A Fresh Perspective

Sarah Pulliam Baily of the Religion News Service recently reported that six Christian leaders, including Focus on the Family President Jim Daly, have created a new coalition called "Imago Dei," Latin for “image of God,” to encourage people to treat one another with respect. Samuel Rodrigues, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, who is leading the cause declared, “I want Christians to not be known for what we oppose but for what we propose.” The campaign declares: “For the image of God exists in all human beings: black and white, rich and poor, straight and gay, conservative and liberal; victim and perpetrator; citizen and undocumented; believer and unbeliever.” Let’s hope the leaders of this campaign and those who join them will actually live out the commitments such a theology demands.   The clear implication of this declaration is that we are all God’s children, the divine DNA resides in all of us, we all have the Spirit, we all b...

The following address was spoken on behalf of an effort to pass a fairness ordinance in Frankfort, Kentucky at a town hall meeting:  My name is Chuck Queen and I speak as a citizen of this community, a participant in the Frankfort coalition for fairness, and as a Christian minister in the community. It seems to me that all the arguments that have been marshaled against this ordinance are the same kind of arguments that were used against civil rights legislation. And we know from this side of history how wrong those arguments were and how they cloaked deeply entrenched biases. I do not want to suggest that the same motives are behind the opposition to this ordinance, because I am no one’s judge, but they are the same arguments. And we all should be aware that the larger world will judge us on that basis and will make that connection. As a Christian minister, and particularly a Baptist minister I am deeply disappointed that the major push against this ordinance is comin...

It takes spiritual eyes to read the Bible in a healthy, transformative way. The Bible can be (and has been) employed as an instrument of oppression and evil, as well as an instrument of change and transformation. All Christians who debate public and faith issues among each other or in a public forum use Scripture to support their arguments. Whether the issues relate to sexual orientation, women pastors or deacons, the role of government, the right to wage war, the role of the military, divorce, the nature of Jesus, or the nature of judgment and salvation, Scripture is quoted and interpreted by all Christians engaged in the debate. The critical question concerns how we use Scripture, how we interpret the Bible, what framework and guiding principles we use to make sense of Scripture and apply it to our lives and communities. Some years ago, I, along with three other pastors, tried to change the policy regarding women’s participation in an Eastern Kentucky Baptist Association of the Sou...