Nathan Shumate, who seems at times to be responsible for half the writing on the Internets (well, the good parts, anyway), sent this link about the Universal Church of Christ commercial semi-controversy that is burning up the Blogosphere, if not your local news outlet: The Baron of Deseret: Church Advertising. It is, indeed, as Nathan promises, a thoughtful Mormon take on the matter, and manages to put forth a rational, fundamentalist religious statement without the screeching hatred present when most Protestant fundamentalists address homosexuality. A lot of people who consider themselves spokesmen for Christ should read and consider this.
The matter has also been getting a lot of secular play at Joshua Marshall’s Talking Points Memo, where the point of contention is not so much inclusivity as a maddeningly vague network policy: what is and is not “advocacy”?
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And what I’m not responsible for, I link to! Wheee!!
By the way, I don’t know if “fundamentalist” is really the word to describe this take (and I’m sure that any self-confessed Christian fundamentalists would foam at the mouth at your identification of a Mormon of ANY strip as a fundamentalist). On the other hand, I’m at a loss to present an alternative term for use. Is there any single word which could denote a fairly absolutist worldview (i.e., there are objective religious truths, and it honestly does matter what you believe and what you do with that belief) which hasn’t been turned into snarky epithet?
Gosh, if I can piss off a rabid Southern Baptist, I count my day complete.
I’ll agree that “fundamentalist” is getting pretty much the same bad rap as “liberal”. Both are perfectly good words that have been turned into perjoratives by people catering to a label-hungry public. But I’m also at a loss (obviously) for a term that describes the viewpoint so succinctly.
I think I’d probably be in a lot more trouble with a hardline Christian fundy for suggesting they read something written by a Mormon than by applying the term “fundamentalist” to both.
Gosh, if I can piss off a rabid Southern Baptist, I count my day complete.
I’ll agree that “fundamentalist” is getting pretty much the same bad rap as “liberal”. Both are perfectly good words that have been turned into perjoratives by people catering to a label-hungry public. But I’m also at a loss (obviously) for a term that describes the viewpoint so succinctly.
I think I’d probably be in a lot more trouble with a hardline Christian fundy for suggesting they read something written by a Mormon than by applying the term “fundamentalist” to both.