Young Couple Enjoying Romantic Moments in Nature

Brains in Our Shorts

Religious legalists have been obsessed with sex — and especially with other people’s sex lives — for many hundreds of years. Their attitudes toward Jesus’s mother have demonstrated that obsession quite clearly. I believe the Virgin Birth story in Luke points to the doctrine of

People holding retro television next to each other

‘Duck Dynasty’ Phil Robertson’s Theology: Dead or Alive?

Since a recent GQ Magazine article outed his homophobic and pro-Jim-crow views, left-wing commentators have declared open season on Phil Robertson, the patriarch of A&E’s “Duck Dynasty.” Robertson, based on his reading of Christian scriptures, considers homosexuality a sin and predicts that homosexuals will be

Christmas ornament with reindeer Santa and sleigh

Is There a Santa?

1. Santa’s Workload There are two billion children in the world, but since Santa doesn’t appear to handle the Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, and Buddhist children, that reduces his workload to 15% of the total, or 300 million. At an average rate of 3.5 children per

Child laughing holding Bible

Solving the Squirrel Problem

There were four country churches in a small Texas town: The Presbyterian Church, the Baptist Church, the Methodist Church and the Catholic Church. Each church was overrun with pesky squirrels. One day, the Presbyterian Church called a meeting to decide what to do about the

Wooden Church Tower

Churches Must Forfeit Tax-Exempt Status

As I’ve often contended, there are two venues in which civil and sacramental rights for LGBT people must be fought: the courts, and homophobic churches the influence of which cannot be underestimated. In the latter venue, peaceful and continual picketing during services of selected homophobic

St. Basil's Cathedral, Moscow

Strange Bedfellows Scapegoat Russia’s Gays

It’s been a busy few months for anyone paying attention to issues affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Russia. This summer the Russian parliament passed a bill prohibiting the so-called “promotion of nontraditional sexual relations” in the presence of minors, a euphemistic

Black man playing with a magnifying glass

Evangelical Pullback/Retreat

The public is getting used to headlines like these: “Evangelical Leader Preaches Pullback from Culture Wars” and “Southern Baptists Sounding Full-scale Retreat in Culture War?” The former is from The Wall Street Journal and the latter from Renew America. The theme has become a constant

Girlfriends

Will Marriage Equality Matter to the Community?

Watching the marriages of lesbians and gay men take place this past year ought to be warming the heart of anyone who values equality and fairness. Government recognition – with responsibilities and benefits tied to the official status of a relationship – so long denied

Two men sitting and waiting

When Should We Wait?

This is a very difficult topic to address. We have felt the agony of having to wait at some point in our lives, probably more than once. Waiting to see if we passed that test we spent all night studying for, waiting for the traffic