On vacation earlier this year in Phoenix, I bumped into Charles Ramirez at his church. He gave me a warm hug and introduced me to his lovely family. I felt as though I already knew Charles pretty well, even though I’d spent only two hours of my life with him. That’s because a year ago I interviewed him in Phoenix …
Walking Away from the Faith, Part 5: Biblical Sexuality
This will be an impossible post. To say something about the increasingly complex subject of sexuality in a short blog is, perhaps, foolish. Here is my attempt: Young Christians such as Mary in my prior post who have friends that identify as queer, or who are queer themselves, often leave the church with a sense of having been betrayed. Most …
Walking Away from the Faith, Part 4: The Queer Exit
In the old days, sex education for young people in the church focused on boundaries: how far one could go with a partner without actually sinning. These days, things are more complicated, to say the least. Consider Mary, a 17-year old Christian high school student. Her friend group at school includes a mix of Christians, quasi-Christians, agnostics, atheists and one …