On October 8th, Pastor Mark Driscoll (founder of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington) will be speaking at the LoveLife Conference in Athens, Georgia. This is the same Driscoll whose ignorance about feminism and homosexuality is evident with just about everything he says…
If you’re not familiar with him, here are just a few choice quotations (courtesy of Stephen Joiner of the UGAtheists):
“I like Catholics and Orthodox people. I believe that they are part of a Christian denomination or tradition. I’m not putting them in the group of cults, like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, or the Mormons.” — From Driscoll’s book Vintage Jesus
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“I get these invitations to these pastors’ prayer meetings. [Laughter]. Man, I’m telling you, ‘Oh, it’ll be very nice. There’ll be a Buddhist, and there’ll be a Hindu, and there’ll be a Muslim, there’ll be a Baha’i, there’ll be an Atheist, there’ll be a Jewish guy, and then you can be the Christian guy. And we could all pray to God together.’ No, we can’t. I pray to Jesus, they pray to Satan.” — From Anger and Action sermon – Sep. 16, 2007.
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“So the feminists say, ‘You know what, men are horrible to women.’ I say, I fully agree. But then what do we do? What do we do? Do we train the women to be like men? Do we train the men to be like women? Do we encourage the women to be lesbians and not have anything to do with men? Do we encourage the men to be effeminate and to be not manly and masculine? Is that what we do? That is what we have encouraged.” — Under Authority Like Christ – July 23, 2006
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“What’s so wrong with being a woman? It’s curious to me, that feminists will say things like, ‘I don’t wanna be a woman, so I’ll go butch and dyke and then I will be a lesbian.’ Really? So the, the highest thing you can be is a man? What are you a sexist? Do you hate women? I mean, think about it.” — Under Authority Like Christ – July 23, 2006
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“I’ll start by saying this. Guys, I am heterosexual, flamboyantly heterosexual. If you think I’m pro-gay, I’m not. My dad is a union drywaller. My brother is a sheet metal worker. I drive a 1978 Chevy pickup with a bacon air freshener, okay. I am flamboyantly heterosexual. I don’t even drink light beer. I am not pro-gay. Don’t think that I am. I read the Bible, and I take the parts literally, all of it, including the be kind and this is a sin. I take it all literally. So don’t hear me saying that I’m pro-gay. I’m not. I’m not.” — 2 Timothy 2:22-26 – May 16, 2004
If Christians want to support that kind of rhetoric, they have every right to. But the UGAtheists are taking a stand against Driscoll. They want to raise awareness about the kinds of vile things spewing out of Driscoll’s mouth, especially if his hype brings in strangers who don’t know any better.
Driscoll has some very pungent things to say about gender, sex, feminism, homosexuality, and religion. Our organization takes issue with his message and will be staging a protest at the site of the conference on October 8th.
If you’re in the area, please consider joining them. The larger the crowd, the more your message will drown out his.
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On a side note, Aaron Gardner pointed out something about one of Driscoll’s books that I’d never noticed.
Check out this excerpt from Vintage Jesus: Timeless Answers to Timely Questions in which Driscoll lashes out against the movie Monty Python’s Life of Brian:

Umm… the character on the cross was Brian, not Jesus. Jesus makes a brief appearance early in the film in which he’s delivering the Sermon on the Mount. (When the camera pans back to the crowd, someone yells, “Speak up!”)
You would think the guy who rips on pop culture would at least watch or read the things he’s railing against. Leave it to a Christian to not read a book he spends so much time talking about…
This is the same pastor, by the way, who called Avatar “demonic” and “Satanic” and who bashed Twilight because it’s part of a genre of books that involves “consulting with dead people.” (Um… dude… do you even realize that… you know… Jesus… Oh, never mind.)
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