond reckoning. And the bile directed at gay people has been deeply damaging in getting across to people what Jesus' message really was: which is, in many cases, almost the opposite of that of his current most prominent representatives in the media.

But the anti-gay Christianists are not solely responsible for the decine in religion among the younger generations. The "good Christians" have responsibility too although to a far lesser extent. Their failing? Not standing up to the hate merchants who have hijacked the Christian moniker. Andrew sums it up this way:

So Christianity in America, as Ross Douthat's excellent forthcoming book explains, is undermined by both the political temptation and degeneracy on the evangelical right and the failure of mainline Protestantism to advance a Christianity that is both at ease with modernity but also determined to transcend its false gods of money, celebrity, and power, and to require more from its adherents.

I've noted that the Episcopal Church and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America have in some instances found the spine to openly oppose the far right hate merchants (e.g., in Washington State and some parts of Minnesota) but they and other "good" denominations need to do much, much more. They need to put doing what is right ahead of what avoids intra-denominational frictions. The truth is that Christianity needs to change for the positive or else long term it will die. Frankly, the death of Christianity as marketed by the Christianist would be a positive development for society and the world.