John Stonestreet – Page 48

Rays Players Opt Out of Pride Jerseys

Jun 13, 2022John StonestreetLGBTLGBT

Kudos to these Tampa Bay Rays.

Recently, several players for the Tampa Bay Rays major league baseball team opted out of wearing rainbow logos for “Pride Night.” Pitcher Jason Adam represented those players to reporters, saying, that while players want all to feel “welcome and loved” at games,

“We don’t want to encourage [an LGBTQ lifestyle] if we believe in Jesus, who’s encouraged us to live a lifestyle that would abstain from that behavior. Just like (Jesus) encourages me as a heterosexual male to abstain from sex outside of the confines of marriage.”

Adam’s clarity and his teammate’s bravery despite the furnace of public outrage reminds me of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego facing Nebuchadnezzar’s idol. They also remind me of the courage of U.S. women’s soccer player Jaelene Daniels, formerly Hinkel, who refused to wear a pride jersey in 2017. She also was castigated for her stand.

According to Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash, instead of causing dissension, the opting out “has created … a lot of conversation and valuing the different perspectives inside the clubhouse but really appreciating the community that we’re trying to support here.”

In other words, opting out creates real diversity and inclusion. That’s something to be proud of.

Shanghai’s Food Shortage

May 25, 2022John StonestreetChinaChina

A recent viral video shows thousands of people in Shanghai screaming in unison into the night to protest the Chinese government’s brutal “zero-COVID” policy.

Entire high-rises of people are confined to their rooms, locked in with green fencing that appeared overnight. Children, including babies, are separated from their parents in massive government quarantine centers, some of which lack basic medical equipment or even beds. Other videos show hundreds of pets being collected and euthanized as supposed carriers of the disease.

In the meantime, many of the city’s 25 million people find themselves on the brink of starvation, with government food deliveries unable to keep up with demand.

If we’re looking for a culprit, it’s not just the lockdown. It’s not even COVID-19. It’s the ideology of China’s ruling elites, which rejects the sacred value of the individual in the name of the “common good.” Human dignity is a deeply Christian idea, one that China’s communist leaders have been at war with for decades.

We must pray that the voices of Shanghai’s suffering people will wake them up to what is true and good.

Guest Post: There’s No Crisis in Aging

May 16, 2022John StonestreetLifeLife

Recently, Stanford Center on Longevity announced a project called the “New Map of Life.” “In the United States,” the authors write, “as many as half of today’s 5-year-olds can expect to live to the age of 100, and this once unattainable milestone may become the norm for newborns by 2050.”

The problem, the authors admit, is that we don’t know what to do with an extra 30 years: The “narrative of an ‘aging society’ seems to convey only a crisis.”

Reaching this 100-years-of-life milestone is, as one researcher put it, a “[breathtaking] package of human potential the world has never seen, unprecedented numbers of people with unprecedented capabilities, and significant desire to give back and leave the world better.”

Scripture agrees, calling old age “a crown of glory.” But that’s not because of how long it lasts or what is accomplished. It’s because there’s a “why” behind it all. As Stanford looks for technological and sociological benefits to longer lives, Christians can point to the Source of meaning for all of life, who faced and defeated death.

The more time we have to do that, the better.