Saturday, November 23, 2019
Posted in
Life
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Politics
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Religion
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Dear Reverend Glezman:
I am a gay man who supports Pete Buttigieg for President. I am writing to make some points to you that may help to explain why people such as Buttigieg and your brother Chasten are willing to deviate from scripture, and why it is correct to do so.
First, it needs to be pointed out that the Bible can be interpreted in different ways depending on the exact translation. But for the sake of this discussion, let’s assume that your interpretation is correct.
You must acknowledge that the Bible has a great deal of negative stuff in it, especially the Old Testament. It promotes bigotry towards gays, the sick and the disabled. It promotes misogyny. It promotes violence. It seems to support slavery. And it is against divorce, though divorce is a common practice among Americans, including Christians.
This brings me to my most important point: There is no place in the Bible where it says that it is the word of God. It is well known that the Bible had multiple human authors, not the least of which are the authors of the Gospels, for whom the Gospels are named. That being the case, to believe that the Bible is the literal word of God is an unwarranted leap of faith. There is too much evidence to the contrary. Sensible people know that God does not speak to us in words.
The idea that the Bible is the word of God was inherited from the ancient Jews, who believed that their scriptures were the word of God. That concept was then applied to the Bible when it evolved into its final form. But the early Christians didn’t believe that. They undoubtedly saw the Gospels as historical documents. If those who lived closer to the time of Christ didn’t believe the Gospels were the word of God, why should we? And why should we accept the Torah – the primary scripture of the Jews – as the word of God?
Seeing the Bible as a historical document allows you to distance yourself from the worst elements in it. Just as straight people know that there is nothing inherently wrong with divorce (if a marriage cannot be salvaged), gay people know that there is nothing inherently wrong with loving their own gender. The nature of love is such that it is always a positive thing.
The truth about the Bible is that it is a test of character for Christians. It promotes bigotry and violence, yet Christ is known as the Prince of Peace – so which side of the Bible should we accept? The wise Christian is the one who accepts the loving face of the Bible and discounts the negative face. A person of integrity knows that bigotry and violence are wrong under all circumstances. If the scriptures he believes in say that they are acceptable, then he must make a choice. But really, there is no choice: Bigotry and violence are wrong, period. If your religion says that they are okay, then your religion is wrong.
The common position of Christians is that they “love the sinner but hate the sin”, but that is a pretense. You cannot love a group of people while (1) believing that they are sinful, (2) trying to deprive them of their civil rights, (3) trying to limit their freedoms, and (4) trying to limit their involvement in society. It isn’t possible.
What makes a person a Christian is believing in Christ, not believing in the Bible. Jesus is the Messiah; the Bible is merely the story of the religion as it evolved from Judaism. People who believe that the Bible is the word of God are saying that mankind should never evolve beyond the attitudes and prejudices of the ancient Jews. I doubt that God wishes such sterility upon any society. People and societies grow and evolve. You yourself have experienced that. And certainly you must agree that you, as a Christian, do not have the right to direct the growth of other people to suit your own views. If some Christians take the Bible with a grain of salt, you can disagree with them, but you cannot say that they are wrong.
I believe that God speaks to us from within – i.e., through our consciences and our ideals. I am not suggesting that every person who hears voices is hearing God. One can distinguish the inner voice of God by its positive and loving character. Guilt plays a role too. If, for example, you are estranged from your brother because he is gay, and if you feel bad about it, God may be telling you that your disapproval of his sexual orientation is wrong.
One thing I feel certain about is this: God is not petty. God doesn’t sweat the small stuff. God doesn’t care who you love, as long as you love. God would prefer that a gay person accept himself as he is than to struggle to change things about himself that can’t be changed. Love is the key: love of self, and love of others.
I believe that the test of character that the Bible represents is intentional. God gave us the freedom to use our own judgement, and he expects us to do so. If you are clinging to your prejudices, and using the Bible as a justification to do so, then you are failing the test of the Bible.
For those who don't know. Rhyan Glezman is the brother of Chasten Glezman, who is the husband of Pete Buttigieg, who is currently running for President of the United States. Buttigieg and Chasten Glezman are, of course, gay. Rhyan Glezman, on the other hand, is a straight evangelical pastor who disapproves of his gay brother's "lifestyle", and who has been speaking out, claiming that his brother is painting a distorted picture of their family. Chasten has made statements to the effect that he didn't feel completely accepted by his family as a gay person.
I originally intended to mail this letter to pastor Glezman directly, but I decided not to because, frankly, he comes across as a bit of a jerk. When he was young, he was something of a self-centered ruffian. Then at some point he had a conversion experience and became a born-again Christian, and then a minister. This is an old trope – ne'er-do-well to born-again evangelist – and it has never impressed me as a positive or rational trajectory. [Note: I did end up sending the message above to Glezman.]
To the Washington Post, Glezman said that he does not support the "gay lifestyle" (though being gay is not a lifestyle). He does say, however, that he loves his gay brother and does not reject him as an individual, and he doesn't see himself as homophobic. But he also sees Christians like himself as victims of society. He said, “I believe for me, as a Christian, we’re the people being shunned, people being silenced, and a lot of the liberal side of things are becoming the bigots to Christianity and faith.” Of course, Christianity has been the dominant religion in the United States for all of its history. But if Christians are being shunned today, it may have to do with the fact that they are judgemental and want to control the way other people live. Even though many of our founding fathers were atheists, Christians have had a strangle-hold on our culture since the very beginning, and society is finally evolving away from those restrictive values.
Rhyan Glezman has also said (about Buttigieg), “When you want to rewrite the Electoral College, when you want to change the makeup of the Supreme Court, when you want to have open borders and not have any process there, [plus] his extreme view on abortion … those are things that are very important to me.” In that statement he reveals quite a few things about himself that are typical of evangelical Christians. Specifically, he is more concerned about politics than religion, and he lacks any sense of fairness. Four presidents now have won elections while losing the popular vote, and everyone – except conservatives, of course – understand that that is unfair. Is it really right that Donald Trump became president when Hillary Clinton won 2,800,000 more votes than he did? Of course it isn't.
His comment about the Supreme Court is not just political, it is hypocritical. Conservatives are more obsessed with changing the Supreme Court than liberals are, as evidenced by Mitch McConnell's refusal to hold a vote on Barack Obama's nominee for the Court in 2016. That was improper in every sense of the word, and yet Glezman obviously supports it.
Glezman's statement about open borders is also telling. It is, in fact, a conservative lie about Democrats that they want open borders – Democrats want no such thing. His statement also reveals that he doesn't have the sense of charity towards the poor that Christians should have, given Jesus's teachings.
In replying to something Buttigieg said on television, Glezman tweeted: “My brother-in-law needs to repent from this radical false teaching. God does not endorse this nonsense. Only false religion does.” It is pretty obvious why I call Glezman a jerk: Like most conservative Christians, he sees his religion as the true religion and simply dismisses all others. He places his religion – or, at least, his interpretation of his religion – ahead of his duty as an American to be tolerant of other views. As I said above, Glezman does not know what God thinks. All he has is his opinion, like the rest of us.
Glezman is a Johnny-come-lately to the world of evangelicals. Many smug, self-assured, egotistical pontificators of the "good news" have come before him. There is no reason why his words should have any more meaning than theirs did. Born-again Christians represent a fairly small minority in our society, and yet they would have the rest of us live by their standards. Fortunately, we have something called the Constitution that guarantees us the freedom to decide for ourselves how to live.
I am a gay man who supports Pete Buttigieg for President. I am writing to make some points to you that may help to explain why people such as Buttigieg and your brother Chasten are willing to deviate from scripture, and why it is correct to do so.
First, it needs to be pointed out that the Bible can be interpreted in different ways depending on the exact translation. But for the sake of this discussion, let’s assume that your interpretation is correct.
You must acknowledge that the Bible has a great deal of negative stuff in it, especially the Old Testament. It promotes bigotry towards gays, the sick and the disabled. It promotes misogyny. It promotes violence. It seems to support slavery. And it is against divorce, though divorce is a common practice among Americans, including Christians.
This brings me to my most important point: There is no place in the Bible where it says that it is the word of God. It is well known that the Bible had multiple human authors, not the least of which are the authors of the Gospels, for whom the Gospels are named. That being the case, to believe that the Bible is the literal word of God is an unwarranted leap of faith. There is too much evidence to the contrary. Sensible people know that God does not speak to us in words.
The idea that the Bible is the word of God was inherited from the ancient Jews, who believed that their scriptures were the word of God. That concept was then applied to the Bible when it evolved into its final form. But the early Christians didn’t believe that. They undoubtedly saw the Gospels as historical documents. If those who lived closer to the time of Christ didn’t believe the Gospels were the word of God, why should we? And why should we accept the Torah – the primary scripture of the Jews – as the word of God?
Seeing the Bible as a historical document allows you to distance yourself from the worst elements in it. Just as straight people know that there is nothing inherently wrong with divorce (if a marriage cannot be salvaged), gay people know that there is nothing inherently wrong with loving their own gender. The nature of love is such that it is always a positive thing.
The truth about the Bible is that it is a test of character for Christians. It promotes bigotry and violence, yet Christ is known as the Prince of Peace – so which side of the Bible should we accept? The wise Christian is the one who accepts the loving face of the Bible and discounts the negative face. A person of integrity knows that bigotry and violence are wrong under all circumstances. If the scriptures he believes in say that they are acceptable, then he must make a choice. But really, there is no choice: Bigotry and violence are wrong, period. If your religion says that they are okay, then your religion is wrong.
The common position of Christians is that they “love the sinner but hate the sin”, but that is a pretense. You cannot love a group of people while (1) believing that they are sinful, (2) trying to deprive them of their civil rights, (3) trying to limit their freedoms, and (4) trying to limit their involvement in society. It isn’t possible.
What makes a person a Christian is believing in Christ, not believing in the Bible. Jesus is the Messiah; the Bible is merely the story of the religion as it evolved from Judaism. People who believe that the Bible is the word of God are saying that mankind should never evolve beyond the attitudes and prejudices of the ancient Jews. I doubt that God wishes such sterility upon any society. People and societies grow and evolve. You yourself have experienced that. And certainly you must agree that you, as a Christian, do not have the right to direct the growth of other people to suit your own views. If some Christians take the Bible with a grain of salt, you can disagree with them, but you cannot say that they are wrong.
I believe that God speaks to us from within – i.e., through our consciences and our ideals. I am not suggesting that every person who hears voices is hearing God. One can distinguish the inner voice of God by its positive and loving character. Guilt plays a role too. If, for example, you are estranged from your brother because he is gay, and if you feel bad about it, God may be telling you that your disapproval of his sexual orientation is wrong.
One thing I feel certain about is this: God is not petty. God doesn’t sweat the small stuff. God doesn’t care who you love, as long as you love. God would prefer that a gay person accept himself as he is than to struggle to change things about himself that can’t be changed. Love is the key: love of self, and love of others.
I believe that the test of character that the Bible represents is intentional. God gave us the freedom to use our own judgement, and he expects us to do so. If you are clinging to your prejudices, and using the Bible as a justification to do so, then you are failing the test of the Bible.
* * *
For those who don't know. Rhyan Glezman is the brother of Chasten Glezman, who is the husband of Pete Buttigieg, who is currently running for President of the United States. Buttigieg and Chasten Glezman are, of course, gay. Rhyan Glezman, on the other hand, is a straight evangelical pastor who disapproves of his gay brother's "lifestyle", and who has been speaking out, claiming that his brother is painting a distorted picture of their family. Chasten has made statements to the effect that he didn't feel completely accepted by his family as a gay person.
I originally intended to mail this letter to pastor Glezman directly, but I decided not to because, frankly, he comes across as a bit of a jerk. When he was young, he was something of a self-centered ruffian. Then at some point he had a conversion experience and became a born-again Christian, and then a minister. This is an old trope – ne'er-do-well to born-again evangelist – and it has never impressed me as a positive or rational trajectory. [Note: I did end up sending the message above to Glezman.]
To the Washington Post, Glezman said that he does not support the "gay lifestyle" (though being gay is not a lifestyle). He does say, however, that he loves his gay brother and does not reject him as an individual, and he doesn't see himself as homophobic. But he also sees Christians like himself as victims of society. He said, “I believe for me, as a Christian, we’re the people being shunned, people being silenced, and a lot of the liberal side of things are becoming the bigots to Christianity and faith.” Of course, Christianity has been the dominant religion in the United States for all of its history. But if Christians are being shunned today, it may have to do with the fact that they are judgemental and want to control the way other people live. Even though many of our founding fathers were atheists, Christians have had a strangle-hold on our culture since the very beginning, and society is finally evolving away from those restrictive values.
Rhyan Glezman has also said (about Buttigieg), “When you want to rewrite the Electoral College, when you want to change the makeup of the Supreme Court, when you want to have open borders and not have any process there, [plus] his extreme view on abortion … those are things that are very important to me.” In that statement he reveals quite a few things about himself that are typical of evangelical Christians. Specifically, he is more concerned about politics than religion, and he lacks any sense of fairness. Four presidents now have won elections while losing the popular vote, and everyone – except conservatives, of course – understand that that is unfair. Is it really right that Donald Trump became president when Hillary Clinton won 2,800,000 more votes than he did? Of course it isn't.
His comment about the Supreme Court is not just political, it is hypocritical. Conservatives are more obsessed with changing the Supreme Court than liberals are, as evidenced by Mitch McConnell's refusal to hold a vote on Barack Obama's nominee for the Court in 2016. That was improper in every sense of the word, and yet Glezman obviously supports it.
Glezman's statement about open borders is also telling. It is, in fact, a conservative lie about Democrats that they want open borders – Democrats want no such thing. His statement also reveals that he doesn't have the sense of charity towards the poor that Christians should have, given Jesus's teachings.
In replying to something Buttigieg said on television, Glezman tweeted: “My brother-in-law needs to repent from this radical false teaching. God does not endorse this nonsense. Only false religion does.” It is pretty obvious why I call Glezman a jerk: Like most conservative Christians, he sees his religion as the true religion and simply dismisses all others. He places his religion – or, at least, his interpretation of his religion – ahead of his duty as an American to be tolerant of other views. As I said above, Glezman does not know what God thinks. All he has is his opinion, like the rest of us.
Glezman is a Johnny-come-lately to the world of evangelicals. Many smug, self-assured, egotistical pontificators of the "good news" have come before him. There is no reason why his words should have any more meaning than theirs did. Born-again Christians represent a fairly small minority in our society, and yet they would have the rest of us live by their standards. Fortunately, we have something called the Constitution that guarantees us the freedom to decide for ourselves how to live.
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