"Christianity = Anti-homosexual"

A survey in the United States conducted by the Barna Group between 2004 and now has found that both Christians and non-Christians have a 'bad impression' of Christianity.
The religion is also waning in popularity with a rapid increase in people describing themselves as 'non-Christian' since the same poll was conducted in 1996.
91% of young non-Christians and 80% of young churchgoers said "anti-homosexual" describes Christianity.
Further research found that both groups said that Christians "show excessive contempt and unloving attitudes towards gays and lesbians."
Young Christians told researchers that the church has made homosexuality a "bigger sin" than anything else and not helped them apply the biblical teaching on homosexuality to their friendships with gays and lesbians.
Overall, the Barna found that the younger generation is much more sceptical and critical of Christianity today, whether they are or are not believers.
Christianity's 'image problem', as Time magazine describes it, is in need of a major overhaul.

The Barna research was highlighted in a comment piece on Christian website Ekklesia.co.uk by commentator Tim Nafziger, who said it raised profound questions for churches.
"A whopping 80% of non-Christians surveyed had spent at least six months attending church," he wrote.
"These are not casual cynics, jaded by the media. They are people who have tried Christianity and found it wanting. In other words, all of us Christians are responsible.
"We can't just point our fingers at some other part of the church or secular society. Where have we failed to model the radical hospitality of Jesus?"

Christians are 'anti-homosexual' according to US poll (PinkNews 4.10.07)
Homophobia turns young people off Christianity (PinkNews 18.10.07)

Bush and the Iraqi Christians

The British blogger, Mad Priest, writes that Bush achieves the impossible in Iraq - he destroys 2000 years of Christian witness.

From the time of Jesus, there have been Christians in what is now Iraq. The Christian community took root there after the Apostle Thomas headed east.
But now, after nearly 2,000 years, Iraqi Christians are being hunted, murdered and forced to flee - persecuted on a biblical scale in Iraq's religious civil war.

Not quite what "W." had in mind - but then, I suppose, nobody ever told him that there are Christians outside of Texas...

Iceland: Church blesses gay partnerships

The general synod of the Church of Iceland voted in October to allow priests to validate cohabitations between two members of the same sex, IceNews Network reports (31.10.07). This makes the Icelandic church one of the most liberal in the world in this matter. The church now waits for the parliament to change the law.
Bishop Karl Sigurbjörnsson is satisfied with the outcome of the decision which is perhaps the first of its kind. Although there was disagreement on the issue, Sigurbjörnsson said the congregation was able to reach a compromise.
The church had long debated the definition of marriage. Some members of the synod believe that marriage is a holy union between any two individuals while others maintain that marriage is a holy union between individuals of opposite sex only. As a compromise, the church has not changed the traditional heterosexual definition of a marriage. However, the church did allow same-sex relationships to receive some validation from the church.

Earlier this year, the priest synod of the Church of Iceland voted against a proposal regarding legalizing same-sex marriage in Iceland by 64 votes to 22. The blogger MadPriest reports this, quoting the Iceland Review (which seems to experience some technical difficulties at present).
"I’m ashamed on behalf of the State Church - and I know many priests agree with me - for the fact that the fight for gay and lesbian rights did not go further at this conference," Rev. Bjarni Karlsson told Fréttabladid.
"The priests don’t own the church; that is not the way it is. The church belongs to Jesus Christ and the church is formed by every congregation the country. So although this was rejected in one election, it is not the end," Karlsson said. "I believe all people, also those against gay rights, realize that our community and the church will eventually reach the maturity to respect all people, regardless of their sexual orientation."

See also:
Iceland: Homosexuality Finds New Acceptance (IPS 30.11.05)

News from ENI

Differ, but stay together, says gay U.S. bishop
Hong Kong (ENI 24.10.07). The first Anglican bishop to live openly in a same-sex relationship has described his consecration as a "remarkable experiment", and said it offered the worldwide Anglican Communion a chance to show that people with different experiences could coexist. "In this global village, while we have different experiences and histories, how are we going to live together?" Bishop V. Gene Robinson said in a speech in Hong Kong on 20 October. Robinson's consecration in 2003 by the US Episcopal (Anglican) Church as a bishop in the state of New Hampshire triggered the ire of many Anglican leaders particularly in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Study by church-backed group links freer rice trade to hunger
Geneva (ENI 5.11.07). Trade liberalisation in rice has led to more hunger and poverty among subsistence farmers in at least three developing countries, the Geneva-based Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance has found in a study it carried out. The study into the effect of decisions to open national rice markets to foreign imports in Ghana, Honduras and Indonesia was released to coincide with a critical stage in world trade talks that continue in Geneva this week. "Access to adequate food and the means to acquire it are a basic human right which virtually all countries have agreed to defend," said Linda Hartke, the EAA coordinator. "This study confirms what we have suspected, that trade liberalisation has been used to create unfair conditions that directly violate this right which is fundamental for life."

Anglican leaders praise religion decision by Chinese communists
Hong Kong (ENI 7.11.07). A group of Asian and African Anglican leaders recently returned from a visit to China have praised a decision by the country's ruling Communist Party to include the word "religion" in its constitution. "This is a recognition of the increasing role that the Church plays in the nation's economic and social development," the Anglican leaders said in a statement issued after their 21-30 October visit. State media said the change had been made to meet the demands posed by the "new situation and new tasks". The Communist Party for a long time discouraged religion, because it was officially atheist. In recent years, however, Chinese leaders have said that religion can play an important role in creating a "harmonious society". The term is used by the Chinese leaders to refer to the need for economic growth to be accompanied by social cohesion.

Polish Protestants deplore posters denouncing Luther
Warsaw (ENI 7.11.07). Protestant leaders in one of Poland's largest cities have condemned a poster campaign denouncing Martin Luther, the 16th century German Protestant leader, as a blasphemer and heretic. "What would happen if someone hung placards outside a Catholic church attacking the 'blasphemy and heresy of John Paul II,' or the 'blasphemy of Muhammad' at a mosque? These actions are clearly illegal, yet the local council has said and done nothing," said Mariusz Maikowski, a pastor with the Seventh-day Adventist church in Lublin in eastern Poland. The posters were displayed throughout Lublin to advertise lectures by Ryszard Mozgol, an official with Poland's National Remembrance Institute, the body charged with dealing with the records of the communist-era secret police.

Churches must offer hope says HIV-positive Zimbabwe pastor
Harare (ENI 8.11.07). The Rev. Maxwell Kapachawo is the first known religious leader in Zimbabwe to declare publicly that he is living with HIV and he is using radio and television to spearhead a campaign to combat stigmatisation of those who have the disease. The pastor is national coordinator of the Zimbabwe Network of Religious Leaders Living with or Personally Affected by HIV/AIDS (ZINERELA). It has 181 members but Kapachawo is the only one to have publicly declared his HIV status.

ENI Online - http://www.eni.ch/

Stop Capital Punishment

The following message reached me through an e-mail on a mailing list I belong to:

Capital Punishment is an inhuman retribution and contributes to the vain circle of violence and retaliation within society. So far, no country in the world has shown signs of decrease in crime by enforcing capital punishment, especially when totalitarian regimes use execution as a legitimate means to oppress, diminish and murder their opponents and opposition groups. On the other hand, psychological side-effects of executions, in short and long terms, are damaging to the victims’ survivors as well as to the executers of the punishments. Add to this the fact that execution reduces society’s sensitivity against violence and violent behavior. For the foundations of a civil society, for democracy and establishment of human rights, to respect the rights and the safety of alternative and freethinkers and to promote a non-violence culture, the omission of capital punishment is the first and foremost step.
We, the undersigned of this statement, may have different political, social and cultural believes and objectives, but we all have come to agree on one point, and that is, the importance of abolishment of capital punishment for the sake of Iranian society.
We urge everyone to get involved actively in a wide spread war against capital punishment in Iran and help achieve this national goal through joined efforts of all Iranians.

If you agree with this statement, you can sign the petition by going to stopexecution.net. I have already done so.
Of course, Iran is only one of the places in the world where capital punishment is used. But let's tackle them one at a time. Next, it's someone else's turn.

Quiz: Theological Worldview

I took this test twice with an interval of a few hours.
The results were different but similar.
See for yourself:

You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan, You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists.

Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan		86%
Emergent/Postmodern		71%
Roman Catholic		71%
Neo orthodox		68%
Classical Liberal		46%
Modern Liberal		43%
Reformed Evangelical		43%
Charismatic/Pentecostal		18%
Fundamentalist		4%

You scored as Roman Catholic, You are Roman Catholic. Church tradition and ecclesial authority are hugely important, and the most important part of worship for you is mass. As the Mother of God, Mary is important in your theology, and as the communion of saints includes the living and the dead, you can also ask the saints to intercede for you.

Neo orthodox		75%
Roman Catholic		75%
Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan		71%
Emergent/Postmodern		64%
Classical Liberal		50%
Modern Liberal		50%
Reformed Evangelical		43%
Charismatic/Pentecostal		4%
Fundamentalist		0%

What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

Well - at least I'm no Fundamentalist.
But I kinda suspected that already...

"The Sacramento 68"

On January 16, 1999, "the Sacramento 68", 68 clergy of the United Methodist Church (UMC), presided at the Holy Union of a lesbian couple, Jeanne Barnett and Ellie Charlton, in Sacramento, California, USA, along with 70 additional clergy participating in absentia. As there were ministers from other denominations present as well, the list of officiants actually contains 170 names.
A complaint was filed against the UMC clergy members, a hearing was held in February 2000 and their case was dismissed. Many links pertaining to this process can be found here.

During the hearings, Dr. Mary Tolbert, professor of Biblical Studies at Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California, gave an Expert Testimony on Holy Unions for the UMC Clergy Committee on Investigation. This testimony offers an excellent and concise look at the New Testament evidence on homoeroticism, the New Testament analogies of disobedience to unjust religious rules and concludes with thoughts regarding the ethics of using the Bible in church debates of this nature. Since it isn't too long, it could well be worth the time it takes to read it.