Two excellent articles which take varying sides of this debate have been written by card-carrying members of the SBC Voices family. It is interesting that intelligent and cogent arguments can be made on both sides of this.
I am greatly relieved to find out that Howell Scott was sick during the convention. I thought he was just avoiding me as I tried to find him. Glad he’s better and writing good articles (even if he continues to be the counterpoint to some of my points). Go to “From Law to Grace” to find his article “Southern Baptists & the Homosexual Culture.”
Earlier today, Mark Lamprecht published an article which everyone interested in the subject should read. It not only gives a transcript to Mohler’s answer to the question, but good analysis and some other links. “Here I Blog” is a must-read, especially this article, “Transcript and Commentary: Al Mohler on Homosexuality at the SBC.“
Though the Q&A brouhaha may go away, this issue will not. It is a defining issue – will we bow to culture or hold to scripture? Will we live out the gospel in dealing with people whose lives offend our values and convictions – more importantly, who offend God’s law?
The discussion continues and these are two excellent entries.
(I also found a good BP article by Kelly Boggs on the topic, though he does not address the Mohler statements.)
Dave,
Thanks for linking to my article. I only wish that I was trying to avoid you in Phoenix 🙂 I have not been that sick in I don’t know when. When a Baptist pastor in a Convention town doesn’t eat from noon Sunday until late Thursday evening, you know something is not right! I am just now regaining my strength and am able to sit down at the computer for any extended period of time. I look forward to re-engaging in the dialogue in the days to come. Lord willing, we’ll meet up in New Orleans next year! Thanks and have a great weekend,
Howell
New York just became the sixth state to legalize same sex marriage. We need to get to evangelizing now not later.
I personally am glad he used the term “homophobia”. The word is provocative enough to get us to actually start thinking critically about this issue. Maybe evangelicals NEED to be shocked into addressing an issue that we have overlooked. Maybe we need to do more deep thinking about how our language and actions concerning homosexuality have hindered our witness. Maybe we need to look deeper at our own efforts to evangelize the gay community.
Instead of getting offended at the use of a particular word, maybe we should heed the warning that is behind it. We spend way too much time parsing language and making a hobby of “righteous” indignation and not enough time actually listening to what is actually being said.
So you’re okay with making a false statement as long as it provokes us to think in a way you think we should?
I frankly cannot believe some of the junk coming out of the convention and our so-called leaders’ mouths.
What in the world happened?
Dave, thanks for linking me and for your kind words about my article. One thing about the word homophobia is that we should not be so concerned about the term as we are about treating those sins differently. This thought is along the lines of what Todd above just pointed out.