✅ From the Editor
Here are three things on my mind as we ramp up for the 2024-2025 school year:
1. In mid-July I shared the letter I wrote to several United States bishops concerning Listen, Teach, Send, the new USCCB document on youth ministry. Through both official and unofficial channels, I heard that this letter received attention at the leadership level. While I do not know what lies ahead, I will remain "hungry and foolish" in this desert ministry.
2. The April newsletter shared this document with three examples of LGBTQ+ faculty protection policies being used in Catholic schools. In the months ahead, I would like to explore this practice more deeply and make a case that it is "truly right and just." Please send me any thoughts on this question: Why/How should Catholic schools have nondiscrimination policies that protect LGBTQ+ employees?
3. Sophia Institute for Teachers continues to advertise a "treasure-trove of timely and game-changing resources" called "Responding to Transgender Ideology." From a recent email campaign:
How can we teach the truth of the human person while also addressing the emotional needs and confusion of the child in front of us? The solution is here. Sophia Teachers has consulted with thousands of teachers and experts around the country and developed resources you can trust to address these issues. Resources that provide the theological, cultural, legal, and practical formation they need to effectively address the problem.
Why do these materials promote mockery and conflict as the entry point for pastoral care? When has the language of "confusion" and "problem" been effective in earning the trust of young people? Where are the quantitative and qualitative data sets that show input from "thousands of teachers and experts"? What are the studies, sample sets, findings, and peer-reviewed journal articles that stand behind claims about what is best for adolescent mental health and well-being? Who is funding this program?
Simply put: Opinions are only as good as the evidence that backs them up.
We know from research that efforts to change, prevent, deny, or minimize a young person's LGBTQ+ identity cause harm—physical, emotional, spiritual. (This is why I keep an extensive bibliography accessible to everyone). Furthermore, the Centers for Disease Control just released findings that only 43.9% of 12-17 year old sexual and gender minority adolescents reported "always or usually receiving the social and emotional support they needed." That means 56.1% of this population did not receive the support they needed to thrive. Additionally, "parents consistently reported higher perceived levels of their teenager’s social and emotional support compared with the teenager’s self-report." I suspect this misunderstanding exists among many adults who do not work directly and successfully with young persons.
The materials from Sophia Institute for Teachers need a public response. If you would like to be a thought partner or participant in this response, then please let me know.
✅ Bill Henson (Founder & President, Posture Shift)
Bill Henson is the Founder and President of Posture Shift. These posts from Facebook on July 29, 2024 and July 30, 2024 are reprinted with Bill's permission.
As believers, we cannot — without extreme hypocrisy — cheer the over-contextualization of Christian imagery in our political favor, while simultaneously, bark syncretism at a secular world for doing the same.
"God will not be mocked" is merely a factual quality of His glory and character. He is beyond the reach of mere human mocking. Yet in the face of mocking, He so loved the world that He gave His one and only son, Jesus Christ, who...
*"Being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant..." (Phil. 2:6-8)
*Seeing "among the people following him, women who wept and wailed for him," responded: "Do not weep for me, weep for yourselves...for if people do this when the tree is green, imagine what will happen when it is dry." (Luke 23:26-31)
*Hanging on the cross being spat upon and mocked with all kinds of chiding, prayed: "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34)
The more we fight "mere humans" to try to stop them from mocking God (which is spiritually an impossibility), the more we exhibit the very traits that invite additional backlash and mocking of....God!
I am reminded of Romans 2:1-4, where Paul deweaponizes the targeted application of Romans 1 toward only certain people. Paul, already reading our hearts, reprimands his future readers with a graphic reminder:
"When YOU, a mere man, pass judgment on others, and yet YOU do the same or similar things, do YOU think YOU will escape the judgment of God. Or do YOU show utter contempt for the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God's kindness is intended to lead YOU to repentance?"
Repentance from what? Typically, the very things that keep us from being shaped into a servant willing to follow Jesus. Things like: pornography, gossip, slander, political idolatry, abuse, rage, selfishness, greed, immorality - among other ways in which we "mock" Jesus.
When we abide it Christ, it will having nothing to do with political affiliation nor religiosity nor raging at this world. It will look like "a suffering servant" surrendered to Jesus and empowered by His Spirit to exhibit for our world the glory of God through the fruits of His Spirit "...love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." (Gal. 5:22)
Paul continues in this Galatians 5 passage: "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live BY THE SPIRIT, let us keep in step WITH THE SPIRIT. Let us not become conceited..."
To be clear, I think it's OK to be upset at the imagery at the Olympics. Trust me, when our children were younger, as new parents, we had our guard up. To feel anger can be a passion to defend and protect. I felt this myself. That can be godly.
The key: we are not to "sin" in our anger. In our anger, it is to be tamed by God's Holy Spirit. Otherwise, we'll operate in the flesh.
If we cannot imagine how much God desires to reach people such as Drag Queens, we need only return to the cross to see how Jesus behaves toward those who will mock and kill him soon after The Last Supper.
It will also help if we will go back to our encounter with Jesus at the cross, to truly see the depth to which we received an amazing grace that we did not deserve and could never earn.
People who know just how amazing God's grace has been offered to save a wretched sinner like [me], we should be the first to imagine that God desires to reach others.
Oh, and if you want to be a witness to a more holistic gospel in our world, invite an LGBT+ family member, friend, neighbor, or coworker to lunch. Ask about their story and discover how Christ living inside you can be a blessing to them in some small way.
Amen. 🙏
I don't have to mock people or ridicule them or criticise their ideologies in order to earn criticism or persecution. If I am ugly or cruel, I deserve a counter attack.
I can express the full love of Christ and care for an individual who sees faith differently than me. I can do it genuinely in an authentic effort to protect the dignity and value of a person.
And in return, I can receive a vitriolic reaction that an individual believes they are justified in throwing at me.
True persecution is when we are merely living our faith and genuinely extending the love of Christ to people...and an anger rises up so fast and furious that a person laughs and mocks and dismisses us as fake, fraudulent, and a danger to our world.
Importantly, to prophetically call people to repentance before our Holy God is "not" being hateful or dismissive of the dignity and worth of an individual.
But the nature of our prophecy is important - in our anger at unrighteousness, are we sinning?
It is possible to proclaim the hardest biblical truths but do so within the fruits of God's Spirit. It is possible to be even quite passionate and charismatic in our plea for people to come to God in repentance.
For this, truly, we'll face persecution even when we act with a Christlike heart.
In other words, we don't have to ask for or attempt to earn persecution as some kind of badge of holiness. Merely for being in Christ and inviting others to Christ, it will fuel either sarcasm, accusation, or rage in the person who wants nothing to do with God.
All this said, we must remain Christlike in the face of persecution. In our humanity, that can be quite difficult to do. And yet if we can do it, there can be the prospect of earning trust and seeing a conversation turn more peaceful and vulnerable.
You see, for some, to persecute Christians is a rage against God and His people - but for some, underneath this rage or disgust at God is a hurt.
Some have been hurt by life. Some have been hurt by people. Some have been hurt by people like us — or they watched their loved ones be hurt by people like us.
Importantly, some were not hurt because we believed in God and held Christ high. They were hurt because we [fill in the blank.] We judged them. We yelled God at them. We excluded them. We condemned them. We turned others against them. We shamed them.
The end result is an exterior persecution fueled by rage, but under the anger is hurt.
If we — or people like us — were the source of their hurt, then no wonder that even a loving representation of Christ can be met with disdain. No wonder.
Every so often, though, an aggressive rage will break down into an expression of hurt. A person who has moved in their posture to reveal an inside hurt is doing so because they sense "the prospect" that the love we've shown might be sincere.
This situation can lead to an outcome where we are comforting and encouraging a person - and they are internalizing that as something good for them. Maybe even something they don't often receive - even from people who see the world and faith similar to them.
God only knows where a person's journey could lead from here. It could merely lead to an Atheist saying "this is my Christian friend I trust." It could lead to salvation.
For this reason, in faith, I always want to reflect Christlikeness in the prayer that God can anoint it and use it to draw someone toward Him.
This is the heart desire of God: that a hurting person who has seen no legitimacy to His existence and has never seen evidence of His goodness, could hear His still, small voice calling out: "Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest for your soul." (Matthew 11:28-30)
Along the path of finding those who truly do desire to find a God like Jesus, no doubt we will encounter many who will scoff at, reject, ridicule, and hate us for giving witness to the Savior and Lord of Heaven and earth.
This is why, following the Olympics Opening Ceremony, I posted my thoughts on how we as believers should conduct ourselves in this viral moment.
It was not to criticize fellow believers who feel deep grief and anger at the ceremony. I said it in the post: as we express our faith - even driven by a passion to confront what we saw as grievous — let us not sin in our response.
If we react with disdain and disgust directed at people who need Jesus, it is highly likely that they will not even get any glimpse of God's still, small voice calling out to them.
This conviction to take on a posture that may seem weak and catering to sin, is precisely the place where God's anointing can "perfect His strength in our weakness" for His glory so that people see Him rather than us.
Again, this doesn't cut off or compromise a prophetic call to our world. One that will offend many. It simply means we do so humbly and with genuine love for people.
Yes, genuine love for drag queens too. 🙏
- August is the renewal month for the modest resources that support Without Exception (website, email, newsletter). Please make sure any links to our website are using the correct address (www.withoutexception.net). The original website address is now expired. As you can see in the adjacent map, the Without Exception network is growing! For the new year, maybe you could forward this newsletter to even one person who might benefit from joining our mailing list?
- The Family Acceptance Project (FAP) is developing evidence-based materials for Catholic parents and caregivers with LGBTQ children. The FAP Director, Dr. Caitlin Ryan, is inviting families with LGBTQ young people to share family photos that might be used – with their permission – in these resources. As you may know, Dr. Ryan is a Catholic social worker and researcher who has worked on LGBTQ health and mental health for nearly 50 years and has done the first research on LGBTQ youth and families and developed the first evidence-based family support model that helps racially, culturally and religiously diverse families to learn to support their LGBTQ children. The Family Acceptance Project has previously disseminated more than 600,000 copies of their multilingual family education materials to diverse families with LGBTQ children and youth. For more info, contact Dr. Ryan at: fap@sfsu.edu. Thank You!
- LGBTQ+ communities are disproportionately at risk for suicide and other mental health struggles. The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline website has information and resources for those looking for help and support for yourself or loved ones who identify within the vast, diverse, and thriving LGBTQ+ communities.
- The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has launched a new website for ordering print materials to promote the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. You can also access print materials in the 988 Partner Toolkit.
- The Family Acceptance Project (FAP) is launching the first online family program to help parents of color who are struggling with their teen’s LGBTQ identity to decrease rejection and increase family support. The program is open to parents and LGBTQ youth of color (ages 14-18) from across the U.S. The project team is still looking for ethnically, racially, and religiously diverse families to participate. For information, contact Dr. Ryan at fap@sfsu.edu.
Without Exception is a global network of Catholic secondary educators dedicated to discerning the art of accompaniment for LGBTQ+ students in Catholic schools. Through a commitment to faithful dialogue and peer collaboration, we seek to understand what it means to share the love of Jesus Christ with every person, without exception.
Email: info@withoutexception.net
Website: www.withoutexception.net