the ryan king

From Debates, youth groups, and bridging the gap by way of Jesus Politics

I am a liberal Democrat on (almost) every issue. I’m an Episcopalian with pacifist anabaptist leanings. I teach gender and gay history. I went to Berkeley. But for all that, my life is made both richer and more challenging by my friendships with folks with whom I disagree about almost everything. (One of the men I love best in the world is a true Five Point Calvinist, bless his misled heart!) I thank God for my friends who are gun-ownin’, traditional marriage defendin’, inerrant scripture believin’, red-meat eatin’, Fox News watchin’, George Bush votin’ conservatives. I’m a better man for knowing them and being loved by them. They have not changed my core beliefs. But they have softened my heart and tempered my self-righteousness — and those are good things indeed.