The Church of England has decided to not allow same-sex marriages, but it will bless civil same-sex unions. Is it a wise compromise or terrible attempt to dodge a divisive issue? Brazil’s president lost reelection and his conservative Christian supporters stormed the capital. Is the American church exporting its nuttiness? New research from Gallop reveals which professions are the most and least trusted. Where do pastors land on the list? Plus, A.I. is causing layoffs for tech workers, Trump is angry at evangelical leaders, and broken Japanese toilets.
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News Segment
0:00 - Intro
2:56 - News of the Butt
6:42 - Artificial Intelligence
10:18 - Church of England marriage blessing
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28:59 - Capitol riots in Brazil
36:35 - Evangelical endorsements
42:29 - Ethics rankings
51:47 - End Credits
Links mentioned in news segment:
“‘See-through toilets’ malfunction in Shibuya” - https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/society/general-news/20221217-77930/#:~:text=Tokyo's%20Shibuya%20Ward%20announced%20Friday,see%20inside%20while%20in%20use.
“A news site used AI to write articles. It was a journalistic disaster.” - https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2023/01/17/cnet-ai-articles-journalism-corrections/
“Alphabet cuts 12,000 jobs after pandemic hiring spree, refocuses on AI.” - https://www.reuters.com/business/google-parent-lay-off-12000-workers-memo-2023-01-20/
“Church of England: Gay couples can't marry but will receive 'God's blessing'” - https://www.christianpost.com/news/church-of-england-gay-couples-cant-marry-but-will-receive-gods-blessing.html
“Christians represented significant faction of capital rioters in Brazil” - https://religionnews.com/2023/01/17/christians-represented-significant-faction-of-capital-rioters-in-brazil/
“Trump chides onetime evangelical supporters who haven’t endorsed him” - https://religionnews.com/2023/01/17/trump-chides-onetime-evangelical-supporters-who-havent-endorsed-him/
“The New Ethics Rankings Are Out. Where Do Pastors Stand?” - https://churchanswers.com/blog/the-new-ethics-rankings-are-out-where-do-pastors-stand/
Other resources:
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Hey, I know I'm late to the party, but I wanted to say firstly that I'm always grateful for the way everyone at the Holy Post tries to approach LGBTQ conversations with nuance, truth and love. Secondly, in this episode I was particularly thankful for Christian and her focus on humanizing the conversation due to her personal connections to people actually affected. I personally was very grateful that she tried to acknowledge something that often goes overlooked. The bible teaches a very high view of marriage and it can feel very alienating for many LGBTQ Christians, like myself, who have committed their lives to honoring this view by remaining celibate, to constantly hear 'the sanctity of marriage' being shouted fro…
Thank you again for thoughtful discussions of challenging questions. I do think there is an outstanding elephant in the room regarding the Church of England position. Most American Evangelicals (and most Christians through history I believe) take a strong position that sexual activity outside of marriage is sinful. How can a church "bless" a relationship which includes sexual activity outside of marriage? We sure are spending a lot of time and emotional energy for a topic that is gets very little attention in scripture, when topics that get much more attention in the Bible do not get the same engagement from us.
In the conversation about LGBTQ marriage, Christian was starting down the path of an important point by saying that the church blesses marriages where people aren't even Christian but apparently the only thing that matters is that it is a man and woman getting married rather than 2 people of the same sex. So abusers can have blessed marriages, as can adulterers, as can teenagers who are forced into marriage by their parents, etc. But those are all okay because.. tradition. The problem with that argument is that traditionally and biblically, men could marry multiple women and they could marry children or be forced to marry the spouse of a deceased brother, etc. There are all kinds of traditional biblical…
I don't see how Protestants can separate marriage from civil union, since we consider couples who were married in church ceremonies just as "married" (or "united") as couples who marry in a courtroom. Marriage is intrinsically a publically-recognized relationship. It's even tough to find a dictionary definition of marriage that doesn't contain the word "union." It seems to me that, if there is a genuine concern about recognizing same-sex marriages, it should be a concern that applies both within and without the church. Not that compromise isn't possible--it is probably necessary. But whatever view we take on marriage, it should be for the good of the church and society alike. I personally don't see how we can advocate for one…
I find Skye’s example of a hetero unmarried couple asking for a blessing to be a false equivalency. That couple has the ability/choice to be married by the church but has chosen not to. There are so many same sex couples who would love to be married in the church but they are denied that option. The only reason they have to resort to a blessing is because there is no other option available to them.