Ryan Sanders pretentious Christian view of the LGBT in the Dallas Morning News and my letter to him.
People like him need to be called out and confronted. Our to exist isn't some technical issue or a peripheral problem.
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Ryan Sander’s casual pretentious attitudes towards our right to exist.
The Dallas Morning News article was titled, “Here’s why the Pope’s announcement about gay couples is hard for come Chrstians” with the subtitle, “The debate is about ancient literature, not progressive equality.”
https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2023/12/27/gay-marriage-debate-among-religious/
I don’t think positioning the Bible as being the opposite of equality and progress is such a great idea, but he is so smug he didn’t realize it.
My letter to him
The pictures were in the WORD documented printed out and sent to him.
February 12, 2024
Edward H. Sebesta
Dallas, TX
Ryan Sanders
Commentary Editor
Dallas Morning News
1954 Commerce St.
Dallas, Texas 75201
Dear Rev. Sanders:
I read your Dec. 27, 2023 Dallas Morning News essay, “Here’s why the Pope’s announcement about gay couples is hard for some Christians,” with the subtitle, “This debate is about ancient literature, not progressive equality.”
https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2023/12/27/gay-marriage-debate-among-religious/
You mention how there are angry Christians and how the United Methodist Church is disintegrating and explain the reason for this as follows:
That’s because in these circles, the highest authority isn’t the Constitution, it’s the Bible; and the issue of marriage isn’t just about equality or progress, it’s about interpretation of ancient Greek and Hebrew texts.
Eight years is plenty of time to establish legal precedent, but in the project of redefining an institution that has lasted millennia, it’s the blink of an eye.
This pretentious text which your subtitle refers to isn’t perhaps the pro-Christian thing you might think it is.
First, before we consider the above section, let’s consider what you refer to as “progressive equality.” This abstraction obscures. What you refer to as “progressive equality,” with the adjective “progressive” implying that the rights of LGBT are perhaps a liberal ultra plus, a frill.
It is about the LGBT breathing and trying to live their lives without persecution and hostility. It is about having households, employment and pursuing your life. It is about being married and when you are older being able to visit your loved one in the hospital, and when one of passes away, not having relatives despoil the estate.
Back to y9ur “ancient literature,” your “ancient Hebrew and Greek texts,” perhaps read in a quiet ancient library with high stain glass windows with sun pouring through illuminating the reading desk. Perhaps somewhere in the background there are some people singing Gregorian chants.
Your assertion can be restated in several ways:
1. Time marches on, but we are stuck to this book written millennia ago.
2. We can’t consider things rationally; we got this old book to consider.
3. We can’t think about new issues and developing issues without all sorts of theological contortions.
4. Issues develop, but we are attached to this boat anchor.
5. The Bible might be like expired milk, but we still have to drink it.
6. Facts and justice don’t matter, we are stuck to what this one tribe’s prejudices were millennia ago and some wandering group of twelve men.
Perhaps what the issues concerning Christians and the LGBT reveal, is that Christianity isn’t valid. It is based on archaic texts without any means of adapting to the future and whose interpretation is often socially controlled by zealots and opportunists.
The Christian inability to rationally deal with information, evidence, and facts when it runs counter to some Christian mythology is a reoccurring thing in history.
· Astronomers proposed the heliocentric theory and get banned and convicted.
· Scientists discover the earth is really old and fundamentalists refuse to accept it.
· The fossil record and biology suggest the theory of evolution and John Scopes, a teacher in Tennessee is put on trial and convicted. (But not burnt at the stake, so I guess Christians are making some progress, I want to be fair).
You state:
Both testaments of the Bible contain condemnations of gay sexual behavior.
However, historically when Christians need to move on or otherwise face major defeat, Christians prove to be theologically inventive.
Both the New Testament and Old Testament is fairly solid for slavery. Christianity was considered fairly solid pro-slavery for centuries. Jesus uses slavery examples to instruct his followers. However, since slavery is considered entirely unacceptable now, almost all Christians just wish the pro-slavery away based on the fact that Jesus didn’t make some legalistic statement supporting slavery. The field of mathematical topology has nothing on the contortions of theology. The thing is that homophobia isn’t considered intolerable and the Bible is a very convenient pretext for bigots.
Both the New Testament and Old Testament is fairly clear on non-Christian believers and also those dissenting from the Christian faith. The wars over religion, the burning of heretics and witches, inquisitions, Spanish and otherwise, the burning alive of Giordano Bruno and the prosecution of Galileo shows a fairly consistent track record of commitment to persecuting and executing dissenters by Christians.
However, when fratricidal religious controversy becomes a serious impediment to gain, religious tolerance is discovered. The United States has slaves and white men can’t be fighting with each other over theological issues when outnumbered by slaves and there are the Native Americans to be dispossessed of a continent. The British need to compete with other empires and subdue a world. Effective white supremacist and imperialists find unity. Suddenly we don’t want to be burning witches, or prosecuting heretics, or otherwise breaking down white solidarity. Again, the mathematical field of topology has nothing on theology in terms of shape shifting.
Instead of your numbered camps, I would suggest the Christian camps on LGBT issues are: Obnoxious, Annoying, Irritating, Psychopathic, Patronizing, Condescending, Mindless, Silly and Harmless. I have developed a symbol for homophobic Christianity which you can share with your numbered camps. [Boldface not in the original letter.}
I think you need to consider that though Gays and Lesbians are just about 3% of the population, we have parents, siblings, cousins, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles and grandparents. They may have various issues with homosexuality but they don’t want to see anything bad happen to us. This goes as well for friends, co-workers, colleagues, neighbors and others. Even a lot of people who don’t actually know a homosexual think the Christians are bigots on this. It ends up being a very large, a majority of society.
Further it is a truly world-wide diaspora. The anti-LGBT actions by Christians in Korea and the United States are truly instructive to the LGBT in Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Taiwan, China, and Japan. Indian LGBT need not to observe Korea or the United States since the Christians there are quite obnoxious on their own.
Christianity has a lot of historical baggage. It arrived at most places of the world on gunboats of one European imperial power or another. There must be a lot of people in the world who also have been victims or their ancestors were victims of Christianity.
On a historic time scale Christianity in the United States is in free fall, yet you think you have all the time in the world to muddle over your “ancient texts.” In fact the braying of Christians over the issue of the LGBT is likely accelerating the decline over Christianity.
You can whine all about your old book and feel that because it is ancient you are justified in muddle thinking. I would like to share this graphic with you to give you another point of view.
Christians should consider that when they kick, those they kick, might kick back.
Sincerely Yours,
Edward H. Sebesta
Sending him a copy of the book “Disable, Defeat, Demolish Homophobic Christianity,” to impress upon him this attitudes toward LGBT isn’t going to work in the future.
Christian Homophobia isn’t going to get a free pass in the Dallas Gay Liberation Newsletter.
Likely we won’t hear back from Ryan Sanders, but I think the Dallas LGBT needs to critically understand the attitudes of Dallas Christians towards them and the rubbish that the Dallas Morning News is publishing.
I think psychologically Sanders will have to consider that there are LGBT out there that consider his writings rubbish. Maybe the Gay Christians he might talk to don’t represent the entire community. He won’t be quite so smug.
Also, fighting this type of Christianity is going to require constant hammering on it until it fractures.