You’ll find the full-size video screen below.
This week, many of our regular readers flooded our offices with emails asking: Where is the video clip of Dr. David Gushee appearing on CNN?
Well, here it is! You can watch the short interview in the video screen below.
CNN’s Don Lemon welcomes Dr. Gushee to comment on Franklin Graham’s attack on presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, who is the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and describes himself as both gay and Christian.
In the clip, Lemon asks if Dr. Gushee is surprised by Graham’s condemnation.
Gushee answers: “I’m not surprised but I am distressed. What we’re talking about here is attacking a whole group of people at the core place of their faith and, in this case, of their marriage. … It was hurtful and inappropriate and represents some retrograde theology that continues to hurt people.”
Dr. David Gushee on the Dangers of Biblical Literalism
As the interview continues, Dr. Gushee talks about the dangers of biblical literalism: “What we’re talking about here is a long history of selective biblical literalism that takes certain passages—or sentences or strands—of the bible, and severs them from the heart and example of Jesus and ends up using that selective literalism to hurt people. There’s a long history of this from antisemitism, to grotesque sexism, support for slavery, colonialism, segregation and even the exclusion of divorced people from the church. Right now the main battleground is LGBTQ inclusion.”
Gushee points out that most evangelicals have long-ago abandoned their historic attempts to defend racism and antisemitism. Divorced-and-remarried people now are widely welcomed into evangelical churches, which condemned them as unrepentant sinners not too many years ago.
Millions of Americans already have changed their minds and have come to accept LGBTQ inclusion, but, Dr. Gushee says: “Right now, conservative christians are digging in their heels.”
See Dr. David Gushee with CNN’s Don Lemon
Click the cover to visit the book’s Amazon page.
Care to read more?
Order Dr. Gushee’s book from Amazon right now.
How did Dr. Gushee’s supporters respond?
Dr. Gushee is well aware that anti-gay evangelicals will continue to attack his outspoken appearances to discuss this issue. However, this is a vital issue for millions of American families—the majority of whom now are calling for acceptance, according to Pew Research.
Here is a small sampling of the encouraging messages that immediately flooded into Dr. Gushee’s Facebook page.
- Susan Fritsch Stitt: Awesome. What a wonderful blessing this book is for our world.
- Lynn McDonald: That is awesome David! We recommend your book all the time. So well done! Proud to call you our friend.
- Ron Smith: It is a VERY good book and many thanks. We have used it extensively here in Australia.
- Holly Lynn Collison: I’m so glad to see this!
- Patty Thompson: Fantastic book
- C. John Hildebrand: Reading it right now. Fantastic book.
- Patty Hutchins: Good news! Hope a huge number of Methodists purchase it.
- Beckie Carter McCall: Keep. It. Up. You are the thread some of us are holding onto right now.
- Cheryel Lemley-McRoy: So glad more people are reading it!
- Cynthia Whitehurst Jarman: I have this book and have read it. Thanks for the reminder – need to get it out and read again!
- Dianne Buckner Otwell: Yes! A very timely message in your book!
- Leslie Fitzmorris: That gives me hope!
- Marcia Martin: I buy it for anyone who will read it!
- Beckie Carter McCall: Thank you for standing up for our children. Thank you so much for your book. Please please speak out more.
- Martha Rogers: David is a stand-up for Justice kind of guy! Love him dearly! He’s changed the landscape of the gay issue among evangelicals.
- Meredith Webster Indermaur: Thank you for saying what needs to be said.
- Virginia Classick: Thank you, David, for speaking out about the inclusive love of God so shown in the ministry of Jesus.
- Brian Coogan: Thank you for your honesty and grace in calling our evil. You continue to make a difference.
- Jim Pope: Thank you, David. We cannot allow Franklin Graham and his ilk to be the voice of Christianity to the world.
