16AR21-16

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AR 21:16 – Prominent UK advocate of "Islamophobia" tactic recants

In this issue:

DEATH - are Christians giving sin too much credit?

HOMOSEXUALITY - new book on same-sex love found to be "one giant equivocation," all the while missing its appropriate form

+ are we "only one-fifth as likely as non-evangelicals to believe that homosexuality is morally acceptable"?

ISLAM - the increasing certainty that Europe is in big trouble due to uncritical immigration policies

Apologia Report 21:16 (1,289)

April 20, 2016

DEATH

"The Question of Evil and Animal Death Before the Fall" by Ingrid Faro, assistant director of the MDiv program at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School -- "Two main questions are explored. First, what is evil biblically? Second, is animal death before the fall (apart from sin) compatible with Scripture and the redemptive mission of God? ...

"The thesis presented here is that the core tragedy of the fall is not only the loss of good, but primarily humanity's failure to carry God's good and blessing to the rest of creation."

Faro concludes that "From Genesis, Job, and the Psalmist, animal death is this likely part of God's good creation from the beginning [even though] the though of animal death as part of the normal course of nature is often assumed to reflect evil." One defense of this view is that "Although animals of prey kill for food, animals are not capable of the savagery, cruelty, and terror that humanity can display."

Another argument Faro gives is that "At its core, the position regarding the impossibility of animal death before the fall is a theodicy: an explanation for why there is death and suffering. ... This is the most common theodicy. The connection between sin-curse-death is a common human expectation....

"To attribute all suffering, pain, and evil to sin deprives us of a robust theology of suffering, and thus denies us a fuller knowledge of God and his ways. It also reduces God to the size of our own cognitive abilities....

"A second principle in the agency of good and evil, other than that of action-consequence, is the principle of authority and responsibility. ... God's intention for humanity [is] to be the light of the world.... The purpose of light is to illuminate.... This was the purpose for humanity from creation."

Ultimately, "we can trust that a good God is just in his dealings with animal life and animal death...." Trinity Journal, 36:2 - 2015, pp193-213.

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HOMOSEXUALITY

Science, Scripture, and Same-Sex Love, by Michael B. Regele [1] -- "his book is essentially one giant equivocation" says reviewer Taylor Zimmerman, who goes on to report that Regele "uses fallacious arguments and rhetorical sleight of hand to confuse the reader into supporting his view for the sake of 'love.' ...

"I would refer to Regele's theology as hamartiology lite for he argues that what *is* ought to *be* making no mention of sin or the Fall in his creation account, and often articulating a Semi-Pelagian view of salvation. Regele resurrects old liberal arguments against proof-texts of homosexual behavior in scripture, and if he cannot twist the meaning to something in his favor, he resorts to simply dismissing the argument as cultural for that time period."

It gets worse. Regle "often encourages the reader to skip past the theology" involved and "ultimately relies on sentimentalism ... never fully providing a comprehensive sexual ethic that has any robust moral clout. ...

"Toward the end of the book, he remarks, 'the primary focus [of marriage] is partnership that ends loneliness.' ... For Regle's intense desire to see LGBT people flourish in Christian community, he takes a very narrow view of what that flourishing looks like. ... Regle never seems to be critical of the unbiblical idea that marriage is the only relationship where love can happen."

We should all "put more effort into critiquing our culture's idolatry of marriage to increase the viability of celibacy and and to exalt the role of friendships in our communities. And that's the kind of same-sex love Christians should get behind." Asbury Journal, 70:2 - 2015, pp153-4.

"My Friend is Gay, But ... The Effects of Social Contact on Christian Evangelicals' Beliefs About Gays and Lesbians" by Ashley A. Barker and Sarah R. Brauner-Otto -- from the abstract: "This paper examines the relationship between social contact with gays and lesbians and beliefs about homosexuality, and explicitly investigates whether this relationship is different for Christian evangelicals than for others. We find that although social contact with gays and lesbians is related to beliefs about homosexuality in ways predicted by social contact theory, those with a gay or lesbian friend hold more positive attitudes, this is not the case for Christian evangelicals. In fact, analyses reveal that the effect of social contact for Christian evangelicals is significantly less than the effect for non-evangelicals. Results suggest that social contact alone is not enough to positively change Christian evangelicals' beliefs about gay and lesbian individuals."

"The authors acknowledge that the "relationship between Christian evangelicalism, social contact, and beliefs about homosexuality" is complex. "We find that evangelical Christians with gay and/or lesbian friends are only one-fifth as likely as non-evangelicals to believe that homosexuality is morally acceptable."

Speculation as to what may lie behind this difference is that evangelicals "may be more committed to religious doctrine." [Uh huh. - RP] Review of Religious Research, 57:2 - 2015, pp239-268.

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ISLAM

"Former UK Official Who Popularised the Term 'Islamophobia' Admits Error" by Raheem Kassam, a Shillman-Ginsburg fellow at the Middle East Forum and editor-in-chief of Breitbart London -- "The former head of Britain's Equalities and Human Rights Commission, Trevor Phillips, has admitted he 'got almost everything wrong' on Muslim immigration in a damning new report on integration, segregation, and how the followers of Islam are creating 'nations within nations' in the West. ...

"While serving as chair of the Runnymede Trust, Phillips commissioned a 1997 report on Islamophobia and Britain, which, according to both Phillips himself and academics across the country, popularised the phrase which has now become synonymous with any criticism - legitimate or not - of Islam or Muslims. ...

"Phillips says his new data shows a 'chasm' opening between Muslims and non-Muslims on fundamental issues such as marriage, relations between men and women, schooling, freedom of expression, and even the validity of violence in defence of religion. He notes - echoing an article on Breitbart London just two weeks ago <www.goo.gl/ZpiL3V> that reveals a growing disparity between older and younger Muslims in Britain....

"Mr. Phillips even acknowledges that the mass sexual grooming and rape scandals that are plaguing heavily Muslim populated towns across Britain are because of Muslim - not 'Asian' - men. ...

"Even left-wing columnist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown told him [Phillips]: '[We liberal Muslims] are a dying breed - in 10 years there will be very few of us left unless something really important is done.'"

Phillips "lays the blame at the feet of the liberal, metropolitan elite, media classes: 'Oddly [says Phillips], the biggest obstacles we now face in addressing the growth of this nation-within-a-nation are not created by British Muslims themselves. Many of our (distinctly un-diverse) elite political and media classes simply refuse to acknowledge the truth. Any undesirable behaviours are attributed to poverty and alienation. Backing for violent extremism must be the fault of the Americans. Oppression of women is a cultural trait that will fade with time, nothing to do with the true face of Islam.'

"'Even when confronted with the growing pile of evidence to the contrary, the angst of the liberal minority of British Muslims, clever, important people, still cling to the patronising certainty that British Muslims will, over time, come to see that 'our' ways are better.'

"In terms of solutions, Mr. Phillips opines on 'halting the growth of sharia courts and placing them under regulation' ensuring that school governance never falls into the hands of a single-minority group, 'ensuring mosques that receive a steady flow of funds from foreign governments such as Saudi Arabia, however disguised, are forced to reduce their dependency on Wahhabi patronage' and an end to the 'silence-for-votes understanding between local politicians and Muslim leaders....

"Mr. Phillips comments echo those of the Czech president <www.goo.gl/C9FhE2>, and research <www.goo.gl/JUUaMj> from across Europe that revealed attitudes amongst Muslims on the continent have hardened. The younger the Muslim, the more likely they are to hold hard-line views, one recent study found." Middle East Forum, Apr 10 '16. <www.goo.gl/bqRPjd>