Evangelicals' bigotry-filled Nashville Statement is denounced for its anti-LGBT message

The "Christian manifesto" brings back the conservative culture war rhetoric in a very un-Christian fashion

By Matthew Rozsa

Staff Writer

Published August 30, 2017 10:21AM (EDT)

        (AP/Rick Bowmer)
(AP/Rick Bowmer)

A group of evangelicals have developed a so-called "Christian manifesto," which proudly pronounces their prejudices against members of the LGBT community.

According to the Nashville Statement released by The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, "self-conception as male or female should be defined by God's holy purposes in creation and redemption as revealed in Scripture." By contrast, they "deny that adopting a homosexual or transgender self-conception is consistent with God's holy purposes in creation and redemption."

This is one of the many discriminatory positions adopted by the Nashville Statement. It also takes issue with same-sex and polyamorous marriages, premarital sex, transgender identities and homosexuality in general. "We deny that the approval of homosexual immorality or transgenderism is a matter of moral indifference about which otherwise faithful Christians should agree to disagree," the Nashville Statement reads.

In other words, the only way to be a good Christian is to adhere to the narrow views on LGBT issues — and sexual morality in general — held by The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.

In a statement, council president Denny Burk said, "The spirit of our age does not delight in God’s good design of male and female. Consequently, confusion reigns over some of the most basic questions of our humanity. The aim of The Nashville Statement is to shine a light into the darkness — to declare the goodness of God’s design in our sexuality and in creating us as male and female."

The statement was denounced on social media as "un-American toilet paper" written by hypocrites.

There are right-wing trolls, though, like Infowars' Paul Joseph Watson, who are using this opportunity to take pot shots at the left (and with a point that doesn't hold up).

In response to this, a number of Christians have supported the Denver Statement, which proclaims a love and acceptance for all individuals regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.


By Matthew Rozsa

Matthew Rozsa is a staff writer at Salon. He received a Master's Degree in History from Rutgers-Newark in 2012 and was awarded a science journalism fellowship from the Metcalf Institute in 2022.

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Related Topics ------------------------------------------

Evangelicals Gay Rights Lgbt Issues Nashville Statement Transgender Rights