Christian Buckley

Gay Marriage and Stupid Christian Arguments

Christian Buckley — Fri, 11 May 2012 02:37:29 +0000

Gay Marriage and Stupid Christian Arguments

I said this in an earlier post and I still believe it:

There is probably no topic that Christians are more known for these days than hating gays. The vocal minority has done a great job proving this out and the not-so vocal majority of Christians have done very little to disprove it. We are known for largely hateful rhetoric and singling out one lifestyle to vilify -- while ignoring the ones Jesus really spoke against – pride, anger, materialism, idolatry, selfishness.

The church has wasted its time fighting gay marriage. Why wasted? Because I can tell you as a constitutional law expert that no matter what voters decide, the issue will be resolved by state and federal courts that for the most part don’t care what voters think. So the church has spent millions fighting something that in the end they have no control over. It’s like fighting a tsunami with a bucket – or millions of them. It won’t work but you will die in the process.

I still agree with the above and want to add this: The words “right and wrong” have no meaning in America when it comes to consensual adult sexuality. We lost that battle a long time ago. Ask an average teen about whether they are going to wait until marriage to have sex and they will not only say no – they probably won’t even understand the question.

The “gay marriage” argument has nothing to do with whether homosexual sex is right or wrong - that is not even on the table. It also has nothing to do with some general idea of a “homosexual lifestyle” - as if one exists - because last I checked there isn’t a “heterosexual lifestyle” that I am living.

The legal right to gay marriage, like straight marriage, has nothing to do with teenage sex, open relationships, adultery, prostitution, or any other sex or sexuality topic. Marriage – whether gay or straight has to do with people who want to get married and be recognized under the law.

Now to the point of the post - the stupid arguments I have heard for some time and am now hearing in the media by “Christian types.”

1. It will Erode the Institution of Marriage.

This is the easiest to see through because marriage is no longer an institution in America. The divorce rate is roughly the same in churches as in the general populous, most “Christians” I know are fine with sex out of marriage, and for the most part the moral high ground of marriage is non-existent. People are getting married later or not at all and divorce is an easy option. People live together rather than marry – Christian and non alike. Marriage is not an institution so there is nothing to be eroded but for a bygone memory. If we really care about marriage we could start with fixing heterosexual marriages because they will still be the majority of the bad, fake, broken ones out there.

And as a final note, last I checked gay marriages are having no impact on my marriage and that is the only marriage I am truly responsible for. If we thought more about our marriages and less about the gay ones we would much better off.

2. If gay marriage is Fine then so is Marriage to an Animal.

Seriously? Seriously. This might be the dumbest of the arguments. The notion that two consenting adults have a right to marry to create social, political, legal, and economic equality will never be extended to animal marriage. In a legal sense marriage is a contract and animals can’t sign contracts. We should duck-tape anyone who makes this argument and force them to find a dog that can agree to untie them. The same thing goes for minors, pedophiles, etc. These are insane leaps of logic that are nowhere close to rational.

3. It will Increase Homosexual Lifestyle Choices.

If you think this true you know nothing about gay people - nothing. But for a very few people I have known that have dabbled in gay sexual experiences out of choice in a cliché college period of time – none of the gay people I know have chosen that sexual preference or identity. Despite Glee and other television shows that glamorize being gay – it is still a very difficult and distained life in most parts of this country. There is no upside in “choosing” to be gay and frankly even less for choosing to be gay and married.

I could go on with the stupid arguments – there are many – but if we want to have a real discussion about Gay Marriage then we need to take morality out of it.

The real policy question that feeds the constitutional law issues is whether there is any reason a government should favor marriage at all. The real question is whether there are any rationally defensible differences between gay and heterosexual marriages. Since the legal issue is “equal protection” the question comes down to whether there is any justification for unequal treatment of gays and straights by the government and if there is a justification how valid or important is it.

Have you ever wondered why there are institutional, economic, and legal benefits to marriage? Why is the government involved at all? Is marriage like healthcare or housing or education?

A full legal and political science answer requires another post – but one short answer is that the government has a vested interest in people making babies and those babies being raised in homes that require no assistance by the government. The government chooses to provide incentives for people to have kids and that happens more reliably in marriage. The birth rate is important to any nation and, like it or not, gay marriage is not a big help to that. There are many holes and issues with this point (not all straight marriages have kids, you don’t have to be married to have a baby, modern science allows a gay woman to have a baby) but there is no real question, in either liberal or conservative circles, that the best possible outcome for society is for children to be raised by their parents in a stable home environment.

If marriage is about the national value of families and babies – then we can have a discussion – if it is about morality or culture – then frankly there is not much of a discussion at all. The issue is the legal right to marriage not the legal right to sex.

And one final point – as my mom used to say (kind of): If you can’t say something “not stupid” don’t say anything at all.

Barenaked Ladies, U2 and Coldplay Celebrate Christ

Christian Buckley — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 05:47:01 +0000

Barenaked Ladies, U2 and Coldplay Celebrate Christ

This year, like every year, there are lots of “Christmas Songs” on the radio. Many, if not most, essentially tell the story of Christ’s entry to the world and what it means. So there you are in Bath and Body, Nordstoms, or Home Depot – and bam – on comes the Barenaked Ladies with God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen:

God rest ye merry, gentlemen,
Let nothing you dismay,
Remember Christ our Saviour
Was born upon this day;
To save us all from Satan's power
When we were gone astray.

[Chorus]
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy,
O tidings of comfort and joy!

From God our heavenly Father
This blessed angel came;
And unto certain shepherds
Brought tidings of the same;
How that in Bethlehem was born
The Son of God by name.

With all the angst over who says what where to whom...the music plays on. So take a listen next time you are walking at the mall and notice that God’s story fills the air….

Oh – and take a listen to these great tracks:

U2 - Father Christmas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=591xMe2xQlM

Coldplay - Christmas Lights

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI_w6a8UfXw

Barenaked Ladies - God Rest

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGVNzgUxE-g

You were Made for Chistmas - Thanks Mr. Mumford for the Reminder

Christian Buckley — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 05:19:31 +0000

You were MADE to meet your maker

If you know me then you know that my wife is way cooler than me. No question. One such area of cooler-ness is that she seems to find new and interesting music all the time. This is especially depressing for me because I have been a musician, in one form or another, for the better part of 20 years. Depressing I say - but on with the point.

One such discovered band (update - now super popular and super Grammy nominated) is Mumford and Sons and they have a song Awake my Soul that I love with the following lines:

In these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die
Where you invest your love, you invest your life

Awake my soul, awake my soul
Awake my soul
You were made to meet your maker
You were made to meet your maker

Normally the phrase “meeting your maker” is used around the idea of death and the fact that we all get the chance to meet our maker - like it or not – when we close our eyes that last time. You meet your maker when life runs out – or rather into Him.

But when you put the phrase “you were made” on the front of it, it takes on new meaning for me. Instead of an inescapable inevitability of doom meeting our maker becomes the purposeful point of our existence – it has been knitted into the fabric of our being.

God didn’t just make us to live and die, love and hurt, grow and fail, skin our knees and watch the clouds. He didn’t just make us to be sons and fathers, husbands and wives, dog owners and cat haters.

We were made to meet our maker. We were made with the purpose of, and potential to, meet our maker and in one very tangible way we get the chance to meet Him in a cold crowded barn beneath a bright and shining star. We get to meet Him at His most vulnerable. We get to meet him as a baby. We were made to meet Him there.

We were made to meet our maker this Christmas season. Will we?

Christ -- The Sign for All People

Christian Buckley — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 05:07:53 +0000

Luke 2:12 & 34

December 25, 2011

Christ -- The Sign for All People

I like everything about Christmas - the lights, decorations, trees, and festivity of almost every public space. I like finding gifts that express my great love and thanksgiving for those in my life. I like Christmas movies (especially Charlie Brown), cookies, cards, and the general sentiment that something is different. There is a communal anticipation, a hope, a looking forward to the morning of Christmas. For a moment, the world seems to pause and everyone is aware that the day is different.

And every year I read The Story (Luke 2) and am re-amazed by the obvious fact that the single greatest birth story of all time is covered in about two pages of text. Every year I want more, I want to ask the Shepherds questions and find out how Joseph really felt seeing his young love, Mary, go into labor in the most inhospitable of places. I want the text to give me something – and this year it gave me the word “sign” and it gave it to me twice.

In Luke 2:12, the angel tells the shepherds, “…this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” Then in Luke 2:34, Simeon says that Christ the child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be opposed and spoken against, revealing the hearts of many.

After reading and re-reading the passages I began to ask myself what it means that Christ is a sign and why the concept is included twice in Chapter two.

I reasoned a couple of things:

In verse 12, the sign that is being given to the shepherds is practical, directional, or for purpose of identification. The word connotes that the angel was trying to give the shepherds information that would direct them to the Christ child rather than any other baby in Bethlehem. I get that. But why would simple directions have been included by Luke and the Holy Spirit so that the words would be read over and over and over again for all time? Why didn’t the angel say something more profound, after all, this was the announcement of God’s incarnation. Was something more being identified for us? Maybe the sign was something more than the angle just saying, “Hey – look over there.”

In verse 34, the word sign means a warning, caution, or point of alarm. Christ the sign would be a dividing rod for the nation of Israel no doubt. But Christ is a sign of something more – a sign that would be opposed in such a way that hearts would be revealed. Perhaps Simeon and the Holy Spirit were also making clear that the birth of Christ, the incarnation of God, should be taken as a sign worthy of reflective pause because it would divide all of humanity.

Christ the sign. Sign of what? Sign to whom?

For nearly 2000 years, all of humanity has stopped each year to mark the birth of Christ. History has been defined by the event and at least in America, it is probably the only event that is universally recognized as a practical point of demarcation. Christmas is a stop sign of sorts on the way to a new year.

This year, all of humanity will stop for a moment because Christ was born as a baby at a specific time, in a specific place, to a real set of parents. The birth of Christ is a historical fact and, in retrospect, it is apparent that God has made the birth of His Son the singular point of history and the calendar year we now live by. Perhaps in a way, God was saying in effect, “Every year you are going to get a practical reminder that my Son was born, it was important, and I just want to remind you it happened.”

You don’t have to read the bible, go to church, or be a follower of Christ to get the sign. God has made it so clear that for almost 2000 years, all of humanity has been reminded, like it or not, that Jesus was born. In all its secular glory, Christmas remains the greatest single evangelistic event on earth. No matter what the effort, there is simply no way to take Christ’s name and the historical fact of His birth, out of the word Christmas. God, in his infinite wisdom, created Christmas so that every year His creation would get a practical reminder that His son was born.

But it wasn’t just a point to remember, like the date Columbus discovered America or your own date of birth. It isn’t just another date. Every year all of humanity is given the chance to pause and reflect on the warning that Christ was and is. He changed everything. His human story began and the story of humanity dramatically shifted. Every year we are given the chance to stop and reflect. We can take notice and bow to His lordship, or we can ignore the warning, overlook the opportunity, and move forward as if nothing important has happened.

That night God became man. Every year He points us to it and thereby provides an annual opportunity for the lost to see Him, the sick to touch Him, and the broken to feel Him. Every year most of us just overlook the sign. Like the countless numbers of people in Bethlehem at Christ’s birth, we walk right by the manger, never stopping to consider that God just made himself man so that man could be reconciled to God.

How amazing it is that every year God gives us the chance to stop and consider that the birth of Christ changed everything for everyone for all time. Every year God is asking us a simple question: “What will you do with my baby?”

This will be a sign unto you – Christmas.

What Can a Free $1,000 Do? Lots if You Use It.

Christian Buckley — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 17:30:15 +0000

What Can a Free $1,000 Do? Lots if You Use It.

No joke. This post is about you and your friends giving away thousands of dollars of someone else’s money - $10 at a time. I can’t tell you how many “thousands” (legal details blah blah blah) but its lots.

What:

$10 free that you can invest in a humanitarian project of your choice. Take our spare change and your spare time (its only 10 minutes) and give hope. No strings attached. No gimmicks. Just $10 free for you to invest in the world. No assembly required and its safe for kids.

Why:

About the time I started writing Humanitarian Jesus I also helped found The Glue Network – a new way of empowering people to impact need by finding new sources of funding like brands and companies to supply the money.

This isn’t just another great website that tells you that you need to get involved in hunger, disease, the environment and poverty by showing you those things and educating you about why you should care.

This is about us doing all of that, but then taking the next step of handing you money – real money – and then letting you choose what matters to you.

The idea was pretty simple. Give one person real money and allow them to invest it in a real way to impact lives.

The simple truth is that we have to get more engaged. If You Don’t Care About One Thing You Will Care About Nothing.

How:

This is a code worth $10 : GLU-fjcc8-WRIIB

Using it is easy and should take just a few minutes. Take the code, go to The Glue Network and follow the steps.

Use it with your spouse or kids. Pass it along to your friends. Spend all our money! PLEASE!

At Glue we continue to believe that love requires action. It starts with us, continues to our friends, and ends with someone in need receiving: medicine, an education, food, clean water, joy, and hope.

So take our money, take a few minutes, and take the first step in changing the world.

Merry Christmas

Christian

The Glue Network

Linus Saves Christmas!

Christian Buckley — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 17:27:42 +0000

Linus Saves Christmas!

Can we stop saying that “Christmas is under attack” or being wiped off the map by the left-wing media? Really, can we just shut up?

Christmas is Christmas and there have been 2,000 of them (give or take) to prove the point. Does calling a giant evergreen tree lit up with lights in the front lawn of The White House or in Rockefeller Center really change the fact that everyone knows it is a Christmas Tree? Does suggesting that one religious tradition shouldn’t dominate others in public spaces really change the fact that our calendar year and system of holidays are predicated around the one named for the birth of Jesus Christ?

It wouldn’t even matter if started calling it, “That One Day Each Year Where Everything Stops Because of the Birth of That Guy 2,000 Years Ago that Has Dominated Human History.”

Fine by me and fine by Linus. Yes Linus.

Every year without fail Charlie Brown Christmas is on national television and every year, without fail, our good friend Linus does more for the Christian faith than 10,000 God fearing men and women complaining about Holiday Trees and people saying happy holidays rather than Merry Christmas.

Take it Boys:

Isn't there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?

Sure, Charlie Brown, I can tell you what Christmas is all about.

Lights, please. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. (Luke 2:8-14)

That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.

You can watch the video at this LINK

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKk9rv2hUfA

Thanks Linus for dealing with this “complex problem” so profoundly. Maybe we would do best to just send people to him, say thanks to The Peanuts, and wish everyone we meet a Merry Christmas.

If you want some more info on the real history of A Charlie Brown Christmas check out the attached doc! It is worth a read.

Could Monkeys Write Shakespeare?

Christian Buckley — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 21:22:47 +0000

Could Monkeys Write Shakespeare?

Can I fly? Can a duck shoot a shotgun? Is a bike still a bike without wheels?

I could list a bunch of other stupid questions but this one has more importance.

For some time now the evolutionary proof involving random typing by monkeys in an attempt to recreate Shakespeare’s works has been ongoing. The basic idea is that enough monkeys with enough time and enough chances could produce the same works as Shakespeare.

Enter this story on BBC.COM:

“Virtual monkeys write Shakespeare

A few million virtual monkeys are close to re-creating the complete works of Shakespeare by randomly mashing keys on virtual typewriters.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15060310

Funny how the title of this story is the opposite of what the story really says. Actually the story is that they are not even close and will never be.

The problem, as highlighted by the story, is that after a smidgen of math and common sense, it became clear that based purely on random action with no design or rules for phrase selection there was less than a snowballs chance in hell – even though there is no hell – but you get the point.

Thus, what was added to the experiment was a very simple twist – we will accept those random outcomes that get us closer to our known goal (Shakespeare’s Works) and discard those that don’t. We can then begin to amass the correct results and eventually get to our goal. But that is not randomness – that is design with a desired and known outcome.

What started out as a proof for random evolution ended as a proof for the fact that random evolution is not possible within the time the world has been around unless you know what you are trying to evolve into. Stated simply – you might be able to evolve a human randomly if you have all the parts (the letters) and know what a human is (Shakespeare’s Works) and know how to put them together (selecting the word fragments that are correct) to reach the desired outcome – but again probably not in the time the world has been around.

Basically – I can build a car if you give me all the parts, an instruction manual the tells me how to put them together and points out every error I make, and a picture of the car to work from. Not likely I will randomly build a car with a bunch of parts I have to put together with no rules or idea for the result.

Ignoring the math and logic, the interesting point is this. The story is not that monkeys can’t do it. That would be obvious to my 8 year old if I asked her the question at the Zoo while looking at a monkey: “Hey daughter – do you think that Monkey could write Romeo and Juliet? Are you okay dad? Seriously are you okay? Mom! Dad is not okay.”

The story is that the writer would rather misstate the headline than accept the truth and its consequence.

Oh, and is a unicycle a bicycle? Seems obvious but google it if you have nothing to do.

Hate the Gays or Love Them – What Would Jesus Do?

Christian Buckley — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 16:25:19 +0000

There is probably no topic that Christians are more known for these days than hating gays. The vocal minority has done a great job proving this out and the not-so vocal majority of Christians have done very little to disprove it. We are known for largely hateful rhetoric, singling out one lifestyle to vilify and ignoring the ones Jesus really spoke against – pride, anger, materialism, idolatry, selfishness.

The church has wasted its time fighting gay marriage. Why wasted? Because I can tell you as a constitutional law expert that no matter what voters decide, the issue will be resolved by state and federal courts that for the most part don’t care what voters think. So the church has spent millions fighting something that in the end they have no control over. It’s like fighting a tsunami with a bucket – or millions of them. It won’t work but you will die in the process.

I met Andrew Marin several years ago and found him engaging and truly driven to take a road less traveled and even less respected in the Christian world. This story is worth a read if you want to think harder about the “Gay Issue” because its not an issue – it is a person.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15034651

Why 9/12 Matters

Christian Buckley — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 15:57:18 +0000

9/12 matters because it is Monday morning and I have already forgotten.

It is hard to believe that I can return to the ordinary affairs of the day without even a blink of the eye, already violating the solemn and ubiquitous slogan – We Shall Never Forget. It’s not that I have forgotten 9/11 or everyone that was directly and indirectly impacted in profound and subtle ways. I have already forgotten that today should not be the same.

As I watched show after show over the weekend where survivors from the buildings were interviewed, first-responders recounted their feelings, or those touched by the tragedy explained the impact – several compelling threads emerged.

First, that there is some God, some heaven, and some punishment. If the adage that there are no fox-hole atheists is true then so is the apparent adage that there are no 9/11 survivor atheists either – at least that I saw. Whether it was the bag-pipes playing amazing Grace at the memorials, the still remaining addition of God Bless America to the 7^th inning stretch at many baseball games, or the simple number of times that someone while telling a story mentioned God, prayer, heaven and seeing their relatives again – there is no escaping the fact that the existence of God is very much ratified by 9/11. In the face of every growing hostility to “faith” in whatever form that takes, it is good to see that when really pressed to our guts – the knowledge of God emerges.

What also emerges is the recognition of punishment for evil deeds. When the firemen went up they accorded themselves worth of praise. When the towers came down they accorded to the terrorists eternal condemnation. While I heard many express solace in the fact that the terrorists would be punished in some form or another I heard none that said their actions were okay in their eyes so they must be okay in our eyes. That their truth and choices were as valid as ours.

Finally, and most importantly, every story involved a statement that 9/11 made you question what life was really all about, whether the life you had built was really the one you should be living, that we must live every day with the knowledge that there are no guarantees and that most of the stuff we spend our lives for probably doesn’t matter at all.

I didn’t hear one person say that when they were pounding down the steps of Tower One they realized it was a good thing that they never saw their kids, put their family second to the their careers, spent every waking moment on the pursuit of money, or abandoned the things that they really loved about life.

Yet, one day later, I was back at my desk. 10 years later we are back at our lives- spending many days on stuff that doesn’t matter, mortgaging today for a future that in the face of 9/11 is anything but certain.

The problem is that more people die every year from car accidents than died on 9/11. In 2010: 32,708. In 2009: 33,808. In 2001: 42,196

http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/Main/index.aspx

A friend of my wife’s was murdered this year and another friend just died by lightening strike – both very rare occurrences – but both an end to life.

It is estimated that 560,000+ people died of cancer in 2010. One day you wake up without it - the next you find out it might kill you in 3 months.

Life is extraordinarily fragile and for the most part we live in constant denial of that fact.

In Dead Poets Society, a movie worth watching again or for the fist time today, Mr. Keating – the teacher of a group of boys at an east coast prep school reminds his students, while looking at a photo of a much earlier class, to “Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary.” You should watch the 5 minute clip here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVXKz0j9fvs

Intuitively we know that we get one shot at this story – one go around – and we spend it one day at a time. We occasionally get big and small reminders of this fact, but most days we wake, waste the day, and don’t even think a second about it. Most of my friends suffer through the week and live for the weekends. Many of us focus on retirement because we can’t stand our lives. None of the people that died on 9/11 got to retirement and none of them lived to see another weekend. You and I have no better a guarantee.

9/11 was the last day for many and the first day for the rest of us. We can choose to Never Forget that we get only this day, or can we return to living with the illusion that our towers will never come down.

Carpe Diem.

Simple Giving – Do the Easiest Thing First for 9/11

Christian Buckley — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 15:22:56 +0000

Simple Giving – Do the Easiest Thing First

As we come to 9-11 it is easy to think big but it is better to think small.

Inevitably when I speak on my book Humanitarian Jesus the question comes up – “How do we actually start giving ourselves away? How do we start serving our neighbor?”

I think the problem is that when we try to tackle slavery, water, poverty, or massive trauma like 9-11, Katrina, etc. it is difficult to find a foot-hold. We see the “big guys” making huge impact. Million dollar gifts, bailing out on life and diving in as a volunteer, shifting giant organizations to a new focus. These are all very good – but not the fundamental basis of humanitarian investment.

Look at it another way. I was on the board of a charity some time back and the issue of giving was on the table every meeting. The organization had a couple of “big” givers that made up about 60% of the small budget. I was against that. I wanted to find a way to get small donations from lots of people rather than lots of donations from a small group of people.

The solution is in the many not the few, which by the way is the model of my latest endeavor – www.thegluenetwork.com.

I have heard many people give answers to the “how to” question like find an organization to support, volunteer at a local non-profit, start a church program. Again these are good but not the start.

My answer? Do the easiest thing you can think of today to impact someone else’s life. Not the hardest or most important or even the most humanitarian. Just the easiest thing that is not about you. Around Easter this year I heard a Jesuit Priest share an idea for Lent. Don’t stop anything but rather simply care to “bother” about a simple thing you normally ignore. Smile at someone who is hurting. Really say thank you to the person at the counter. Open the door to the store. Pause to send the email to a friend. Pray for one more person every day.

Yesterday I did two. I paid $1 for a firefighter’s super big gulp that was in line behind my son and I and just said thank you as I walked out of the store. I also looked a homeless person in the eye rather than looking away at the corner – “I see you and acknowledge our common bond.” Don’t applaud, these were easy. But they are real and personal.

As we come to 9-11 it is easy to think big but it is better to think small.

www.911day.org is an interesting place to start.

"It is easy and free to participate. All you need to do (joining millions of others around the world) is observe the anniversary of 9/11 by performing good deeds, supporting charitable causes, volunteering and engaging in other acts of compassion".

Make it about them and not you. That is the heart of Christ and would be a great place to start.