by David Badash
Albert Mohler says he and his fellow evangelicals have "been called upon to clarify ... and specify what the Bible teaches about human sexuality, marriage, and what it means to be made male and female."
One of America's top evangelical leaders is calling a new anti-LGBT policy statement signed by 150 notable Christian far right conservatives "an expression of love." Albert Mohler, the President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a highly-influential Christian evangelical leader, made his remarks in a Washington Post op-ed on published Sunday.
The Nashville Statement draws a line in the sand against LGBT people, especially against those who are married to persons of the same-sex, and against transgender people.
"WE DENY that God has designed marriage to be a homosexual, polygamous, or polyamorous relationship," one portion of the Nashville Statement, which is structured with affirmations and condemnations, says.
"WE DENY that any affections, desires, or commitments ever justify sexual intercourse before or outside marriage; nor do they justify any form of sexual immorality," says another.
"WE DENY that adopting a homosexual or transgender self-conception is consistent with God’s holy purposes in creation and redemption," reads one of the more offensive ones.
"WE AFFIRM that it is sinful to approve of homosexual immorality or transgenderism and that such approval constitutes an essential departure from Christian faithfulness and witness," reads another.
Mohler, however, insists these are not words of hate, but of love.
"This past week I was part of an effort that put America’s theological and moral fault lines fully in view," Mohler writes in the Post. "I was a signer of something called the Nashville Statement, a document adopted by a group of evangelical Christians seeking to reaffirm traditional Christian values on sexuality."
He says "the vitriol in response to our document showed why such clarification is necessary."
Without considering why so many Americans and people around the world are angry, upset, hurt, disgusted, or have just decided that the Christian right has lost any credibility it may once have had, Mohler does exercises the very un-Christian response and defends his work.
"One of the most intense lines of criticism was that we, signers of the document, dismiss the pain and suffering of those who live outside those historic Biblical sexual norms. That we weren’t acknowledging the rejection they feel in the church and were making their sins appear more significant than our own," Mohler admits.
He also does not address why same-sex marriage, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people are his targets, along with those who support the right of a woman to choose to have an abortion.
Why not speak to divorce? Inequality? Immigration? Economic challenges?
Why not speak to the historic Hurricane Harvey, which Mohler's group was apparently unaware was ravaging Texas and Louisiana as they were releasing their statement attacking LGBT people.
"In releasing the Nashville Statement, we in fact are acting out of love and concern for people who are increasingly confused about what God has clarified in Holy Scripture," Mohler says.
In other words, he's doing what evangelical Christians have been doing for decades: calling LGBT people sinners while claiming their "truth," aka hate and condemnation, is love.
Jesus would disagree with them.
Mohler actually believes that he and his "generation of Christians" have "been called upon to clarify...and specify what the Bible teaches about human sexuality, marriage, and what it means to be made male and female."
If you're thinking it's strange that with millions of Americans in Texas and Louisiana under water right now, millions of Americans facing possible loss of health care coverage thanks to the president and his GOP Congress, millions of Americans waking up each and every morning not knowing where breakfast is coming from – if it comes at all – millions of Americans working in jobs that don't pay them a living wage, millions of Americans being forced to work two, three, four or more jobs just to keep their families fed, and millions of Americans affected by suicide and gun deaths each year, why this generation of Christians has been called upon to clarify and specify what the Bible teaches about human sexuality, marriage, and what it means to be made male and female – and not to focus on and help fix the real problems our society faces.
If Albert Mohler and his Christian evangelical friends believe this is their calling – to chastise good, hard-working LGBTQ Americans – so be it.
But they should know this: Americans increasingly see them and their ilk not as Christians, but as extremists, bigots, haters, and the word they truly fear the most: irrelevant. –The New Civil Rights Movement
Albert Mohler says he and his fellow evangelicals have "been called upon to clarify ... and specify what the Bible teaches about human sexuality, marriage, and what it means to be made male and female."
One of America's top evangelical leaders is calling a new anti-LGBT policy statement signed by 150 notable Christian far right conservatives "an expression of love." Albert Mohler, the President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a highly-influential Christian evangelical leader, made his remarks in a Washington Post op-ed on published Sunday.
The Nashville Statement draws a line in the sand against LGBT people, especially against those who are married to persons of the same-sex, and against transgender people.
"WE DENY that God has designed marriage to be a homosexual, polygamous, or polyamorous relationship," one portion of the Nashville Statement, which is structured with affirmations and condemnations, says.
"WE DENY that any affections, desires, or commitments ever justify sexual intercourse before or outside marriage; nor do they justify any form of sexual immorality," says another.
"WE DENY that adopting a homosexual or transgender self-conception is consistent with God’s holy purposes in creation and redemption," reads one of the more offensive ones.
"WE AFFIRM that it is sinful to approve of homosexual immorality or transgenderism and that such approval constitutes an essential departure from Christian faithfulness and witness," reads another.
Mohler, however, insists these are not words of hate, but of love.
"This past week I was part of an effort that put America’s theological and moral fault lines fully in view," Mohler writes in the Post. "I was a signer of something called the Nashville Statement, a document adopted by a group of evangelical Christians seeking to reaffirm traditional Christian values on sexuality."
He says "the vitriol in response to our document showed why such clarification is necessary."
Without considering why so many Americans and people around the world are angry, upset, hurt, disgusted, or have just decided that the Christian right has lost any credibility it may once have had, Mohler does exercises the very un-Christian response and defends his work.
"One of the most intense lines of criticism was that we, signers of the document, dismiss the pain and suffering of those who live outside those historic Biblical sexual norms. That we weren’t acknowledging the rejection they feel in the church and were making their sins appear more significant than our own," Mohler admits.
He also does not address why same-sex marriage, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people are his targets, along with those who support the right of a woman to choose to have an abortion.
Why not speak to divorce? Inequality? Immigration? Economic challenges?
Why not speak to the historic Hurricane Harvey, which Mohler's group was apparently unaware was ravaging Texas and Louisiana as they were releasing their statement attacking LGBT people.
"In releasing the Nashville Statement, we in fact are acting out of love and concern for people who are increasingly confused about what God has clarified in Holy Scripture," Mohler says.
In other words, he's doing what evangelical Christians have been doing for decades: calling LGBT people sinners while claiming their "truth," aka hate and condemnation, is love.
Jesus would disagree with them.
Mohler actually believes that he and his "generation of Christians" have "been called upon to clarify...and specify what the Bible teaches about human sexuality, marriage, and what it means to be made male and female."
If you're thinking it's strange that with millions of Americans in Texas and Louisiana under water right now, millions of Americans facing possible loss of health care coverage thanks to the president and his GOP Congress, millions of Americans waking up each and every morning not knowing where breakfast is coming from – if it comes at all – millions of Americans working in jobs that don't pay them a living wage, millions of Americans being forced to work two, three, four or more jobs just to keep their families fed, and millions of Americans affected by suicide and gun deaths each year, why this generation of Christians has been called upon to clarify and specify what the Bible teaches about human sexuality, marriage, and what it means to be made male and female – and not to focus on and help fix the real problems our society faces.
If Albert Mohler and his Christian evangelical friends believe this is their calling – to chastise good, hard-working LGBTQ Americans – so be it.
But they should know this: Americans increasingly see them and their ilk not as Christians, but as extremists, bigots, haters, and the word they truly fear the most: irrelevant. –The New Civil Rights Movement
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