The Christian Chronicle (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Vol. 68, No. 1, Ed. 1 Saturday, January 1, 2011 Page: 4 of 35
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Christian Chronicle and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Abilene Christian University Library.
- Highlighting
- Highlighting On/Off
- Color:
- Adjust Image
- Rotate Left
- Rotate Right
- Brightness, Contrast, etc. (Experimental)
- Cropping Tool
- Download Sizes
- Preview all sizes/dimensions or...
- Download Thumbnail
- Download Small
- Download Medium
- Download Large
- High Resolution Files
- IIIF Image JSON
- IIIF Image URL
- Accessibility
- View Extracted Text
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
INSIDE STORY
4 THE CHRISTIAN CHRONICLE
JANUARY 2011
www.christianchronicle.org
a"
41
/
",
I
TM
czfylYYLS,
• Breaking news alerts: Don't wait to read all the
latest news or check out exclusive online features.
To sign up for our breaking news alerts by e-mail,
contact tamie.ross@christianchronicle.org.
• More from Malawi: Hear songs of praise from
students at Namikango Mission and see video from
Assistant Managing Editor ErikTryggestad's report-
ing trip to the southern African nation.
Go online to find all the news in the print edition plus
an expanded calendar, classifieds and much more.
f Boles
Cmildren's Home
CONTACT BOBBY ROSS JR. at bobby.ross@
christianchronicle.org. Read extended interviews with John
McCranie and a Gateway teen atwww.christianchronicle.org.
ArmsofHope.com
Touching Lives. Reaching Generations.
Medina Children's Home
I
Support a disadvantaged child or family today!
Donate online or call 830.522.2200
ERIKTRYGGESTAD
A child in a village near Dedza, Malawi.
BULLIES: Spreading love, not hate, at school
FROM PAGE 3
preacher’s son who moved often and
always seemed to be the new kid in class
— made the mistake of wearing his dad’s
checkered shorts to gym class. Fellow
students nicknamed him “Checkerboard”
and harassed him for months.
I felt for that kid. Really, I did.
He was me.
But I never blamed religion for the
foul-mouthed Goliaths on the playground.
They didn’t use any kind of language that
I’d ever heard from the pulpit.
When I served as religion editor of
The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City’s metro
daily, I covered the 2001 Southern
Baptist Convention’s annual meeting
in New Orleans. I’ll never forget a pro-
tester I saw at that meeting: A little girl
with blond hair and pink shorts held a
sign with a derogatory remark that indi-
cated homosexuals would die and God
would laugh when they did. This was as
Soulforce, a national gay-rights group,
demonstrated nearby.
The girl’s family was part of the
Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan.,
a small fundamentalist group not affiliated
with Southern Baptists that travels the
country spreading a gospel of hate.
As I pointed out in The Oklahoman,
“The child’s sign did not reflect
Southern Baptists’ position. They teach
that God loves all people but hates sin.
They call homosexuality sin.”
But in a society facing a barrage of
gay-rights activism, it’s easy for the news
media — intentionally or not — to lump
together disciples of hate and anyone
who advocates traditional Bible teaching.
In Churches of Christ, we typically teach
that the New Testament clearly states that
the homosexual lifestyle is not what God
intended. At the same time, it is under-
stood that some people in our society and
in the church struggle with this issue. As
with any sin or issue, we seek diligently to
demonstrate compassion and care as we
help people through their fight
At least, hopefully, that’s the example
we’re showing our children.
Here’s what a church leader who did
not want his name used had to say: “I
think the claims the church’s teachings
on homosexuality lead to bullying are
substantiated but blown well out of pro-
portion by media. You can’t deny that
conservative Christianity has been the
propagator of very serious anti-gay senti-
ment, prejudice and behavior. On the
other hand, I believe this represents an
increasingly small minority of churches
and teens in particular.”
Recently, the Gateway Church of
Christ in Gilbert, Ariz., hosted a youth
rally called “To Save A Life.” The all-day
event addressed the problem of cyber-
bullying, which involves harming others
through computers, cell phones and
social websites.
I asked Gateway minister John
McCranie for his perspective on media
reports that draw a connection between
Christian teachings on homosexuality
and suicides of gay young people.
“Great question,” John said. “There is
no disputing that some faith systems in
America are hostile and even belliger-
ent to those in the homosexual lifestyle.
We grieve over this and feel compelled
to compensate by showing authentic
Christian love to victims of all types.
“Recent media reports have overfo-
cused on gay victims only. Unfortunately,
this issue also occurs to Christian youth
who are being bullied because of their
faith. What is not reported is (the story
of) the believers who are emulating
Jesus’ compassion to abused gays and
other victims of this global issue.”
(five a CfiiCcCHove
for the HoCidays\
C3
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Matching Search Results
View two places within this issue that match your search.Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
McMillon, Lynn. The Christian Chronicle (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Vol. 68, No. 1, Ed. 1 Saturday, January 1, 2011, newspaper, January 1, 2011; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1509300/m1/4/?q=%22songs%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.