'Science, Scripture, and Same-Sex Love' by Michael B. Regele

Science, Scripture, and Same-Sex Love by Michael B Regele

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The author, Michael B. Regele, is a pastor and the father of a woman who happens to be a lesbian. I couldn't quite follow each and every one of his arguments - I am far from being a Christian Biblical scholar, although I am a veteran of Catholic schools - but I get the main ideas.

This book isn't perfect, but Regele at least understands some of its limitations. For one, he uses "homosexuality" as an umbrella term to include gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and other queer people (pansexuals and polysexuals, for example - terms which Regele himself does not use). This focus on a term most commonly associated with gay men does an obvious disservice to the rest of the colors of the rainbow. (It's symptomatic of a society-wide concern with men's experience at the expense of the experiences of women and agender/third-gendered individuals.) But acknowledging the shortcoming is at least a start.

His main conclusion, summed up well in the book's second-to-last chapter, is that there is a Biblical basis for believing and acting as if loving, life-affirming, non-exploitative, long-term relationships between two people of the same sex can be moral. The arguments used in this book are scientific, Biblical, historical (acknowledging that the practice of same-sex sexuality was vastly culturally different in the Apostolic era than in our own), and ethical. Regele writes, "...one can conclude that the Bible is silent on the forms of committed same-sex relationships that are at the center of the modern discussion."

Did you hear that, Memories Pizza of Walkerton, Indiana? There is no Biblical basis for the belief that it would be morally wrong to cater a same-sex wedding. I'm a bisexual woman married to heterosexual man, and I like pizza - am I allowed to have a pizza or not?

While this book won't necessarily appeal to a general audience that doesn't specifically have a Christian worldview, many Christians will find it engaging food for thought.

I received this book from the Amazon Vine program in exchange for this review, which represents my own honest opinion.

'The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven' Recanted, Publishers Weekly Reports

In October 2010, I reviewed the nonfiction book The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven by Alex and Kevin Malarkey. I reviewed it in exchange for a free hardcover copy of the book from the publisher. Now, according to an article posted at Publishers Weekly on Jan. 16th, its publisher is pulled the book "and its ancillary products" out of print.

The article by Clare Swanson reports that Alex Malarkey wrote in an open letter to religious booksellers that he didn't die or go to heaven and that he made up the story to get attention. The article quotes Alex as writing, "people have profited from lies, and continue to. They should read the Bible, which is enough....Those who market these materials must be called to repent and hold the Bible as enough."

Swanson's article links to a National Public Radio story by Bill Chappell. The NPR story says Alex's letter was posted on a website called Pen and Pulpit. Chappell states that Alex's mom, Beth, has been speaking out since last year saying that Alex no longer wants his name to be used without his permission, effectively distancing the family from its bestselling work already.

Mario the Vigilant Christian (you may remember his YouTube channel from "Ellie Goulding's 'Lights' Interpreted According to MK Ultra Theory") posted on this same topic yesterday.

This isn't the first time Alex's story have been questioned. In 2011, prolific religious author D. Eric Williams wrote The Truth About the Boy Who Came Back From Heaven: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.

Goodreads summarizes Williams' book thusly: "Should we take seriously a story about a boy who routinely visits heaven? And what measuring stick should we use in answering that question? Is it enough that this tale employs Christian terminology or is there a higher standard we must look to? Find out in the booklet, The Truth About The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly."

'Christianophobia: A Faith Under Attack' by Rupert Shortt

Rupert Shortt is a Christian from the U.K. who has written Christianophobia: A Faith Under Attack. I received a hardcover copy of this book for free through the Amazon Vine program in exchange for an honest review.

The book systematically explores the ways in which Christian identity can cause people to be killed, imprisoned arbitrarily, violently assaulted, harassed, and/or unduly deprived of property. The chapters are arranged by country.

The first country is Egypt. Violent clashes between Coptic Christians and their Muslim neighbors have included:

- After an argument between a Christian trader and a Muslim trader in 2000 in the village of El-Kosheh, 21 Christians and one Muslim were killed. The Muslim who was killed was hit with a stray bullet.
- In November 2003, a person who was a convert from Islam to Christianity died while in police custody.
- When a Coptic church in Alexandria was accused of "insulting Islam" in October 2005 after putting on a play about how to resist forcible conversion, a mob surrounded the church and four people were killed.

Egyptian flag

Many of the countries discussed in this book are Muslim-majority, but the point of the book isn't to single out Islam for blame. Shortt makes a note of Senegal, a Muslim-majority country where people of other faiths enjoy a high degree of religious freedom. It is not Shortt's belief that Islam is an inherently violent religion. He points out that in many of the countries discussed in this book, religion, politics, and nationalism become entangled in a very complicated way that makes it difficult to determine the exact extent to which religious differences in and of themselves factor into violence. Most of these countries have exceptionally poor human rights records in general.

The second country discussed in one very much in the headlines today, making this book especially relevant. Although the Christian population of Iraq had fallen to around 200,000 in 2013, Christians have lived in Iraq since the second century C.E. Since 2005, Christian clerics have repeatedly been subject to kidnappings, torture, and even beheadings by both Shia and Sunni Muslims.

In Iraq's Persian neighbor, Iran, it's increasingly difficult to be anything other than a Muslim. The only religion to be banned outright is the Baha'i faith, but people who convert to Christianity from Islam are often arrested. The story is much the same in Pakistan.

The book's fifth country is Turkey. Murders of Christians are not unheard of in Turkey. Three Christians were murdered at a publishing company in April 2007, and a Catholic bishop was murdered in June 2010. Turkey has laws against "insulting Turkishness" and Greek Orthodox Christians, Armenian Orthodox Christians, and Jews are often suspected of being "not Turkish enough," no matter how long their families have lived in Turkey. Some parties increasingly associate Turkish nationality with Islam and are suspicious of any citizens who aren't Muslims.

Nigerian flag

The first African country to appear in the book is Nigeria. Nigeria has been in the news much recently because of a large-scale kidnapping by Boko Haram, a group discussed in this book. The problem in Nigeria is that the northern part of the country is largely Muslim, while the southern part is largely Christian, and the country's most fertile land falls in the middle. On Christmas Day 2011, Boko Haram claimed responsibility for a series of bombings outside churches that killed 35 people. Another problem in Nigeria is that unmarried women who aren't Muslims are considered "prostitutes" and are subject to forced marriages and forced conversions.

Next is Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority country. A particularly gruesome crime against Christians was the 2005 beheading of three teenage cousins as the girls walked to a church-run school. Buddhists and Ahmadi Muslims are also subject to persecution.

Finally we arrived at a country where persecution happens to Christians and Muslims alike at the hands of nationalists and followers of another faith: namely, Hinduism. Hindutva, a philosophy that associates Hindu identity with Indian nationalism, considers Christianity and Islam as suspicious because of their non-Indian origins. It's the same problem as in Turkey, just with a different religion.

Ditto Myanmar (which Shortt refers to as Burma). Myanmarese identity is being increasingly linked to Buddhism. Western people typically think of Buddhism as being a rather peaceful religion, but there are verses of Buddhist scripture that can be interpreted to encourage, or at least condone, violence. This shows us that any religion can be used for either peaceful or belligerent purposes.

Flag of Myanmar

Chapter 10 is about China, where imprisonment in work camps is common for Christians who are not part of the "official" state-sanctioned churches. Chapter 11 deals with Vietnam and also with what is probably the world's most dangerous place to be a Christian - North Korea. Although North Korea is thought to have as many as 500,000 underground Christians, professing faith in any religion can mean a death sentence in North Korea. In Vietnam, ethnic minorities such as the Hmong people are especially vulnerable to religious harassment and imprisonment.

Chapter 12 deals with "The Holy Land," i.e. Israel-Palestine, where Christians are sometimes subject to attacks by ultra-Orthodox Jews. Israel-Palestine is a very complex situation, and of course there is good behavior and bad behavior on the parts of Christians, Jews, and Muslims (and others) alike. Shortt has a good deal of sympathy - and rightly so - for Arab Christians whose free expression of their faith is curtailed as well as for innocent Palestinian Muslims who suffer for the sins of the minority who espouse violence. The author has less sympathy for evangelical Christians from the U.S. who insert themselves into Israeli-Palestinian geopolitics without a sophisticated understanding of the present reality.

The 13th chapter presents brief summaries of some other problematic areas of the world, including Belarus in Europe and, in the Americas, Cuba and Chile. Shortt notes, for example, that Cuba appears to be getting more restrictive since Raul Castro took over for his brother in 2008. Still, Shortt ends his book on a hopeful note.

Not only is this book an interesting supplement to what we regularly hear on the news regarding current events in Iraq, Nigeria, and elsewhere, it's also a good reminder of why freedom of religion (and freedom to choose no religion at all) is so important in modern multicultural societies. In the U.S., we often take our freedom of religion for granted. Yet we are no different from any other peoples of the world - able to fall victim to mob mentality, the ravings of charismatic sociopaths, and us-versus-them thinking like any other imperfect human beings in the world. All the more reason to cherish and protect our precious freedoms - and that includes standing up for other people, whether we share a religion with them or not, when their religious freedoms are threatened.

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Understanding the Prophetic Times We Live In by ASR Martins. $10.26 from Smashwords.com
This book is about the end-times. The aim of this book is to bring clarity and to counter confusion in the lives of many Christians regarding the end-times, especially regarding the prophetic time we live in at this moment. Clarity will equip and enable God’s children to follow His vision for, and in this time period we are living in right now.

Review ~ The Gospel According to Twilight by Elaine Heath

The Gospel According to Twilight: Women, Sex, and God by Elaine A. Heath

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Is this a good book, worth taking the time to read and ponder? Yes, it is. Maybe I think that because I'm a Twilight fan (not a diehard one, perhaps, but a pretty big one) and, to me, most thoughtfully-created works of literature centered on the series would seem worth the read. Maybe I think that because I was raised as a feminist and a Catholic, and Heath's non-patriarchal approach to the "Gospel" aspect of her investigation is one I find familiar and comfortable.

A quote sometimes attributed to Stephen King re: Stephenie Meyer's series is, "Harry Potter is about confronting fears, finding inner strength and doing what is right in the face of adversity. Twilight is about how important it is to have a boyfriend." While the quote may be apocryphal, I have noticed that the Twilight series is criticized for its overemphasis on romantic relationships. Before I read Heath's book, though, I had not made the connection between the apparent fear of being single in Meyer's series and Meyer's Mormon belief system. That connection makes sense to me.

I'm also glad that Heath addresses another common criticism of Twilight: that the female characters are weak and unfeminist, while the male characters - Edward particularly - exhibit behavior that, in a nonfictional boyfriend, would be red flags for abuse. Even those of us who continue to love the book and movie series should ponder/discuss/address these aspects of the novel. I agree with Heath when she suggests we don't want young girls to mistakenly pick up the message that abusive behavior in relationships is acceptable.

Not being a particularly orthodox member of any religious group myself, I don't have any specific criticisms of the way in which Heath addresses the Gospel aspect. She's an ordained minister and an associate professor of evangelism in the Methodist church, so I assume many American Protestants will accept her credentials and understand her point of view. When I finished the Twilight series, I picked up on the fact that Bella's transformation was a akin to the transformation of the Pevensie children in the Chronicles of Narnia, with Edward in this case standing in for Aslan (standing in for Jesus). Heath takes the metaphor a step further, showing how Edward, Bella and Carlisle are all aspects of a Christ figure. Bella even rises from the dead after three days.

Based on some of the other Goodreads reviews, some of the criticisms of this book have been, "Heath thought too hard about a series that is, essentially, an extended romance novel with vampires and werewolves." If you fear that the author may analyze too deeply, then no, this is not the book for you.

But if you're willing to put some deep thought into how Christianity and Twilight co-exist - perhaps as part of a book club - then you've come to the right paperback.



View all my reviews

"Spirituality v. Religious Piety" - Guest Post By Author Jackie O'Neal

Although I've written a book that encompasses spirituality, I was not always a spiritual person. I wrote my book Woman Priest in order to share aspects of my journey as a minister in the church, and commentary on world affairs, I believe the faith communities and individuals should be aware of, in terms of helping alleviate some of the suffering in our world.

I say I was not spiritual, in the sense that I tended to be more religiously pious in my walk as a Christian. Traumatic events can cause event the most religious person to question faith, doctrine,and dogma. After my grown son's passing on Dec. 14, 2009 as a result of a tragic train accident, I felt drawn to define spirituality for my life as part of the process of being distraught. Most of the dogma and doctrine most of us have been taught via our religious institutions, are noting more than human-made ideas having little to do with Christ's command: You shall love the Lord your God with all your soul, and all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.

In his book A Different Drum, author M. Scott Peck explains his concept of spirituality on Christ's command. Peck, at age 14, rejected organized religion, as he felt he was more intellectually advanced than his local preacher, who appeared to Peck to also be a fraud. His book characterizes the stages of spiritual development. Stage I persons who lack empathy for others, Stage II tend to be legalistic and attached to dogma and doctrine, and resist change. Stage III is characterized by strong individualism and skepticism. They tend to be on a quest for truth. Stage IV embrace the mysteries of God and creation, feel drawn to the inter-connectedness of things.

All of us may recognize these types of individuals, we may have judged them or rejected them all together. Would it surprise you to know that an atheist, may actually be more spiritually advanced than the average church-goer? This is because, as Peck suggests, they tend to seek more individual truth for their lives, and tend to be skeptical while questioning doctrine and dogma. Peck notes they are in Stage III of spiritual development, while the church go-er is at Stage II. So in point of fact, the atheist is closer to Stage IV which is the beginning of spiritual enlightenment, according to Peck's theory.

Another point Peck makes is that the ministers and healers, spiritual teachers need to know the stage of spiritual development the people they serve are in, in order to be an effective leader. I can give you an example, of an author I read about who during his childhood years in the 1940's was a gifted clairvoyant. He often shared with his family news of things to come. He would often receive psychic infusion of what the future held, good and bad. His mother, a devout Catholic, took him to consult with an exorcist, a clergyman who advised the boy to keep his gift secret, and consider one of God's burdens he needed to bear.

He listened to the exorcist's advice as he been taught never to argue with a priest. In hindsight, during his adult life, he came to understand the exorcist was essentially asking him to suppress an important part of himself which needed to be expressed. His self-esteem was shattered and years later needed to undergo rigorous therapy to overcome depression and ensuing guilt that plagued him.

What is most important is that each of us are on our own individual spiritual journey, have the freedom to explore and even question the tenets of our faith without being labeled a heretic by others. Not to take this road of exploration will impede our spiritual growth, and the guilt imposed on us by others will do little to bring us to enlightenment.

Let's keep in mind what author John Renard wrote: "Religion is often life affirming. It can also lull people into lethargy. Religion means being committed to a quest for answers that transcend appearances of things, but the quality of the quest has everything to do with the effort seekers are willing to invest."

Jackie O'Neal holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the renowned Sarah Lawrence College Graduate Writing program. O'Neal is the author of two books WOMAN PRIEST and BORN IN THE LAND OF THE TANGO. Over the years her commentary has been seen and heard on The Huffington Post, USA Today, NPR-51% The Women's Perspective, NPR Blog,Seattle Post-Intelligencer.com, Ground report, The J.P. Godsey Show- WHKT 1650 AM, and PBS.

Visit Jackie online: http://borninthelandofthetango.wordpress.com/

Jackie Audrey O'Neal
O'Neal Media Group
http://onealmediagroup.presskit247.com
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E-mail: onealmedia@live.com

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