Whenever I get on my high horse about the ways in which mainstream journalists abuse the term "fundamentalist," I always urge journalists to simply allow religious believers to describe their beliefs. It is also fair game, of course, to describe the people's actions in the public square, then ask them to explain how their beliefs shape those actions. However, a GetReligion reader sent me a Des Moines Register story almost two weeks ago that was so troubling that I've been stewing over it ever since -- trying to decide precisely what to say. Yes, the word "fundamentalist" plays a role in this, as you will see. But that word only points toward a larger issue of accuracy and fairness in this report.

This is your basic culture-wars story about divisions inside churches that are wrestling with issues of marriage and sexuality. Here is the opening:

Immanuel Lutheran Church in Waukee is five miles down the road from Walnut Hills United Methodist Church in Urbandale. But they have moved further apart, philosophically, since the Iowa Supreme Court ruled on April 3, 2009, to legalize same-sex marriage. ...

In January, the Waukee congregation overwhelmingly voted to drop out of its denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America -- or ELCA -- and join another Lutheran denomination. The congregation didn't agree with the ELCA decision to allow ordination of noncelibate gay pastors. Immanuel became one of 17 ELCA congregations in Iowa and 276 nationwide to vote on leaving the denomination. Most voted to leave; some have not completed the voting process.

The parishioners at Walnut Hills United Methodist Church also took a church-wide vote, but with a very different result. Their vote was overwhelming, too: Parishioners voted to become a "reconciling congregation," one of 10 United Methodist congregations in Iowa that have taken that step. It means their church not only welcomes gays and lesbians but accepts their sexual orientation as part of their human condition.

Now, it is a good thing that the Register team attempted to explain what these splits are all about. It is also good that we get to hear from some participants as they talk about issues of biblical authority and interpretation.

But something goes terrible wrong in some of the background material. The story uses a classic device -- the outside, expert observer. Thus, readers are introduced to a scholar from a secular campus who is allowed to provide a basic set of facts that will serve as a framework for these conflicts.

Ready? This passage is rather long, but it's hard to understand what's going on without reading it:

As pastors look out on their congregations, they see a dividing line that runs down the middle of their pews. Pastors know one congregant considers homosexual behavior a sin that Christians must speak out against, while another believes same-sex marriage is a good and moral step toward a more just society. ...

Ultimately, the difference comes down to this: Is the Bible the written word or the living word? Is it open-and-shut, or open to interpretation? It's a battle of traditionalists vs. progressives. Traditionalists point to Romans, to Leviticus, to 1 Corinthians, each of which calls homosexual behavior a sin. Progressives say you must read Bible verses in the context of their time: God also outlawed eating pork, but that was because back then pork wasn't safe.

"The issue for conservative Christians revolves around the sanctity of the nuclear family as they understand it," said Mary Sawyer, a professor of religious studies at Iowa State University. "When fundamentalism started in the early 1900s, it was a reaction to the social gospel, to liberal Christianity. One of the things emphasized was personal morality, particularly sexual morality and not having sex outside of marriage. Marriage being between a man and a woman is something that to them isn't debatable because it's Biblically based. ...

"This is based on passages of the Bible that progressive Christians say is misinterpreted. (Progressives say) you don't take one line out of Bible and hang the truth on that without reading it in context of the whole chapter."

Note that the newspaper's word for those on the doctrinal right is "traditionalist." Well, that's better than "fundamentalist."

Then note that scholar also, accurately, says that the movement that is accurately called "fundamentalism" started in the early 1900s and that, yes, biblical literalism -- "inerrancy" is the preferred word -- was and is a key part of that movement. But note, also, that there is no content given for the doctrinal approach used by the ancient churches of the Christian faith. It's the shallow fundamentalists of the 1900s vs. the nuanced progressives who want to read the Bible in context, who want to move beyond simple, isolated proof texts.

What? Where did the other 1900 years go? Where did centuries of thought among Catholics, the Orthodox, Anglicans, Lutherans, Wesleyans, the Reformed and others go? Are the conflicts over issues as basic as the definition of marriage and the sinfulness of sexual acts outside of marriage simply rooted in a showdown between fundamentalists, accurately defined, and progressives?

Obviously, that is too simplistic. You can tell that this scholar's explanation is too simplistic because the Register story -- while never explaining or labeling this third point of view -- actually allows a sympathetic local pastor to articulate another approach to these conflicts.

It's not that the Rev. Mike Housholder, of Lutheran Church of Hope in West Des Moines, avoids talking about homosexuality. Housholder posted an eight-page Q&A on the church Web site shortly after the ELCA vote. But he fears a pithy quote in a newspaper article would be taken out of context -- by either side -- where a sermon or longer conversation would not. ...

His church's teaching is clear: Sex is a gift from God, shared within marriage between a man and a woman. Anything else is sin. But well-meaning Christians, Housholder said, often lose their balance. On one side, they fall into the ditch of fundamentalism, defining a good Christian as following certain rules. On the other side, they fall into the ditch of relativism, changing God's rules to fit their fancy.

"We're a hospital for sinners, not a hangout for morally perfect saints," Housholder said. "First, Jesus commands us to love everyone. When Christians hate, we lose our moral center and our mission ... .

"Second, we're all sinners in need of a savior," Housholder continued. "There aren't different categories of sin. I get nervous when people want to elevate sexual sin as somehow being more of an issue spiritually than other sinful behaviors. Once we've established that, then we can speak what we believe to be God's truth in love regarding sexual boundaries. ..."

So, is this pastor a "fundamentalist" or a "progressive"? Where does he fit in Sawyer's mini-lecture on biblical authority?

This is the paradox that has had me stymied for more than a week. On this Register report is very complete and complex. It contains quite a few voices representing different points of view and we get to hear from these believers in their own words. However, this story also has one of the worst chunks of background material I have ever seen, one that allows a single scholar to slash 19 centuries worth of doctrine off the timeline of church history.

So this story is very, very good and very, very bad. Color me confused.