Obama, Theology, and Dobson the Fool

Islamophobia and Homophobia – NYTimes.com. So why have conservative Christians gotten less homophobic? Putnam and Campbell favor the “bridging” model. The idea is that tolerance is largely a question of getting to know people. If, say, your work brings you in touch with gay people or Muslims — and especially if your relationship with them is collaborative — this can brighten your attitude toward the whole tribe they’re part of. And if this broader tolerance requires ignoring or reinterpreting certain scriptures, so be it; the meaning of scripture is shaped by social relations.

NEWSPAPER COLUMN: “My Family’s First Trip To A Mosque” | The Crescent Post. In September 2007 our Honda Odyssey idled in the gravel parking lot of a mosque in Clemson, S.C. As it turned out, the unadorned aluminum structure sat ironically and lonely on Old Stone Church Road in the Deep South. Suddenly my then-2-year-old daughter voiced the words that apparently reverberate in America from time to time: “Mosque … scary.”