The Secular Creed
The Secular Creed: Engaging Five Contemporary Claims
By: Rebecca McLaughlin
We’ve all seen the multi-colored signs posted in people’s yards or hung in windows that proclaim (in some form):
In this house we believe that:
Black Lives Matter
Love is Love
Women’s Rights Are Human Rights
We Are All Immigrants
Diversity Makes Us Stronger
Rebecca McLaughlin has written this short, concise book, not to hammer these signs in every yard and neither to smash them to pieces. She writes “wielding a marker instead of a mallet” to edit and explore these signs’ tenets and to hold them up to Scripture, correcting where we must and championing all that God commands to us in his Word.
I appreciate this approach because we are so often subjected to or persuaded by the dichotomous thinking perpetuated by our respective political parties (or churches) that it’s an all or nothing acceptance. If we accept one or more tenets of this sign, we must affirm them all, or because we reject one or more tenet, we must therefore discard it altogether.
It’s not that simple and McLaughlin walks us through these complicated but essential waters.
At just over 100 pages, this is by no means all there is to know and learn regarding issues like race, sexuality, diversity, and equality, (I will offer some other resources I’ve come across in my reading at the end of this blog) but she packs a lot into these pages, providing a sensitive, logical, and researched viewpoint, centered around loving and caring for all people.
Her main premise is to emphasize that the very concept of “human rights” is derived from Christianity through its biblical teachings. With every chapter she links the concepts of worth, equality, diversity, family, love, and identity to Scripture and the words of Jesus and his apostles. She posits: “Without Christian beliefs about humanity, the yard sign’s claims aren’t worth the cardboard on which they are written.”
I think one of her strongest and most critical—to the church—points is the church’s historical sin toward black people in the form of chattel slavery followed by years of segregation and inequality, all wrongly defended by the gross misuse of the Bible. Because the church continually failed in this regard, many have rejected the church’s beliefs about sexuality. How can we trust Christians’ beliefs about what the Bible says if they used it to enslave their fellow brothers and sisters?
And so we have a movement, often under the umbrella of the organization Black Lives Matter, that tethers racial equality with the LGBTQ+ movement as well as a linking of women’s rights with abortion rights:
“The frequent failure of Christians to meet biblical ideals of fellowship across racial difference, equal valuing of men and women, welcome for outcasts, love for those with unfulfilled desire, and care for the most marginalized has allowed this mixture of ideas to coalesce under the banner of diversity.”
Though not a complete analysis of the secular creed posed on these signs (only a brief discussion on immigration), here is the breakdown of the tenets (and chapter titles) she presents:
Black Lives Matter
Love is Love
The Gay-Rights Movement is the New Civil-Rights Movement
Women’s Rights are Human Rights
Transgender Women are Women
Here are some noteworthy things I’ve picked out from each chapter.
Black Lives Matter
“Christianity is the most racially, culturally, and geographically diverse belief system in the world.”
Jesus wasn’t white. Isn’t it illogical that we have to clarify that? I love how McLaughlin points out places throughout the Bible where we see the mixing of races: Joseph marries an Egyptian woman. Moses marries a woman from Saudi Arabia and after her death, a woman from Ethiopia, just to name a few.
“In Matthew’s retelling of Israel’s history, we see that non-Israelites weren’t just squeezed in at the fringes of God’s purposes. They were plumbed into the royal bloodline. Jesus’s DNA was shaped by Rahab (Canaanite) and by Ruth (Moabite). He had non-Israelite blood in his veins.”
Countless times in Scripture we are reminded that God intends his family to be diverse: “from every tribe, tongue, and nation.” We already see that playing out in the world today. America does not have the monopoly on Christianity. McLaughlin gives predictive stats that show the church in China is expected to outgrow the church in America by 2030 and thirty years later could include half of China’s population. At the same time, 40% of Christians would live in sub-Saharan Africa. I don’t know exactly how these numbers are determined, but I think it’s a pretty fair conclusion that it is inevitable that Christianity will continue to diversify across race and culture as God intended.
I think the author makes a very good point when she says:
“These facts don’t for a moment excuse the history of white Christians treating black people as if their lives don’t matter… But dismissing Christianity because of the failure of white Christians means silencing the voices of black believers and acting like only white voices matter in considering Christ.”
I recently read Jemar Tisby’s book, The Color of Compromise, which fleshes out in far more excruciating detail the chronological racism our country must own up to, but one thing that struck me throughout the book was the faith of so many black people who endured slavery and segregation and everything else. It was their correct belief of Scripture— God’s intended equality— and the hope of God’s redemption that spurred them on, despite the violence wrongly done in God’s name. That truly is incredible faith. And just as much as Christianity is tainted by these racist sins, we can’t deny that the Bible was still the basis of Martin Luther King Jr.’s civil-rights movement and plea for equality.
“The painful reality is that the founding fathers excluded enslaved Africans from their vision of human equality. But this problem isn’t fixed by erasing the basis for equality.”
The Bible pretty clearly denounces slavery and violence and preaches human equality and diversity as we are all created in the image of God.
The part of this chapter that I still wrestle with is using the wording ‘black lives matter.’ I fully understand and support the meaning of this phrase and the reality that for so long black lives were treated like they didn’t matter. My only hesitation is the association with the Black Lives Matter organization which espouses many other beliefs that I cannot agree with. Can I say these three words without an implication of other words?
McLaughlin weighs in:
“Given the history of white evangelical failure to recognize black people as their equals before God, I gladly affirm that black lives matter, despite the fact an organization with that name expresses other beliefs I cannot embrace. If there were a secular organization called Unborn Babies Matter, I would say those words, too, even if that organization also waved a rainbow flag, because unborn babies matter.”
I am still wrestling with this but appreciate this perspective and the challenge to not be dismissive and reflexively reject anything to do with the words ‘black lives matter,’ because that does not reflect a soft heart that is turned toward people.
“At times, Christians have tried to close down conversations about racial justice by urging people to “Just preach the gospel.” They suggest that pursuing racial justice is a distraction from the church’s central mission of evangelism, and that if we preach the gospel of Jesus’s death in our place, and the need for personal salvation, all other ills will naturally be healed. But Jesus didn’t tell his disciples to just preach the gospel. He told them to “make disciples of all nations…”...Living as a disciple of Jesus includes preaching the gospel, pursuing justice for the poor, oppressed and marginalized, and practicing love across racial and cultural difference.”
“We must pursue love and fellowship across racial and cultural difference relentlessly—not because progressives tell us to, but because Jesus calls us to be one body with people of different races and cultures and languages.”
Love is Love
“I’ll argue instead that “God is love” (1 John 4:8) and that he shows us what that statement means through different kinds of human relationships. This makes Christianity good news for same-sex-attracted people like me. But that doesn’t make Christianity safe. Whatever our attractions, following Jesus means denying ourselves and taking up our cross. But if Jesus’s people are truly living in his ways, there’s room and joy and love enough for all.”
Jackie Hill Perry, author of Gay Girl, Good God, said, “Marriage isn’t heaven. Singleness isn’t hell.” The Bible talks more about agape (“sacrificial”) love than (“eros”) romantic love. The peak of human existence is not to be married. While marriage is a gift and a picture to us of Christ and the church, the Bible shows us the other spokes on the wheel of love that provide joy and fulfillment- whether it be our union with Christ, same-sex friendships, parental relationships, or the church family.
As someone who is same-sex attracted, McLaughlin has a unique platform to speak into this topic of same-sex romantic love.
She spends time addressing objections people have to places in Scripture that talk about homosexuality and marriage.
She also defends the veracity of Paul’s teachings on the subject. Some have claimed that Paul condoned slavery as much as he prohibits homosexuality so his teaching is dismissible, but McLaughlin proves how that argument falls apart and points to Paul’s clear condemnation of slavery. For example, 1 Timothy 1:8-10: his list (including “enslavers” right after sexual immorality and homosexuality) coincides with and pairs each list item with the corresponding item from the Ten Commandments, implying that enslaving someone is the worst form of stealing. (see also Exodus 21:16).
Another important passage she speaks into is the “submission passage” in Ephesians that causes a lot of women to wrongly believe that Christianity is a proponent of male domination.
“Wives are not told to submit to their husbands because women are worse at leading than men, but because the church submits to Christ. Husbands are not told to give themselves up for their wives because men are less valuable than women, but because Jesus gave his life for us. Husbands are told to love their wives as their own bodies, because the church is Jesus’s body on earth.”
“For far too long, we’ve bought the lie that marriage is the ultimate good. For far too long we’ve bought the lie that singleness is second-best. For far too long we’ve undervalued same-sex love and bought the lie that the nuclear family is more important than the church.”
The Gay-Rights Movement is the New Civil-Rights Movement
In this chapter McLaughlin addresses the attempted link between these two movements.
People recognize the complicity of white Christians in slavery and segregation and thus, “Today, when people see Christian opposition to gay marriage, they think it’s just the same song, second verse. The reasoning runs like this: just as Christians have oppressed and terrorized African Americans, so Christians have oppressed and terrorized gay and lesbian people.”
She runs through six problems with this perspective that I won’t delve into here because I’m already long-winded. She also discusses the difference between ethnicity and sexual attractions and the difference between attributes and actions as well as the fact that attractions change but race does not—all of which I found very helpful in distinguishing the disconnect between these two movements.
“The problem with Christians who supported segregation was not that they listened to the Bible too much, but too little. While the Bible cuts firmly against gay marriage for believers, it cuts equally firmly in favor of racial equality and integration… It takes as much careful editing to make the Bible seem like it supports segregation as to make it seem like it affirms gay marriage.”
She also critiques the church in how they’ve mistreated LGBTQ members and fostered a culture of prejudice or mistrust against them. There is also important discussion of the familial role the church will need to play as people come to Christ and leave an LGBTQ lifestyle.
Women’s Rights are Human Rights
The goal of this chapter is to recognize that without the Bible “there is no basis for women’s rights and that Jesus’s treatment of women changed their status forever.”
Part of this is the discussion around an atheistic view of humanity and the idea that strong overpowers weak in nature.
McLaughlin also exposes the stark contrast between how women are viewed and treated in all of Scripture, especially by Jesus, with the view and role of women in other ancient cultures— showing the gender gap in those cultures as well as modern day China and India just in terms of population due to abandonment of female babies. It makes sense that more women would be drawn to Christianity.
We must also address what is most prominently associated with women’s rights: abortion. A sensitive subject that she writes about with care and covers far more than I can here. I’ll just include a few quotes:
“There are many things that have been fought for under the banner of feminism that Christians can and should affirm: for example, women’s right to vote, hold property, and be paid the same as a man for doing the same job. Indeed, many early feminists advocated for women’s rights because they were Christians...But rather than see abortion rights as the central plank of the feminist structure, I believe its central plank should be the cross.”
“God calls us to a world in which women are seen as equal to men, regardless of their marital status; in which pregnant women are supported; in which men are called either to be faithful husbands or faithful singles; and in which babies are valued and provided for—not just by their biological parents, but by their spiritual family writ large. To solve the problem of abortion, we don't need one law reversed. We need a loving revolution.”
“If Christianity is true, the central plank of women’s rights isn’t our right to have our unborn babies killed. The central plank of women’s rights is Mary’s unborn child, who grew to be the man who valued us so much he died on a Roman cross so we could live… this baby conceived out of wedlock and born into poverty changed everything for women.”
Transgender Women are Women
In this chapter, “We’ll see that rather than being a hateful tool of oppression, the Bible truly offers hope to those who feel alienated from their bodies.”
“[To say ‘trans women are women] means that people who were born male, but now identify as female, should be treated as women in every respect. If transgender women are women, they should be allowed to use women’s bathrooms, enter women’s shelters, and compete in women’s sports. Anything less, so the logic runs, is transphobic and harmful. But aside from any concerns about its implications, there is a deeper problem with the claim. If it’s true that “Transgender women are women,” then we no longer know what “woman” means.”
The discussion here is around what it means to be male and female. Is gender binary? Is it just a construct? What does the Bible say about gender and our bodies? Again, too much to cover here.
One thing I found particularly compelling was the idea that transgenderism actually perpetuates the gender stereotypes that feminists have been working so hard to break. If women who don’t fit the woman stereotype are actually men then we are severely narrowing what women are capable of and all we have left are stereotypes.
McLaughlin also covers some data on gender dysphoria and intersex.
Some additional quotes:
“...it is only because of the male-female binary that babies exist at all. The reality remains that the baby in her womb exists because of the sexual binary, and that if her child one day has biological children, it will only be because of that binary. Today, people often present the sex binary as oppressive. But at its very heart, the male-female binary is creative. Rather than cutting against diversity, God created us so that deep intimacy across this diversity would generate new life.”
“No follower of Jesus need hold to rigid gender stereotypes, in which men make skyscrapers and women decorate their walls. Instead, we must cling to our Savior. He is the one who knows us to our core and loves us to death and beyond. He made our bodies, and he holds our hearts. Our deepest identity lies in him. ‘For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.’ (Col 3:3-4)”
A Call to Loving Arms
This is the well-named last chapter where the author lays out several ways to do this. Here she advocates for a strong repentance of sin we, as individuals and the church as a whole, have participated in in regards to racial inequality and the treatment of women and LGBTQ members.
I also appreciate this statement: “To show where progressives are wrong, we must also freely acknowledge where they are right.” We have to push back against our political parties’ insistence of party platform adherence as if either side has the moral high ground in every way. We have to reject dichotomous distortions and instead think for ourselves by holding every tenet claimed up to the Word of God to evaluate its morality and truth, but also doing so in humility and with compassion, for no matter our race, gender, or worldview, we are all created in the image of God.
“If we abandon Christianity, we will not find ourselves in a brave new moral world, better able to support equality for all. No, we will find ourselves unable to justify human rights for anyone.”
Overall, this is not a politically motivated book, which is preferable, but at the same time, my one critique is that her call to (loving) arms, while compelling and essential, I still feel a little at a loss as to specific action steps to take to advocate for racial equality and to show love to the marginalized. It’s a two-fold process- policy/legislation and relationships. We must have both. But the former is hard to pin down.
I highly recommend this book for a concise look at how Christianity is actually the foundation for all human rights—with emphasis on caring and advocating for the oppressed— not a religion of oppression as many try to claim.
“The idea that minorities should be protected, not oppressed, came to us from Christianity… when a poor man from a historically oppressed racial and religious group claimed to be God in human flesh, commanded love for society’s most vulnerable and died a slave’s death on a Roman cross, he made the poor, oppressed, and victimized forever central to God’s moral plan.”
A few other books I can recommend so far that flesh out one or more of the topics covered in this book. I will continue to add to this list:
The Color of Compromise by Jemar Tisby
Confronting Injustice without Compromising Truth: 12 Questions Christians Should Ask about Social Justice by Thaddeus J. Williams
Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism’s Looming Catastrophe by Voddie Baucham Jr.
Bloodlines: Race, Cross, and the Christian by John Piper
What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality? by Kevin DeYoung
Gay Girl, Good God by Jackie Hill Perry
Irreversible Damage by Abigail Shrier
a(Typical) Woman by Abigail Dodds
Confronting Christianity by Rebecca McLaughlin
The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self by Carl S. Trueman
The Intolerance of Tolerance by D.A. Carson
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