(1) British Baptists wrestle with same-sex marriage (Baptist News Global)
Hoping to avoid division over an issue that is dividing religious bodies across the globe, British Baptist leaders are asking churches not to allow their buildings to be used for same-sex weddings.
…“In the light of this, recognizing the costs involved and after careful and prayerful reflection and listening, we humbly urge churches who are considering conducting same-sex marriages to refrain from doing so out of mutual respect,” the council said. “At the same time, we also humbly urge all churches to remain committed to our union out of mutual respect; trusting that the one who unites us is stronger than what divides us.”
…Last year the Baptist council recognized a minister’s freedom to conduct same-sex marriage ceremonies but declared any minister personally involved in a same-sex relationship guilty of “conduct unbecoming for a minister.” …
(2) Two GOP Governors, Two different calculations on LGBT rights (AP)
Two Republican governors. Two proposals at the heart of LGBT rights. One rejection. One new law.
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal said he was preventing discrimination and protecting commerce when he announced his veto of a measure that would have allowed certain individuals, businesses and faith organizations to deny services based on “sincerely held religious beliefs.”
In North Carolina, Gov. Pat McCrory said he was protecting his citizens’ privacy and using “common sense” when he signed into law a bill that, among other things, prohibits local anti-discrimination ordinances and obligates transgender people to use restrooms matching the gender on their birth certificates.
Their moves highlight a familiar GOP fault line between business conservatives, led by large corporations that have embraced LGBT rights, and social conservatives, who have ramped up their calls for their own legal protections since the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage last year.
(3) Paul Kengor (author of the bestselling “God and Reagan” book): Having a “Trump Talk” with Your Kids
I was talking to my friend Mark, a Hollywood evangelical. He has five daughters. I asked how he intends to explain Trump to his girls. Trump is not only repeatedly divorced, but left his wives for mistresses and brags about his sexual conquests (including with married women). The casino mogul has strip clubs under his belt. We thought Bill Clinton was bad. At least Bill had the political discreetness to deny his escapades. (How’s that for a new standard?) Trump boasts.
Mark told me that he has had the “Trump talk” with his daughters. He has told them that, sadly, all morality could be out the window this election. Among the Republicans, there still are solid family men in Ted Cruz and John Kasich (as was “Choking Marco”). Unfortunately, with Trump, the moral character that Republicans have demanded in their leaders has become an utter non-issue to angry advocates. This year, Democrats will be able to tell Republicans that all their past talk of family values and criticisms of Bill Clinton was a bunch of rotten hypocrisy.
The presidency is preeminently a position of moral leadership. “Morality,” said our first president, George Washington, is an “indispensable support” to political prosperity. That has not changed. What is changing is the huge number of Americans who suddenly don’t care about moral behavior in their leader, or excuse or justify it.
And so, my advice to parents, especially on the Republican side: If Donald Trump gets the nomination, be prepared to sit down with your kids to have a frank “Trump talk.” Teach them not to be like that man. And always be ready to quickly change the TV channel.
(4) David Brooks: The Sexual Politics of 2016 (The New York Times)
Trump’s misogyny is not the historical moralistic misogyny. Traditional misogyny blames women for the lustful, licentious and powerful urges that men sometimes feel in their presence. In this misogyny, women are the powerful, disgusting corrupters — the vixens, sirens and monsters. This gynophobic misogyny demands that women be surrounded with taboos and purgation rituals, along with severe restrictions on behavior and dress.
Trump’s misogyny, on the other hand, has a commercial flavor. The central arena of life is male competition. Women are objects men use to win points in that competition. The purpose of a woman’s body is to reflect status on a man. One way to emasculate a rival man is to insult or conquer his woman.
(5) A plea to my centrist friends in the United Methodist Church, by Talbot Davis
***There’s a debate going on among UMC folks over whether or not single ministers are allowed to be sexually active. Essentially, one side says, “Heck yeah!” and the other side says, “Wait, you mean this is a matter for debate? It’s not!”
(6) Rejoice! Why that circus in the aisle could bring new life to your church (The Guardian)
***It’s never a good thing when the words “circus” and “new life to your church” are in the same sentence.
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