Miley Cyrus got a new tattoo ... and not just some dumb decoration. This is a pro-gay tattoo! It's actually pretty amusing, an equal-sign "=" on her middle finger. (Think, "give 'em the bird"). It might seem ambiguous except that she tweeted "All LOVE is equal!"This might seem like just another amusing story about a young starlet, but it shows yet again why Christianity is dying a slow death in America.
Homosexuality and LGBT rights have become the Achilles tendon of conservative Christianity. The out-of-the-closet movement that started in the 1970s has worked: virtually all teens and young adults have gay or lesbian friends. When I was a kid it was easy to teach kids that gays and lesbians were perverts since we'd never met one. (We actually had, but didn't know it.) But today when the kids hear some Bible-thumping preacher spewing his hate-filled message about homosexuality, it doesn't match reality. The kids know better.
It's really quite wonderful that a young singer and actress like Miley Cyrus can openly support the LGBT movement and not be black-listed. It's even more amazing because she works in the country-western business, which surely has the most conservative fan base of all musical genres. Sure, she'll lose a few fans. But she's rich and beautiful and she still has the voice, so who cares? To paraphrase another famous gay musician, she'll probably cry all the way to the bank.
Conservative Christianity hasn't learned its lesson. Religions have to evolve just like biological species if they want to survive in a changing ecology. The America of the 1950s is long gone, and the ideas that survived in that era are no longer viable. The idea that homosexuality is bad was "fit for survival" in 1950s America, the same culture that accepted racism and the oppression of women.
But society changes, and ideas (and religions) have to evolve and adapt in order to survive. The ones that don't simply die.
Unfortunately for conservative Christians, they believe that they're absolutely right. They believe that God's laws can't change. But memetic evolution (how ideas change as they pass across our society and down through history) doesn't care. Outdated ideas go extinct regardless of whether they're true or false.
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Why do you think Christians are unwilling to change? Why would they chose to slowly die out instead conform to the contours of society? I guess God isn't here to win a popularity contest.
ReplyDeletePS: Christianity isn't dying. We still go to Church, donate money to charities, feed the homeless, and clothe the poor, and are eagerly awaiting Jesus' return :-)
Christians have been waiting for almost 2,000 years for Jesus to return and He basically promised to return in the lifetime of His hearers. How long do we have to wait before we can admit this is a false prophecy as it is traditionally understood? I am not trying to be mean, as I have Christian friends, but the tenacity of the faith in spite of abundant contradictory evidence amazes me.
ReplyDeleteWhen is Jesus coming back? No one knows the answer - not even Jesus. However, Jesus has given us clues about what would happen before He comes: formation of Israel, spread of knowledge/education, number of Christians dropping, Christians being hated and ridiculed, rise in homosexuality, etc.
ReplyDeleteAll of this is happening right now. My friend, do your OWN research and your OWN reading, and don't let the media or Hollywood tell you what's right and wrong. Make sure you're on the right side before you die :-)
IT IS HAPPENING BCOZ WE EVOLVE AND THAT IS LIFE.YOU JUST GOTTA ACCEPT THAT AND FORGET SUPERSTITIONS AND BELIEF IN MYTHS AND FAIRITALES THAT RELIGION IMBEDED IN YOUR BRAINS LIKE VIRUS....
DeleteRahul – You need to go back and read the Bible again.
ReplyDelete"Conservative Christianity hasn't learned its lesson. Religions have to evolve just like biological species if they want to survive in a changing ecology. The America of the 1950s is long gone, and the ideas that survived in that era are no longer viable."
ReplyDeleteI think this comment comes from a complete misinterpretation or Christian thought. We cannot change. Changing would defeat the entire purpose of the Church. The Catholic Church tried to change in the 60's. Look where it got them.
I tend not to worry about articles like this. Let me tell you about our Eastern Christian experience. We survived the Roman persecutions, the Crusades, the Turkish persecutions, and most recently the Communist persecutions. More martyrs were made in the last 75 years than in the 300 years of Roman persecution. The Eastern Faith has remained constant throughout all that, even through the worst manifestation of militant atheism. I think we'll survive a couple of tweets from Miley Cyrus.
You missed the point anonymous person. Miley Cyrus comes from a Christian upbringing and is an iconic figure for what is happening to Christianity. It is, in fact, (and despite the threatening of Rahul up there who does it under the guise of a smile) dying.
ReplyDeleteAnd when it does, you can be sure that the Eastern cult will die soon after - with or without martyrs and other idiots. Otherwise you'll be behind in the world...and no country really wants that unless they're Muslim.