Are Target's Bathrooms Safe?

Pop quiz: 

Pretend you're a bathroom traffic cop in a busy mall. It's your job to direct each person who approaches you to the bathroom most appropriate for them to use. Let's test your skills right now.

To which bathroom would you direct this person?

How about this sweet kid?

And this guy?

How'd you do? Did you direct the first two people to the ladies' room and the third person to the mens' room? If so, your score is 0%. 

Wait, what? 

The first person is Laverne Cox, American actor and Emmy nominee. Born male.

The second person is 15 year old Jazz Jennings, reality TV star on TLC. Born male.

The third person is Ben Melzer, German spokesmodel. Born female.

The dividing line between the genders isn't as clear if you judge only by outward appearances, is it? But I've been hearing something a lot lately from conservatives, even public figures I usually agree with, like Matt Walsh who blogs over at The Blaze. They're proposing that the public bathroom gender issue is a simple one. There's the normally gendered and accordingly dressed people, and then there's the mentally ill and confused people who are forcing us all to accept them in OUR bathrooms. Either/or. If you were born with male genitalia, use the men's room. If you were born with female genitalia, use the women's room. Simple, right? This will prevent dangerous predators from exposing women and children to danger.

This logic has several problems, however. 

1.  The most basic problem is the fact that transgender people have been using public bathrooms all along. Gasp! They are already among us!! This issue is centuries old; it's just getting attention now. Just because you've had the illusion that you've only been sharing public bathrooms with people of your own gender (give or take a few babies and toddlers) doesn't mean it's the case. This means that the need to educate ourselves and our kids about personal safety and common courtesy has always been there. You don't need to suddenly boycott Target, as if that will fix it. Chances are, you and your kids have already used a bathroom with a transgender person and haven't been the wiser. 

2.  Another problem is the fact that it's not actually transgender people who pose a threat. It's sexual predators. It's the rape culture that we live in, where people's bodies are seen as objects to be sized up for their possible usefulness rather than vessels carrying tender human souls. Being transgendered doesn't equate to being a predator. Some would argue that all males, regardless of how they "identify," pose a threat to females, even if it's only in the form of voyeurism, and therefore shouldn't be in their bathrooms. But there's no possible way to substantiate that. Being born male and having a male brain doesn't always mean sexual attraction to females. And being female doesn't necessarily mean attraction to males. If the discomfort comes from using the restroom in close proximity to someone who finds you sexually attractive, then by that logic, lesbians shouldn't be in women's bathrooms either! Again, this issue is far beyond simple. How should we respond?

Relax your scrolling finger for a sec, OK?

Let's not start formulating rebuttal comments in our heads quite yet. I'm going to lovingly encourage you, especially if you're a conservative Christian, to pause for a moment and try to see this issue from an opposing viewpoint. You can show compassion and try to understand someone without having to agree with them. 

To be clear, I am NOT saying that I agree with what gay and transgender people stand for. I'm not even saying that transgenderism is a good thing. I don't believe it solves anything. I do believe that each person is fearfully and wonderfully made, and that each person's gender is part of who God made them from birth. I don't believe males and females are interchangeable. I believe they are different for important and beautiful reasons. I'm not here to debate that. My concern is for how we treat people who identify themselves as gay and transgendered, how we speak about them around others, and how we encourage others to treat them. Do we treat them with compassion and humility, or do we label them as inferior and speak about them with mockery and disdain?

We live in a twisted, messed up world where gender wires get crossed for a myriad of reasons. 

Just one example: a couple generations ago, a rash of horribly toxic drugs came into popularity, and many were prescribed to pregnant moms. One was called DES. Doctors prescribed it widely, and not just to high risk mothers, to prevent miscarriage. That one drug is still passing hormonal and sexual dysfunction into the third generation. If my mom had taken it, it would affect my grandkids!

I'm not saying it's always the cause, but there are literally millions of people out there who were exposed to drugs like this. A good number of them might be feeling that they were born the wrong gender, simply because of a drug induced birth defect that is disrupting their hormones. Having such a physical issue is emotionally no different from being forcibly castrated, as people in many cultures throughout the world have been for centuries, and still are. This isn't a new issue. Jesus himself had great conversations with a eunuch (probably more than one). He didn't shun him; he treated him like any other person. Yet today, transgender people are being raised in a society that tells them, "Hey, if that's how you honestly feel, then you belong in this lifestyle over here." That's confusing!

And that's only one possibility among many, as to why some people spend their lives feeling like their body is a costume that doesn't fit. 

Without the grace of a loving God to help them sort through that, they must either live what they see as a lie, or change something. A relatively small number of brave ones attempt to live honestly by transitioning to the other gender. It's long, painful, expensive, complicated, and confusing. On top of that, it draws a ton of ridicule and labels like "deviant" and "pervert." 

With that in your mind, now imagine being a 15 year old transgendered child who looks like Jazz Jenner, and being forced to go into a restroom among grown men. Imagine the stares and whispers that might draw. Is Jazz a predator trying to leer at young girls? It sure doesn't seem that way. Imagine being Ben Melzer and being told that you are compelled by law to use the ladies' room. I guarantee it wouldn't go well 99% of the time, and there might even be vocal protests. Would you enjoy being glared at and told to leave? Neither would Ben, I imagine. Yet I've seen conservatives who vow to stand outside the women's bathrooms that their wives and kids are using, and chase away anyone who looks like Ben. Because only women should be in that bathroom. Wait, Ben IS a woman. Or... WAS. So you got what you wanted, but did you really want it? Is chasing Ben off the right and heroic thing to do, or did you just traumatize a woman? Gah. See what I mean?

Maybe you're even wondering at this point, why would God let someone be born gay or gender confused, even though he made us male and female, and forbids homosexual activity? I don't know. He lets people be born with rebellious hearts, too, even though he forbids sin. We're all desperately in need of his grace, no matter what our personal brand of temptation happens to be. And he says the world will know us by our love. I do know that!

"But these laws allow predators into our bathrooms," you might say. 

I hate to burst your bubble, but if you think that the stricter rules we used to have about gender assigned bathrooms were keeping out predators before, you're dreaming. If your only method of predator avoidance is reliance on posted signs, might I suggest you reconsider how you handle your personal safety anyway? A determined rapist or peeping tom will find an opportunity. Allowing transgendered people in doesn't make that any more or less likely. Yes, it is true that you're less likely to have a manager on your side nowadays if you take the time to complain that there's someone in the wrong bathroom. That is a sad side effect. But as I said above, a person wanting to use a different bathroom than the one assigned to them at birth doesn't automatically mean that their sole aim in life is to do things that make you uncomfortable. My goal isn't to write a commentary on the rightness or wrongness of the policy, but rather to challenge you to consider what your response will be.

"Well, some people choose this lifestyle...

...and they shouldn't be allowed the same rights as me," you say. How are you going to know who qualifies? Who chose to be transgendered and who didn't? Interview each one? Just be mean to all of them? 

Let's let our response to all this mayhem be gentleness and respect. 

If this dreaded scenario should happen while I'm out, and a perverted, predatory person exposes himself to me, it changes nothing. I would still have the same opinion as I do now. You know why? He's only one person, not every person; and he certainly doesn't represent transgender people. Not only that, but by choosing to make me his victim, he has set himself up as my enemy. As such, that automatically qualifies him for a special brand of prayers and blessing. Jesus said this, not me. 

To wrap up... Are transgender people confused? Are they mentally ill? Did they choose their lifestyle? Were they born that way? I don't know; and honestly, as always, it's none of my business what they believe or why they make the choices they do. I am free to agree or disagree. What I am NOT free to do is spread fearful, hateful rhetoric that makes transgender people feel ganged up on, or blankets them in an inferior light. They aren't inferior, and we don't need to be afraid of them.

So I'm going to go on educating my kids about common sense bathroom safety, and using family restrooms where possible. I'll keep teaching them how to lovingly give the right of way to others, even if that means waiting until a male-looking person exits the restroom before we go in. I'm going to go on assuming that people are much more complicated than they appear, and that I can't pretend to understand what it's like to be them. I'm going to remember that they are human beings, made in God's image. He treasures them SO much, and I'm supposed to treat them as I would want to be treated. As I. would want. to be treated. So if I meet one, I'm going to smile and say hello. 

For my part, I don't think this bathroom thing is healthy or right for our society. But beyond that, I think transgendered people are PEOPLE. My message to them would be that they are SO cherished by God. I'd put my arm around them and say I don't know how or why their minds and bodies decided their gender didn't fit them, but the truth is they are fearfully and wonderfully made. The blood of Christ gives grace for all of this, and being in his family is a strong enough identity to help them work through all that. No it's not physically possible to change your DNA, but it is physically possible to have your hormones out of whack and then have society tell you to celebrate it and create an identity from it, and then have conservatives yell at you for it. I'm not going to be a yeller. I'm going to be a truth teller, but in a way that leads to HOPE.

I'm off to Target. I'll probably have to pee while I'm there. I'm good with that.

4 Reasons I Still Say "Happy Holidays"

I'm about to show you something super controversial... Ready? Here it is:

Red Starbucks cups? Yes. If you find them both attractive and useful for hot beverages, and you're mystified as to why everyone's got their panties in a bunch about them, then you don't need to read this post. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you. If you find these cups offensive, or questionable, or sad, because they are void of Christmas imagery, kindly read on.

It's that time of year again. I don't mean football. I mean that time of year when people start grouching about the stores putting out their Christmas displays too soon, fighting over which is the right day to start playing Christmas music, and my personal favorite... firing up their "Merry Christmas" campaigns. As in, "Merry Christmas" is the only correct way to greet someone at Christmastime. You might have guessed that I could do without everything I just listed. But for this post, I'm going to focus on just the last one. For some reason, it seems like a number of Christians are willing to be quite bristly about the phrase, "Happy Holidays." But I still love to hear it and say it. Here's why:

1. Not all holidays are Christmas. 

And Happy Holidays to you, sir. :)

It's certainly appropriate to wish someone a "Merry Christmas" around Christmas time. But you have a very narrow view indeed if you believe that everyone else is putting the same level of emphasis on December 25th as you are. You have neighbors celebrating Winter Solstice, Festivus, Channukah, and Kwanzaa. And guess what? They care about those days… a LOT. I'm not insisting you celebrate everyone else's traditions, or even agree with them. However, I am suggesting that you extend an olive branch. Do what you can to let others know you care, acknowledge that they are different, and don't reject them as people because of those differences. Treat others the way you want to be treated… haven't I heard that somewhere before? Oh yes, from the Christ of Christmas.

I personally plan to celebrate many holidays (and say "Happy Holidays!" to many people) in the upcoming months. Here's the short list:

Nov. 8th—Aid and Abet Punsters Day (Yesss! "Abet" you'll celebrate it now, too. Nyuk nyuk.)

Nov. 13th—World Kindness Day

Nov. 14th—Lighten Up Day

Nov. 21st—World Hello Day

Nov. 28th—National Flossing Day

Nov. 30—Stay Home Because You're Well Day

Dec. 1—Eat A Red Apple Day

Dec. 5—Bathtub Party Day

Dec. 7—Pearl Harbor Day

Dec. 9—National Pastry Day

Dec. 13—International Children's Day

Dec. 16—National Chocolate Covered Anything Day

Dec. 18—Bake Cookies Day

Dec. 19—Look For An Evergreen Day

Dec. 21—Look on the Bright Side Day

Coincidentally, Humbug Day is on Dec. 21st as well, but I won't be celebrating it. If you plan to, we can still be friends. 

2. Taking the time to wish ANYbody a happy ANYthing is an act of kindness that should not go unheeded. 

People can't tell by looking at you what your beliefs are (unless you're cutting them off in traffic with a Jesus fish on the back of your car). They don't know which of the various holidays you plan to celebrate. So insisting they pick the word "Christmas" when they greet you is a bit passive-aggressive in this culture, don'tcha think? Imagine getting a dramatic eye roll after saying "Merry Christmas" to an atheist. Awkward, right? Don't make other people feel like that. The phrase "Happy Holidays" is right up there with, "Have a nice day" and "Enjoy your weekend." Wouldn't you normally smile and say "thank you"? You wouldn't raise an eyebrow and pass some kind of mental judgment on someone who wished you a nice day. So… don't do it to people who wish you a nice November/December/January time of gladness, in whatever form it takes! This is Basic Kindness 101. Besides, holidays (all of them) are supposed to be about remembering something. Christmas is about Love Incarnate. Be a reflection of that by at least showing some friggin' flexibility about greetings.

3. People in general need to get some historical perspective.

If you really want to insist that people follow "ye olde" Christmas traditions to the letter, then you should probably be aware of several things…  

First, the original sense of the word "merry" used to mean "drunken frivolity." So you're actually wishing them a day of frat-style boozing and gluttony. But hey, let's be traditional.

Second, the word "holiday" comes from the Old English for "holy days" so it's not exactly less Christian to use it. Similarly, the word "Xmas" hasn't really taken any liberties, because it comes from the Greek letter "X" (or chi), which was the first letter used to spell Christ. 

But what about the word "Christmas"? That's in the Bible, right? Actually, no. It comes from the Old English words Cristes moesse or "Christ Mass." Like "celebration for Christ." But people didn't even start using it, or institute the official celebration we recognize today, until 300+ years after Christ was born. I can imagine He is quite annoyed about all those birthday parties the early Christians forgot to throw for Him. (Not really.) The story of His birth is in Scripture as a matter of historical record, as proof that He fulfilled multiple prophecies made centuries beforehand. This is a gift to us, to build our faith, not a celebration requirement to get into heaven, or even a word we're required to say. So relax!  

Third, historically speaking, it's more likely that Jesus was born sometime in late summer or early autumn. The early Church actually hijacked December 25th to celebrate Christ's birth because it was already the date of a pagan festival celebrating the birth of the sun. There's nothing like having to choose which party to attend to make a social statement for Christ! In modern times, this implies that you should be throwing Jesus a birthday barbecue in September. You haven't been? How careless of you. I'm sure He's annoyed. (Not really.) 

"Set up the holiday tree right over there, guys!"

4. To people who don't have Christ to begin with, saying, "Keep Christ in Christmas" makes you sound like a paranoid jackass. 

The exact verbiage with which you greet a total stranger in a grocery store has no bearing on whether Christ will be part of their Christmas. That's because they have not submitted themselves in faith to His authority. Their world view has nothing to do with His kingdom. He doesn't slide off his throne one millimeter for every person who says "Happy Holidays," but you're making it sound like He does. His kingdom would be a flimsy thing indeed if a "Merry Christmas" button campaign was all it took to make the world right again. His miraculous birth, sinless life, innocent death, and conquering resurrection are what make the world right again. And someday, everyone will acknowledge that. The Holy Spirit will make that happen. Not Christmas greeting nitpickers.

M e R r Y  C h R i S t M a S

and

H a P p Y  H o L i D a Y s ! ;)

References for further reading:

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/geneveith/2013/12/merry-christmas-vs-happy-christmas/

http://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/december.htm

http://dictionary.reference.com/help/faq/language/e05.html

http://www.ucg.org/the-good-news/biblical-evidence-shows-jesus-christ-wasnt-born-on-dec-25

The Grand Event

Years ago, a good friend asked me to be the music teacher at a little K-8 Christian school where he was the principal. I must have blacked out, or had a small fit of insanity that temporarily dispossessed me of my ability to think logically. Because when the meeting was over, I was nodding my head and shaking his hand while he explained my salary by muttering something about "Christian service." I was now a music teacher. 

How hard could it be, though?

I figured I'd teach the kindergarteners some music theory by drawing funny faces on a staff and handing out percussion instruments, hoping they didn't use each other's heads as cymbals. When that quit working, I'd remove my ear plugs and teach them hand motions to a song. They could later perform this dressed like sheep. How adorable would that be? I'd teach the 1st and 2nd graders how to play recorders so that by the end we could subject their parents to a chorus of semi-recognizable tunes played on what sounds like constipated teapots at full boil. I would teach the 3rd and 4th graders how to play hand bells, and just keep highlighting notes on the score and tapping my baton on the music stand until that feeling that I'm driving a truck through a wind chime factory started to dissipate. I'd teach the 5th graders to be dramatic… wait, no instruction needed there. Then I would teach the 6th, 7th, and 8th graders to be a choir, assuring them that it's okay to risk looking like an idiot in front of everybody. Thankfully, I lead by example really well in that area.

Every day, I went home mentally exhausted.

I remember my name being on the program as having directed 150-odd kids in TWO unified productions of full-costumed dramatic and musical splendor. Heck, there were even kids at the back doing sound and lights. To this day I don't think it should have said "Director" next to my name on that program. "Befuddled Ringleader" would have suited better.  I don't know how all those kids managed to get organized into that gorgeous, cohesive unit that made the parents cheer. What I saw during class didn't give me much reason to predict that outcome. What I didn't see was that God had a plan for those kids that year, and he had a plan for me that not even I could screw up. He went before me and cleared a path. He gave me just enough mayhem to bring me to my knees, but never push me over the edge. He sent parents and teachers and generous donors into my life who brought fullness and sparkle to my meager efforts. He shaped me into what was necessary for that time by lavishly supplying everything I needed, and even beyond. I went into almost every situation a clueless impostor and came out smelling like a rose. I was the cracked pot (or crackpot) that held water anyway. I was the crooked stick that drew straight lines. What I did at that school was impossible for me. That's why God was glorified. Only he could do all that. But that's biblical. 

"Whoever speaks [should do so] as one who speaks oracles of God; 

whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—

in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. 

To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen." —1 Peter 4:11

Am I saying that volunteering to do jobs for which you are uniquely unqualified is always the way to go? Hehe. NO. I'm saying that you should do everything by the strength that God supplies so he gets the glory. It's just more obvious that's happening when you're out of your depth. 

Want to see something freakishly fantastic about this verse? 

That word "supplies" up there? The Greek word used is "chorēgei." It means "funds and leads a chorus of performers, bearing all the expenses necessary to stage a grand event."  Are you freaking kidding me right now?! Amazing! Obviously, nobody knows better than God how much effort and expense goes into a theatrical production. When he "supplies," that's the level of supply we're talking about. God is so serious that his son Jesus be glorified in our lives, that he supplies us with everything we need to make our lives into a grand event that makes people say, "Wow, God did that?" He's not about spray glitter and cheap illusions. He sends in real tigers and lights the batons on fire! 

Well, I only lasted a year being a music teacher, but I'm still out of my depth. I'm a mom now.

And being a mom is a lot like directing a theatrical production. I am so encouraged that even though I'm still the Befuddled Ringleader, I have a heavenly Dad who not only leads my little chorus of performers, he completely funds my efforts with strength and creativity when I have none of my own. He makes this grand event I call my life a success. He even does special effects! The applause at the final curtain will be his.

                                                          Leave me a comment! :D

The Curse

There's a joke on my side of the family…

We call it "The Curse." It began with my grandmother, who, worn down by witty comebacks, told her young daughter in a fit of exasperation, "Someday you're going to have a daughter and she's going to be just LIKE YOU!" To begin with, stories about my grandmother's humor are legendary and retold to this day. She had a sort of warped, random humor that gave her a love of poetry such as this: 

Starkle, starkle, little twink,

Who the heck you are, I think?

I'm not under the ocfluence of inkahol,

Although some thinkle peep I are!

Oh I fool so feelish, I don't know who is me,

And the drunker I stand here, the longer I get.

Grandma was the one who would be going about her day and randomly say things like, "'BALLS!' cried the queen. 'If I had two, I'd be king!'" She was also the one who loved to retell the story of the time she went to the store and couldn't find the Tampax. The cashier called the stock boy over the intercom (yes, the whole store could hear) and asked him to bring some Tampax up to the check stand, but he misunderstood. Thinking she was asking for tacks, he called back over the intercom and asked, "Is that the kind you push in with your thumb, or pound in with a hammer?"

My mother, who is also a bit warped and random, adds punny to the mix for good measure. Her particular brand of humor is a charming, self-deprecating kind of humor. She doesn't mind being the punchline sometimes, and she calls things as she sees them. (For example, dining room light fixtures are not "chandeliers" in our family, they're "table hats.") 

"The Curse" apparently came true when I was born. 

I am JUST like my mother. Although it seems with every generation, a new facet of humor develops. I've taken my grandma's warped randomness, combined with my mother's punniness, then added my own cerebral brand of dryness and an odd (rarely helpful) ability to memorize one-liners to it all. Lord, help me. And one day during my childhood, my mother, worn down by my witty comebacks, told me in a fit of exasperation, "Someday you're going to have a daughter and she's going to be just LIKE YOU!" When Winkerbean was born, I thought I'd escaped. She's just like her daddy. 

But then Sweet Pea was born.

This girl is such a character! She describes being sick as when "your fever is sticking out and your nose is gone." She steps on the scale and says, "I'm just going to weigh my feet." And she threatens her sister with zingers like, "If you don't quit being bossy to me, God is going to turn you into salad dressing!" But is she really just like me? Everyone else says so. That scares me a little, because I realize more and more that it isn't just my humor that I'm passing on. 

"A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained 

will be like his teacher." —Luke 6:40

This verse tells me that I've got little disciples in my house, and when they're fully trained, each one of them will be like me in some way, family "curse" or not. By watching me, are they learning… 

• Not to take themselves too seriously?
• To have a gracious attitude toward others who inconvenience or wrong them?
• To open their Bibles and let God speak to their hearts on a regular basis?
• To persevere in prayer, even through the tough and boring parts of life?
• To put Jesus first before any other earthly loves?

I could get really freaked out about whether I'm a good enough example. But I'm not going to. Why? Because I'm going to screw it up regularly and have to repent before God and my kids. I'm going to have to let them know I've sinned and that by God's grace I'm becoming more and more like Jesus each day. I'm also not going to worry because we're told in Scripture not to be anxious about anything; but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let our requests be made known to God. (Philippians 4:6) So I thank God for my Short People. I thank God for the weighty responsibility given to The Captain and me to disciple their little hearts. And I ask the Lord to begin his good work in them and bring it to completion himself, so that He, not I, will get the glory for that. 

And the next time Sweet Pea cracks a joke about broken automobiles needing a "CAR-o-practor," I'm just going to hug her and say, "Someday I hope you have a daughter who's just like you."

Why I'm Not Opinionizing About Miley Cyrus

Everybody seems to be talking about Miley's performance on the MTV VMA Awards show. If you missed it, that's okay. I'll save you the need for brain bleach by summarizing that she danced provocatively with teddy bears, singer Robin Thicke, and a foam finger. She sang about a house party. She twerked. She stuck out her tongue a lot. That's about all there was to it. 

Yet Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, the blogosphere, and just about every news outlet lit up with shock and dismay, as if there was a major worldwide crisis. 

"She's trying too hard," some lamented. "What happened to that sweet, innocent Hannah Montana girl?" they asked. "This is what a talented young lady is doing to celebrate the freedom of her youth?" they complained. "Why does she feel the need to sexualize her image?!?" they hollered. Everybody had something to say about Miley. I thought about what I would say, if I were asked.  But I drew a major blank. It seems that just this once, I have no opinion. But, I have an opinion about my lack of opinion… here it is:  

"What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; 
there is nothing new under the sun." —Ecclesiastes 1:9

Miley's performance is nothing new. It's not shocking to me. it hasn't caught me off guard. It's about what I'd expect from an American twenty-something who has grown up privileged, yet under the thumb of tight restrictions on her image and behavior. It's about what I'd expect from someone who's been under the strain of a shaky engagement that could end any day, and feels she has something to prove.  And she's certainly not the first person who's ever professed faith in Jesus and then consistently behaved and spoken in ways contrary to Scripture. 

Jesus himself talked about this very situation…

He told the parable of the sower, found in Matthew 13. Verses 5-6 tell of seeds that "fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root." He goes on to explain in verses 20-21: "The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away."

Miley spoke openly like a Christian early in her career, and was baptized in 2005.  She even stated in 2010, "I am a Christian. Jesus is who saved me. He’s what keeps me full and whole." Sounds encouraging until you hear what she said right after that: "But everyone is entitled to what they believe and what keeps them full. Hopefully, I can influence people and help them follow the same path I am on, but it is not my job to tell people what they are doing wrong.”  

Yes, I suppose everyone's entitled. 

But I'm already detecting a bit of a problem in her statements, even back then. Jesus said that he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through him. (John 14:6) Miley continued to oppose Scripture by tweeting support for gay marriage and even the Big Bang Theory, in one highly controversial tweet that featured this quote from theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss: "All the things that matter for evolution weren't created at the beginning of time, they were created in stars. So forget Jesus. Stars died so you could live." To this, Miley commented, "Beautiful." 

Jesus saw this coming when he told that parable. 

Does Jesus still love Miley Cyrus? Absolutely. Do I have even the remotest right to cast judgment on her? Nope. Is she really a true Christian? Only God knows. Is it really any of my blessed business? Hmmm… nope.

I'm going to wrap these thoughts with two really good ideas to remember. One's from Miley herself, and the other's from Scripture: 

"My job first is to entertain and do what I love, and if you don’t like it, then change the channel. I’m not forcing you to watch me. I’m not forcing you to talk about me. I would do that pole dance a thousand times again, because it was right for the song and that performance. But, dude, if you think [that dance] is bad, then go check what 90% of the high schoolers are really up to." —Miley Cyrus, 2010 interview with Parade

"…make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business…" 1 Thessalonians 4:11a

And that, my friends, is why I have no opinion.