How Religious Right Shaped Lesbian and Gay Activism

A new book presents ironic and surprising conclusions about mobilization, opposition, and tolerance of homosexuality in America.

How the Religious Right Shaped Lesbian and Gay Activism (Social Movements, Protest and Contention)
by Tina Fetner

From CHOICE Reviews:

Fetner shows how each ramping up of activism on one side led to a mobilization on the other.

While the lesbian and gay movement has remained miniscule compared to enormous religious Right organizations, each side has tried to match the form and tactics of the opposing organizations.

Both sides have made their case to their own followers that they are a threatened minority, while making the case to the public that the other side is a threat to cherished national values.

The two sides are not quite balanced, however. The greater size and influence of the religious Right means that it usually sets the agenda, to which lesbian and gay organizations react.

Ironically, Fetner suggests, the religious Right's great efforts opposing homosexual practice may have brought the whole question to the attention of the public, who are now more tolerant of lesbians and gays than they were a generation ago.

ELCA Ordains Gay Pastors - But Only Churches Hire Them

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will allow the ordination of gay pastors, but leaves individual congregations and synods discretion on ordaining or, more importantly, hiring them.

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The issue of homosexuality (and the host of LGBTQQi issues swirling around American Christianity) continues to strain the decision-making processes of denominational bodies across the United States. Some are solving it in some fashion or other, but others are waiting and waiting, hoping that some bold solution to the issue will present itself.

Yet no easy solution is being found for positions that simply fail to recognize any form of homosexuality as legitimate. The ELCA now offers a type of compromise solution. The denomination ordains gays, but ultimately it is up to churches to hire them.

As an outsider to the ELCA, this strikes me as an interesting position. This is a move that may protect the reputation of the denomination ("Hey, we ordain gays!") and stave off controversy from the standpoint of denominational headquarters (who can publish official positions on the matter), but it certainly leaves the issue unresolved.

The burden of actually figuring out an approach to gay pastors will be done on a church by church (or synod by synod) basis. This not only heightens the salience of local churches but also has vast implications for the issue -- and the decision will be watched closely by other "conservative" denominations.

Overall, this position is essentially a conservative solution. The denomination is throwing up its hands in the face of what are undoubtedly several progressive leaders in the body and their many compelling arguements for gay ordination.

But it is a conservative position in that most congregations will likely continue the path of barring both the ordination and employment of gay pastors.

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On the other hand, the "open" denominational position does leave the possibility of new ELCA congregations being formed by gay pastors. I would guess that as ELCA seminaries graduate more openly gay ministers -- and perhaps some seminaries will become havens for such ministers -- they will seek to establish new ministries where the issue is solved at the outset by their very presence.

The history of homosexuality in the modern church is still being written. How important are ELCA's actions? Or will they only be seen as a side-step to another, larger development? Finally, as church-planting efforts continue, are there new, gay-affirming, "strip mall" ELCA churches coming to a neighborhood near you?

Jay Bakker calls Christian LGBT Community to Love Ted Haggard

Just came from hearing Jay Bakker speak this morning at the PSR Earl Lectures. He expresses a Bible-saturated, heart-felt message to both "liberal" and "conservative" Christians to practice the grace they both believe in...

I had the pleasure of meeting Jay Bakker on Monday night, driving him from Oakland airport to our hotel in Berkeley, California. Both of us are on the program to talk about the movements and margins happening in Christianity.

Well, today Jay spoke, and it was a funny, daring, vulnerable, bold -- what some of my students would call "real."

Jay just talks. But when Jay talks, he talks from a lifetime of experiencing the exile of his parents and their work of forgiving the abuse they experienced, the still-emotional loss of his mother, the raw shock of the break-up of his marriage, and his own transformation from being angry to being desperate for others to experience what he simply calls "the grace of God."

One of Jay Bakker's heros. Image via Wikipedia

He's a preacher. He uses his Bible while quoting Martin Luther King Jr. (he loves Dr. King). He exhorts toward love, care, and reconciliation.

His boldest move today was calling on the LGBT community to love Ted Haggard in his time of need rather than allowing his, his wife's, and his children to suffer pain out of a sense that he "deserves" to suffer. He intertwined his life, the life of Jesus, and the ever more public life of Ted Haggard in this unique and timely talk. He said he knew what it was like to live out of a UHaul. He knew what it was like to be abandoned by many who had been friends. He said he knew how hard it was to try getting through school, having enough money for clothes, and getting the few gestures of kindness amidst so much hate. He said all people, liberal and conservative, and even the gay community, needed to reach out and actually love Ted Haggard.

And the crowd cheered.

This was a marvelous moment of seeing a type of liberal-conservative exchange. After 15 years in ministry, Jay is still a young man. Even though attendance at his Revolution church that meets in a bar in Brooklyn is around 50 people, I suspect his "parish" is rapidly expanding. His passion is to preach the love and grace of God. He's driven by compassion. He has two books coming in the next few years. And his unique platform of being marginalized (the outsider) while still believing the the physical life and resurrection of Jesus (the evangelical) is forging yet another potential path for bringing together the problematic divisions of American Christianity.

Bottom Line: Watch for Jay Bakker. (Actually, because he's such a media-magnet, you might be forced to watch Jay Bakker, so what I'm saying is to just pay attention when he's on.)

Read more about Jay here.