Dr Paul Allen

Watching the music video for the new song “Boys Will Be Girls” by former Caedmon’s Call lead singer Derek Webb, I experienced a strange mixture of disgust, pity, and clarity about the appeal of his message. That message, part of Webb’s new album, The Jesus Hypothesis, is anything but subtle: it’s a celebration of gender transition and drag, written in response to the coming out of a close friend. In the chorus, Webb sings, Where sometimes, boys will be girls Sometimes armour will be pearls What you put on, oh, it shows the world How hard you’re fighting Brother, sometimes boys will be girls Appealing to Jesus The video is, if possible, even more in-your-face. Webb goes under the brush for his own drag makeover by (self-described) “shame-slaying, hip-swaying heathen” singer-songwriter Flamy Grant (real name: Matthew Blake). It opens with a quotation by progressive pastor Stan Mitchell that reveals something of Webb’s evolved thinking on the church and LGBT+ issues: “If you claim to be s

, American religious figure. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The White House blushed pink with embarrassment and issued this statement: We were not aware of Pastor Giglio’s past comments at the time of his selection, and they don’t reflect our desire to celebrate the strength and diversity of our country at this inaugural. ” What an honor. Evangelical preacher Louie Giglio was invited by the White House to pray at President Obama’s second inauguration. This is an honor bestowed on Evangelicals like Billy Graham (ten times over) and most recently Rick Warren . It’s a good move to invite an actual Christian to pray, since God only accepts the petitions of believers (Prov 15:8, Prov 15:29). What a faux pas. The inauguration committee summarily uninvited Giglio and basically apologized to the nation for even having considered him. So what did Giglio do since the invitation’s arrival to elicit the unceremonious retraction? Nothing. What happened was that someone trawling for controve