Unsettled Christianity

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January 25th, 2013

Charleston, West Virginia is biblically-minded because it is mostly white

I’ve tried to stay away from Newt Gingrich-endorsing George Barna and his formerly-owned group (different owners now), especially this latest poll; however, something caught my attention today. First, let me note that the way Barna defines “biblically minded” is a poor exercise in circular thinking:

Individuals who report reading the Bible in a typical week and who strongly assert the Bible is accurate in the principles it teaches are considered to be Bible-minded.

Note the absence of performance of biblical values (whatever they are). There is no orthopraxy, only (Evangelical style) orthodoxy. This is what “biblically minded” means. I really hate that the Charleston-Huntington metropolitan area (which, but the way, includes at least one Lion’s Den, and several more adult styles book stores and bars, a surprisingly high number of prescription drug use, the home of the television show Buckwild, and numerous ecological offenses against God and his creation) made the list.

Anyway, the point of the title is drawn from The Gospel Coalition’s “takeaway:”

The top ranking cities, where at least half of the population qualifies as Bible-minded, are all Southern cities.
Generally speaking, the more densely populated areas tend to be less Bible oriented.
Markets having a higher percentage of Hispanic Catholics are less likely to engage the Bible.

http://thegospelcoalition.org/mobile/article/tgc/americas-most-and-least-biblically-minded-cities

What do these take aways tell us? First, the predominantly culture that falls into Barna’s selection is the Deep South. Second, the Gospel Coalition believes that Hispanic Catholics, some of the most loyal Catholics, are less likely to “engage the Bible,” whatever the heck that means. Of course, if you were to really get the truth from the Gospel Coalition, they would tell you that Catholics do not engage the bible anyway. Because, you know, Mary.

In other words, if you are a minority, you are less like to be among the saved. Thank you, the Curse of Ham.

This does nothing to mention the definition of “biblically minded,” something we can pinpoint in this poll as one of the most subjective concepts alive today.

America’s Most Bible Minded Cities (antagoniz.wordpress.com)
America’s Most (and least) Bible-Minded Cities (kevinwilkening.wordpress.com)

Tags: George Barna, Gospel Coalition
Posted in Religion and Politics | 3 Comments »

July 18th, 2012

Let’s just call it what it is – rape

Rape, for the most part, is defined as the forced act of sex. There is also the idea of consent and proper consent. So, no date rapes or drunken orgies.

The Gospel Coalition is promoting Doug Wilson’s take on take,

When we quarrel with the way the world is, we find that the world has ways of getting back at us. In other words, however we try, the sexual act cannot be made into an egalitarian pleasuring party. A man penetrates, conquers, colonizes, plants. A woman receives, surrenders, accepts.This is of course offensive to all egalitarians, and so our culture has rebelled against the concept of authority and submission in marriage. This means that we have sought to suppress the concepts of authority and submission as they relate to the marriage bed….True authority and true submission are therefore an erotic necessity…

I wrote this post quickly last night… Rachel Held Evans has responded to them as well. Scot McKnight has responded and so has Rodney. J.K. Gayle as responded as well.

How is that different than 50 Shades of Grey? Wilson, and the Gospel Coalition, is advocating that for a man to enjoy sex, he must be forcefully conquering the woman. For a woman to enjoy sex, she must be dominated. This is nothing more than a nice and clean version of rape. I do not mean to say that this is the violent rape or equal to it, but it is a psychological rape that forces the woman to have sex against her will. If rape is defined at the basic level as sex against one’s will, then what Wilson, the Gospel Coalition and others are supporting is flat out rape.

Read Rachel’s post.

Tags: 50 shades of grey, doug wilson, Gospel Coalition, Rachel Held Evans, rape
Posted in Gender Issues | 19 Comments »

July 17th, 2012

Oh? I couldn’t tell the different between the GC and 50 Shades

When we quarrel with the way the world is, we find that the world has ways of getting back at us. In other words, however we try, the sexual act cannot be made into an egalitarian pleasuring party. A man penetrates, conquers, colonizes, plants. A woman receives, surrenders, accepts. This is of course offensive to all egalitarians, and so our culture has rebelled against the concept of authority and submission in marriage. This means that we have sought to suppress the concepts of authority and submission as they relate to the marriage bed.

via The Polluted Waters of 50 Shades of Grey, Etc. – Gospel Driven Church.

Honestly… and they call that a good book? Sounds like 50 Shades, but only with theology…

I don’t like 50 Shades of Grey. I think that it dehumanizes the woman, and thus the man, but it is more than just sex.

Sex is not just about the physical act – which is is being described here, it seems. I would know. But, what derails the physical act is the psychological phenomena – the reality of the act. For instance, eating. One could, say, eat an apple. That is fine. One could eat an apple that is poisonous due to disobedience. The act itself is not evil but the experience of the moment it. That is what 50 shades of grey does… it makes the act of sex and the experience of sex into exactly what the Gospel Coalition sees sex as – the conquering of a woman – the use of a woman by a man not in equality, but in domination. The GC is more like 50 Shades than they realize…

Tags: 50 shades of grey, Gospel Coalition
Posted in Gender Issues | 7 Comments »

March 29th, 2012

Mark Driscoll tells Acts 29 and the Gospel Coalition to take a flying leap @pastormark

Acts 29 Network cofounder Pastor Mark Driscoll has stepped down from the reins of the successful global church planting organization to make room for Pastor Matt Chandler as president, it was announced Wednesday.

Later in the day, in another major move by Driscoll, the Gospel Coalition announced that they had received a letter of his resignation as a council member. A change in priorities was the reason given by Driscoll who plans to devote more time to his growing church.

via Mark Driscoll Steps Down as Leader of Acts 29; Resigns From Gospel Coalition.

If you read the story, it seems like it is because Acts 29 didn’t want to do what Mark said… never would have thought that Mark couldn’t handle people not listening to him.