The Voice of Progressive Christianity

As a progressive Christian (for lack of a better term) it is difficult to know what to say sometimes.  When those who criticize Christianity address such things as anti-homosexual sentiments, I agree with the criticisms.  Yet I am stymied whether to say anything more or not.  If I speak to say “not all of us believe such things” then I am being defensive.  If I do not speak I am being silent in the face of prejudice within my own religious tradition.  In addition, being silent encourages the impression judgmental voices are by far the most prevalent and progressive voices are nothing more than rare outliers.

I am also concerned many of my neighbors think conservative fundamentalist Christianity (again, for lack of a better term) is the only option in order to be a “real Christian.” 

Therefore, today I share a few examples which illustrate that while the conservative evangelical voice is loud, the progressive voice of Christianity is not as rare as one might think. 

There are many voices within protestant mainline Christianity which speak out strongly for the rights of homosexual people.  One example is the Lutheran group Reconciling Works,(http://www.reconcilingworks.org/).   Their facebook page says,

 “Working at the intersection of oppressions, ReconcilingWorks embodies, inspires, advocates and organizes for the acceptance and full participation of people of all sexual orientations and gender identities within the Lutheran communion and its ecumenical and global partners.”  They list their members as numbering over 550 seminaries, congregations, and other organizations.  This is a small percentage but also represents groups where nearly the entire community agrees about this issue.  This does not include the many others who believe in inclusion but are members of communities which have not reached an agreement on this issue.  

A similar Methodist group has this on their site (http://www.rmnetwork.org/):

“Reconciling Ministries Network is committed to policy change and the creation of long-term solutions and practices that create full inclusion in The United Methodist Church and our broader society. RMN works for full equality in membership, ordination, and marriage for God’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender children.” (632 churches communities and campus ministries)

There are similar groups within the Episcopal, American Baptist, UCC and Mennonite denominations, at least and some of these groups have been around for decades. 

Abortion is another issue about which there is much more diversity of opinion than one would be led to believe when listening to the news.  This website gives what seems to be a good overview of the opinions of several different faith communities. 

http://www.pewforum.org/2013/01/16/religious-groups-official-positions-on-abortion/

Opinions range from abortion being totally wrong in nearly all circumstances to firm commitment to just access to abortion and many positions somewhere in between. 

Not only do progressive Christians exist, they also have a sense of humor. 

Unvirtuous Abbey is a great place to find irreverent holy humor such as, “Lord, you who told Lazarus to “Come out!”, we pray for Christians who say that it’s wrong to do that. Amen.” (and many other much less reverent and hilariously funny quotes and pictures.)  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Unvirtuous-Abbey/

If we all followed conservative Christianity there wouldn’t be such things as Christian Universalists, Unitarians, Process Theologians, and great authors like Bishop John Shelby Spong, Robin Meyers, Brian McClaren, Nadia Bolz-Weber, Edward Hays and countless others. Indeed many of the controversies we hear about within the Christian church could not take place if there were no dissenting voices.  One sided conversations do not make for controversy.  Several denominations have begun to take a new stance on homosexuality, for example.  Why would this happen if all Christians believe homosexuality is a sin? 

I realize those who speak against Christianity will continue to address conservative Christianity, and rightfully so, as long as it continues to appear as the default religion in America.  As long as folks in this country have a tendency to assume a person’s religion is conservative Christianity until proven otherwise (unless the person is gay, tattooed, of a different skin color, etc.  Sigh.  I know it is horrible,) then it only makes sense for this form of religion to be the primary target of criticism.  I also don’t intend to imply Christianity should pat itself on the back for these members who are working for justice.  Really, this is so sadly close to literally the least we could do.

I only wish to say there are other voices, there are other options, and progressive Christians need to find a way to speak up more clearly.  This won’t be easy.  After all we don’t make nearly as interesting news as someone railing against evolution or foaming at the mouth with hatred.  We need to find ways to speak our love anyway.