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Gender and Sexuality News Roundup (11/20/18)

November 20, 2018
By CBMW
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One mission of CBMW is to help Christians think through secular and ecclesial trends on gender and sexuality. Through this work, we pore over a lot of different news reports and articles as we attempt to wade through the ceaseless flow of information on the web. In our weekly Gender and Sexuality News Roundups, we aim to distill some of the more pertinent information for you.

The articles below are from a wide variety of sectors and publications, organized generally into three categories. They are presented in aggregate, not necessarily endorsed.

If you see an article that you think should be featured in future CBMW News Roundups, you can send it to [email protected] with the subject “News Roundup.”

 

Ecclesial Trends on Gender and Sexuality

60 Minutes: Hillsong Church founder under police investigation over handling of father’s sex crimes, 9 News (Garry McNab)

“Brian Houston, the founder of the Hillsong Church, is under investigation by New South Wales police over his handling of the sex crimes committed by his father Frank Houston.”

Sexual abuse victim pursues Hillsong’s Brian Houston over crimes of his father, The Guardian (Naaman Zhou)

“Brett Sengstock waives anonymity to accuse Hillsong founder of failing victims by not reporting pastor Frank Houston to police.”

Turning the CRC Into an LGBTQ+ Ally, The Aquila Report (Dan Winiarski)

“‘All One Body’ is an organization of CRC members and pastors with the goal to transform the CRC into a denomination that fully accepts and celebrates the values of the LGBTQ+ movement.”

Ky. Baptists cut ties with dually aligned churches, Baptist Press

“The Kentucky Baptist Convention will cut ties with a small group of churches that remain dually aligned with a missions network that took steps earlier this year to allow the hiring of LGBT staff members.”

How American Evangelicalism Has Been Weaponized Against Women, CBE International (Mimi Haddad)

“It’s time for us to say “time’s up” to those that misrepresent Scripture, to those that prop up male rule with bad theology and use isolated biblical texts to center white, male experiences and authority in Bible translations and churches.”

The Nashville Statement: A Critical Review, CBE International (Jamin Hübner)

“What follows is a more detailed analysis surrounding the document in hopes of shining a brighter light on this controversial topic. The plan is to frame the debate, systematically examine the Statement itself, and conclude with final reflections.”

Mothers of the Reformation, Christianity Today (Kristen Padilla)

“These early Protestant women saw Luther’s priesthood of all believers as reason to write and teach the Reformation.”

Some reflections on the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, DennyBurk.com (Denny Burk)

“We are still seeing more presentations from ETS members that affirm LGBT identities. I noted as much three years ago in the immediate aftermath of Obergefell when ETS members expressed support for gay marriage during a particular session. Until this last meeting, I had not seen an ETS member advocate for transgender identities, but that has all changed now.”

The Vatican Invervention in Baltimore, First Things (Phillip Lawler)

“By quashing the American Catholic bishops’ bid for an independent investigation into the burgeoning sex-abuse scandal, the Vatican has left the US hierarchy in an impossible position.”

How the Catholic ‘alt-right’ aims to purge LGBTQ members from the church, NBC News (Corky Siemaszko)

Websites like Church Militant, LifeSite News and the Lepanto Institute are ratcheting up the rhetoric with personal attacks on supporters of gay Catholics.

Weariness, Spiritual Friendship (Wesley Hill)

“If I could wave a magic wand and change just one thing about conservative Christian discourse right now, I would make it a requirement that every straight person telling gay Christians “Don’t call yourself gay” would have to expend (at minimum) an equal amount of energy talking about what they, the straight critics, can do to make it less necessary for gay people to so identify.”

 

Secular Trends on Gender and Sexuality

Anchorage shelter seeks to exclude transgender people, Associated Press (Rachel D’Oro)

“A faith-based women’s homeless shelter in Anchorage is suing to block the city from requiring it to accept transgender women, which it said would violate its religious beliefs.”

Not All White Women, The Atlantic (Conor Friedersdorf)

“Some progressives are blaming a single demographic group for a string of losses in the midterm elections—but that distorts the actual results.”

Why Are Young People Having So Little Sex?, The Atlantic (Kate Julian)

“To the relief of many parents, educators, and clergy members who care about the health and well-being of young people, teens are launching their sex lives later. From 1991 to 2017, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey finds, the percentage of high-school students who’d had intercourse dropped from 54 to 40 percent”

Ukraine transgender rally disrupted by far-right militants, BBC News

“Reports say two young women were attacked and mocked as they received medical attention, and a Canadian journalist was punched in the face.”

How the internet killed both the anti-pornography movement and sexual revolution, Dallas News (Ross Douthat)

“Pleasant vices and stability: With some technological assistance, that’s the sexual culture we’ve been forging. The only good news, and the best evidence that we might yet escape Huxley’s trap, is that we retain enough genuinely human aspiration to be unhappy with it.”

How Trump administration pressure to dump 4-H’s LGBT policy led to Iowa leader’s firing, Des Moines Register (Courtney Crowder and Jason Clayworth)

“The Trump administration pushed the national 4-H youth organization to withdraw a controversial policy welcoming LGBT members — a move that helped lead to the ouster of Iowa’s top 4-H leader earlier this year, a Des Moines Register investigation found.”

School Punishes Male Teacher For Refusing To Watch A Naked Girl In The Boys’ Locker Room, The Federalist (Joy Pullmann)

“A Florida school district allowed a self-described transgender female student access to the boys’ locker room, with no warning to parents. The first time she walked in, she caught ‘boys (literally) with their pants down.'”

Birmingham University warned of risk to LGbT rights at Dubai campus, The Guardian (David Batty)

“Staff and students say new campus lacks safeguards against strict local laws”

How the GOP Gave Up on Porn, Politico (Tim Alberta)

“Once, the fight against pornography was the beating heart of the American culture war. Now porn is a ballooning industry — and maybe a harmful one —with no real opponents. What happened?”

Condoleezza Rice Has Challenged the NFL to Develop More Female Coaches, Relevant Magazine (Lesley Crews)

“Last week, the general manager for the Cleveland Browns said he’d be willing to interview and hire a woman as the Browns’ next head coach. And John Dorsey may have been interested in one candidate, according to ESPN: Condoleezza Rice, former Secretary of State.”

Real Men Saved Lives in Thousand Oaks, The Wall Street Journal (Abigail Shrier)

“The mass shooting at a Thousand Oaks, Calif., bar last week was a tale of men and masculinity.”

At Berkley, rational discussion descends into darkness, Washington Examiner (Mark J. Perry and Sean Kennedy)

“A well-meaning and earnest student senator, Isabella Chow, unleashed the specters of Berkeley’s past — the contest between conscience and conformity — by daring to dissent.”

Gender and Sexuality Miscellany

How to Become a Trauma-Informed Congregation Christianity Today, (Heather Davediuk Gingrich)

“These suggestions will help your church better care for survivors of abuse.”

Let the Dead Date the Dead, Desiring God (Greg Morse)

“When alone, even their strongest can fall — Samson and David defeated armies, but not eyelashes.”

4 things my family discussed after passing Victoria’s Secret, ERLC (Garrett Kell)

“In the end, my desire is not for my kids to be little legalists who are shackled with rules about not looking at certain things. Instead, I want them to be enlightened to the fact that we don’t look at sinful things so that we can more purely see and enjoy God.”

Depression, anxiety, and the church: A pastor’s wife tells her story of hope, ERLC (Tiffany and Leigh Ann Marshall)

“More than 18 percent of Americans struggle with depression and anxiety, but the stigma and shame still holds strong in the church and even stronger for those who hold roles in ministry.”

Mothers Against Macron, First Things (Joy Pullmann)

“While discussing African demographics at a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation event in New York City, Macron said, “Present me the woman who decided, being perfectly educated, to have seven, eight or nine children…This is just because a lot of girls were not properly educated, sometimes because these countries decided the rights of these girls were not exactly the same rights as the young man.”

Gospel Grace Can Revolutionize Your Mediocre Marriage, The Gospel Coalition (Ryan and Selena Frederick)

“Only in the gospel do you have purpose beyond now, beyond you, and beyond measure. In Christ, you have access to the infinite goodness of the eternal God, both in this life and the next. Everything about marriage points to the gospel. By God’s grace, your marriage can do the same.”

Help! I Married a Spiritually Immature Man, The Gospel Coalition (Deepak Reju)

“You’re married, and your husband isn’t a spiritual leader—he doesn’t initiate prayer or devotions, doesn’t take the lead in bringing the family to church, doesn’t readily show concern for your spiritual wellbeing or the children’s. He doesn’t care about faith and shows no inclination to do so.”

Postpartum Depression and the Christian, The Gospel Coalition (Kathryn Butler)

“The body of Christ is uniquely poised to shepherd mothers through dark pastures. Churches often gather around expectant mothers in jubilation, showering them with gifts and warm embraces. After a baby’s birth, the continued compassionate presence of a church family can dissolve barriers to asking for help.”

When a Gay Activist Comes to Jesus, The Gospel Coalition (Andrew T. Walker)

“In A War of Loves: The Unexpected Story of a Gay Activist Discovering Jesus by David Bennett, readers learn of an agnostic gay activist whose experiences left him searching for deeper meaning in life. He found it in the transformative love of Jesus Christ.”

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