Bakker, Brown: What the hell happened to Christianity?
By Jay Bakker and Marc Brown

Editor’s note: Jay Bakker, son of former Praise The Lord leaders Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye Messner, is minister of Revolution Church and subject of a new documentary series, “One Punk Under God,” on Sundance Channel. Marc Brown is a Revolution staff member.

NEW YORK (CNN) — What the hell happened? Where did we go wrong? How was Christianity co-opted by a political party? Why are Christians supporting laws that force others to live by their standards? The answers to these questions are integral to the survival of Christianity.

While the current state of Christianity might seem normal and business-as-usual to some, most see through the judgment and hypocrisy that has permeated the church for so long. People witness this and say to themselves, “Why would I want to be a part of that?” They are turned off by Christians and eventually, to Christianity altogether. We can’t even count the number of times someone has given us a weird stare or completely brushed us off when they discover we work for a church.

So when did the focus of Christianity shift from the unconditional love and acceptance preached by Christ to the hate and condemnation spewed forth by certain groups today? Some say it was during the rise of Conservative Christianity in the early 1980s with political action groups like the Moral Majority. Others say it goes way back to the 300s, when Rome’s Christian Emperor Constantine initiated a set of laws limiting the rights of Roman non-Christians. Regardless of the origin, one thing is crystal clear: It’s not what Jesus stood for.

His parables and lessons were focused on love and forgiveness, a message of “come as you are, not as you should be.” The bulk of his time was spent preaching about helping the poor and those who are unable to help themselves. At the very least, Christians should be counted on to lend a helping hand to the poor and others in need.

This brings us to the big issues of American Christianity: Abortion and gay marriage. These two highly debatable topics will not be going away anytime soon. Obviously, the discussion centers around whether they are right or wrong, but is the screaming really necessary? After years of witnessing the dark side of religion, Marc and I think not.

Christians should be able to look past their differences and agree to disagree. This allows people to discuss issues with respect for one another. Christians are called to love others just as they are, without an agenda. Only then will Christianity see a return to its roots: Loving God with all of your heart and loving your neighbor as yourself.

The Apostle Paul describes this idea of love beautifully in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7: “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”

But don’t take our word for it; look at what Jesus and his followers stood for in his time and what Christianity stands for today. Then come to your own conclusion.

READ THIS: Religious right leader, Republican politician Roy Moore, says American Muslims are not fit for US Congress

Enough evidence exists for Congress to question Ellison’s qualifications to be a member of Congress as well as his commitment to the Constitution in view of his apparent determination to embrace the Quran and an Islamic philosophy directly contrary to the principles of the Constitution. But common sense alone dictates that in the midst of a war with Islamic terrorists we should not place someone in a position of great power who shares their doctrine. In 1943, we would never have allowed a member of Congress to take their oath on “Mein Kampf,” or someone in the 1950s to swear allegiance to the “Communist Manifesto.” Congress has the authority and should act to prohibit Ellison from taking the congressional oath today!

Time gave Dobson a platform to misrepresent — again — science on same-sex parenting

Summary: In a Time magazine guest column, James Dobson baselessly claimed that “the majority of more than 30 years of social-science evidence indicates that children do best on every measure of well-being when raised by their married mother and father.” In fact, studies have consistently found that children raised by gay or lesbian parents suffer no adverse effects in their psychosocial development.

While criticizing Mary Cheney’s pregnancy in a December 10 Time magazine guest column titled “Two Mommies is One Too Many,” Focus on the Family founder and chairman James Dobson baselessly claimed that “the majority of more than 30 years of social-science evidence indicates that children do best on every measure of well-being when raised by their married mother and father.” Dobson asserted that “love alone is not enough to guarantee healthy growth and development” of a child and that “[t]he two most loving women in the world cannot provide a daddy for a little boy.” Dobson also declared that “birth and adoption are the purview of married heterosexual couples” and “[t]hat’s why public policy as it relates to families must be based not solely on the desires of adults but rather on the needs of children.” In fact, as Media Matters for America has repeatedly noted (here, here, and here), studies have consistently found that children raised by gay or lesbian parents suffer no adverse effects in their psychosocial development.

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Tonight is the peak of the 2006 Geminid Meteor Shower

The best meteor shower of the year peaks this week on Dec. 13th and 14th. “It’s the Geminid meteor shower,” says Bill Cooke of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office in Huntsville, Alabama. “Start watching on Wednesday evening, Dec. 13th, around 9 p.m. local time,” he advises. “The display will start small but grow in intensity as the night wears on. By Thursday morning, Dec. 14th, people in dark, rural areas could see one or two meteors every minute.”

Thank you nice person for my gift certificate!! It’s cuter than a box of puppies and I *heart* it! Of course it will soon be turned into my very own LiveJournal t-shirt.

Church Camp Leader Arrested For Child Porn
Baptist Counselor Accused Of Soliciting Sex Act And Asking Girls To Pose Nude

The former leader of a Baptist church camp near St. Louis has been arrested for allegedly trying to coax girls to pose partly naked and soliciting a sex act from one of the young women, Columbia police said.

Aaron Niles, 20, of Waterloo, was arrested Tuesday on three counts of child pornography and one count of indecent solicitation of a child, police said.

Police said Niles — a member of First Baptist Church in Columbia — met at least one of his accusers during the summer of 2005 at the Super Summer Baptist Camp in Greenville, where he oversaw up to 10 teenagers as a volunteer team leader.

Niles later communicated with the accusers — who knew they were chatting with Niles — on the Internet using screen names such as “loverboyniles” and “godrocks30,” Columbia Police Chief Joe Edwards said.

Investigators are asking parents whose children attended the Super Summer camp last year to check their children’s computers for Niles’ computer online user name to see if he had any contact with them.

Authorities allege that in April and May, Niles solicited girls younger than 18 to pose partially naked, and that he sought out a girl younger than 17 to perform a sex act.

Edwards said Niles is charged only with soliciting the girls to pose partially naked and for trying to get a sex act from one of the accusers. “We haven’t charged him with actually doing those acts,” Edwards said.

Investigators still were combing through Niles’ computer, Edwards said, and “once we complete this, the potential for additional charges are there.”

He declined to specify what the investigation has turned up, saying only that “we were able to get enough to get charges against this individual and get word out to the public.”

“The long-range goal is to charge him with every violation he has committed,” Edwards said.

Police say church leaders have been aware of the allegations since earlier this year and limited Niles’ contact with children. He has been allowed to continue attending services.

In a statement Tuesday, First Baptist Church’s pastor, Jonathan Peters, said the allegations left the congregation “deeply saddened.”

“We hurt for the families who have been hurt by this,” the statement read. “We, as the leadership of this church family have done our best to both protect our church and to demonstrate compassion to everyone involved. We have sought to show love without leniency.”

Niles is being held in the Monroe County Jail on $10,000 bond. He has an unpublished home telephone number in Waterloo.

Soy Makes You Gay

Sometimes you just have to marvel at the things published by WorldNetDaily – things such as this column by James Rutz of Megashift Ministries:

There’s a slow poison out there that’s severely damaging our children and threatening to tear apart our culture ….

The dangerous food I’m speaking of is soy. Soybean products are feminizing, and they’re all over the place. You can hardly escape them anymore.

…

Soy is feminizing, and commonly leads to a decrease in the size of the penis, sexual confusion and homosexuality. That’s why most of the medical (not socio-spiritual) blame for today’s rise in homosexuality must fall upon the rise in soy formula and other soy products. (Most babies are bottle-fed during some part of their infancy, and one-fourth of them are getting soy milk!) Homosexuals often argue that their homosexuality is inborn because “I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t homosexual.” No, homosexuality is always deviant. But now many of them can truthfully say that they can’t remember a time when excess estrogen wasn’t influencing them.

It is difficult to imagine just what WorldNetDaily’s standard is for rejecting a column or article – but whatever it is, it is apparently set so low that “soy makes you gay” manages to exceed the criteria.