Newsletter 6/26/23 - Navigating The Political Season and American's Surprising Views on Gender
Pastors are wanting to handle 2024 well and natural law holds, at least in one important area
We are in the lazy days of summer but not nearly enough time to be lazy. We were in Chicago for a few days for my mother’s memorial service and then in New Orleans for the SBC convention. I’m also working on some cool things for The Land Center, doing some writing, thinking about future book projects, and prepping for my fall classes at TBC. (Human Dignity, Ethics). Oh, and I’m preaching and speaking in a few places. I’ll be in Gettysburg for the Braver Angels convention, at Glorieta for the M3 SBTC youth camps, and preaching at our church (this Sunday, Mark 9 on the transfiguration).
I have found time for some leisure reading. I just finished both After the Fall by Kasey Pipes. It’s about the post-presidency of Richard Nixon. I wrote about it here for paid subscribers. I also just finished Pipes’ Ike’s Final Battle: The Road to Little Rock and the Challenge of Equality. Very good. Now I’m on to both And Then There Was Light, a new biography of Lincoln by Jon Meacham (audio), and The Triumph of William McKinley by Karl Rove. I’m not sure if you can detect a theme, but my summer reading is heavy on Presidential politics. I can’t help myself.
I’ve also been paying a lot of attention to the offseason in the NBA. I loved the NBA playoffs and am curious about what teams do this summer. Of course, my Bulls are stuck in hopeless mediocrity but nobody feels sorry for us after having won 6 titles in the 90’s. So a lot of Bill Simmons and Collin Cowherd podcasts.
As for writing, well, I’m doing a ton of media still for Agents of Grace. I’ve heard from a number of you with positive feedback. Thank you for that. Please, if you are so inclined, spread the word. The book is a bit counter-cultural in that I talk about unity and forgiveness and rejecting cynicism in the age of the angsty evangelical revenge tour. But I believe it’s the book I was supposed to write.
Lastly, I’ve got two new pieces out, one with World and the other with Lifeway Research.
First, in World, I look at the American’s surprisingly traditional views on gender:
A recently released survey by the Public Religion Research Institute shows that a significant majority of Americans still believe in the reality of two genders, and it’s not just the much-covered cohort of evangelicals who are shaping public opinion. According to the latest numbers, 65 percent of Americans—up from 59 percent two years ago—believe that there are only two genders, male and female. Unsurprisingly, this belief is held by 90 percent of Republicans. What is surprising is that 66 percent of Independents and 44 percent of Democrats also hold to the traditional view. These figures are also an increase from the same survey in 2021.
Among major religious groups, this belief holds steady as well. Ninety-two percent of white evangelical protestants, 81 percent of Hispanic Protestants, 73 percent of black Protestants and 73 percent of other Protestants of color believe gender is a fixed reality. Every other religious cohort including white and black Roman Catholics and non-Christian religious groups affirm the same understanding.
The survey is even more revealing of American attitudes when broken down by generation. A majority of Generation Z, whose membeers have grown up in a world with nonstop messaging about gender fluidity, nevertheless holds to traditional views on gender. Fifty-seven percent—up a whopping fourteen points from two years ago—believe men are men and women are women. The survey shows that a majority of every other generational cohort agrees.
A majority of Americans, including every racial, religious, and generational cohort, also believe that topics of sexuality and gender should not be taught to children in K-fifth grade. This belief was at the heart of the controversial law signed by Florida Gov. Ron Desantis in March of 2022.
What should Christians make of these numbers? We can at first rejoice that everyday Americans are resisting the attempt to distort reality when it comes to the meaning male and female. Even though corporate boardrooms, academic faculty lounges, and media green rooms are attempting to convince us that gender is fluid, people are recoiling. This is one significant instance in which our elite institutions are measurably out of touch with the people they claim to serve.
And then for Lifeway Research, I write with some help for pastors navigating another divisive presidential election:
The 2024 presidential election season is upon us, with several declared candidates on the Republican side and a few on the Democratic side. The election promises to be as contested and divisive as any in the modern era. And if we are not careful, the politics of the moment could overwhelm and divide churches as it has in recent years. What can pastors do to “keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3, CSB)?
I offered these five suggestions:
1) Don't avoid the election 2) Don't obsess over the election 3) Equip people on important issues 4) Model and teach people how to do politics 5) Prioritize Christian unity 6) Thank God for the election
You can read the whole thing here:
Lastly, this week is going to feature temps here in Fort Worth up to 107 degrees. So I’m thanking God for the invention of air-conditioning and praying for the stability of Texas’ electrical grid.