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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I’m also an upper middle class white woman who was perfectly content and comfy inside the walls of the evangelical church. The system worked for me and my friends (because it was built by people like us for people like us.)

But I also can recognize the severe cracks within the church and that saying the church was great leaves out a lot of people for whom the church wasn’t great. And the system was built by a really narrow view. Much like I’m an American who america has been great for, doesn’t preclude me from seeing how flawed america is for a lot of people.

Where Jen missteps is not acknowledging her status whilst she rails against the church and the system. Has she ever said “the only reason I have a platform is because the system promoted me?” I don’t think I’ve heard her say it.

She has no platform without the church the way it was designed.

I can see the deconstruction take but she has a huge blind spot that would actually legitimize her take if she was honest about it.

Even the gay affirming stance isn’t that wild. But her inability to acknowledge she had a very compelling reason to change her stance was bad. Instead of “hey this hit close to home so we had to rethink it,” she went all in on the “we’ve done all the research blah blah blah.”

All of these blind spots make her less believable and authentic. Be honest about your journey instead of these bold and long winded pronouncements.

Everything is just all in all the time. [/quote]

This. I think what I'm struggling with is I see two different Jens. Because I'll be honest, I fall in the same place as her in a lot of my views of faith. I'm the parent of a transgender daughter and it is hard to find a church where she will be wholly welcomed. I understand her frustration with the church. I truly get where she's coming from. But yes, she also owes a lot to that same church for giving her a platform and somehow she needs to deal with that, both the good and the pain. But for the most part, I like that Jen.

And then she starts selling something. And I just roll my eyes and move along, because it feels like a completely different person. Not that anyone is all one thing or all another, but personality-wise she just feels DIFFERENT.

I'll also had that although I long for more inclusive churches, I am kind of appalled that they just said 'welp, we're affirming now, get with the program.' That should have been something hashed out over a lengthy period of conversations with leadership and members. You give your views, you show the biblical back-up, and you talk. And in the end, if the congregation says 'nope, we aren't there' you graciously move on. And I suppose I know why they didn't do it that way, because it HURTS when people you know vote against the people you love and instead of accepting that hurt themselves they foisted it off on other people by making a declaration. But that's not how church works. It isn't a corporation. The pastor isn't the CEO and the elders aren't the stockholders. The church exists for the membership and we don't get to just make a one-sided decision on something that is so huge. So yeah, that makes me sad for ANC that it was handled so poorly.

(Also, MLMs...don't even get me started. I don't think any of the things Jen is selling fall under that umbrella though. She's not trying to develop a downline. She just gets, I am sure, a straight cut from every sale that's made when people type in her special little promo code.)[/quote]

She was selling a makeup brand a while back (can’t remember the name) that was definitely an MLM![/quote]

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