The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) recently elected Bart Barber to be its newest president. Barber hails from a very small country church in northeast Texas, which he thinks is a good example to the rest of the denomination. He’s also the new leader of his faction, the Pretend Progressives, so he’s busy trying to deal […]
Captain Cassidy
ROLL TO DISBELIEVE
"Captain Cassidy" is Cassidy McGillicuddy, a Gen Xer and ex-Pentecostal. (The title is metaphorical.) She writes about the intersection of psychology, belief, popular culture, science, politics, the arts, and gaming -- video, board, tabletop, whatever. She lives in Idaho with her husband, Mr. Captain, and their squawky orange cat, Princess Bother Pretty Toes the First. No matter how many bookcases she stuffs into her house, at any given time she's running out of bookcase space.
Posted inReligion
Why Mormons confuse scrutiny and mockery for persecution
The post we’re examining today contains big words like oppressed and persecution. Its writer has misdefined them all.
Posted inLeaving Religion
The pro-life clinic manual that deconverted me from Christianity
I started reading this CPC manual as a firm, fervent Christian. I ended it weeping, devastated, and windmilling my arms over the ledge of apostasy.
Posted inReligious News
Southern Baptist extremists seem to be fomenting schism (again)
As the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) continues to decline, two factions have taken to the field of battle. They both want to rule this massive money-making engine. But only one can win the crown. The faction that’s been losing nowadays seems to have focused on another tactic: deliberately fomenting schism
Posted inEthics
Do pro-lifers just not love their mothers?
I’ve been asked this one question many times over the years, and it’s always posed with a spiteful sneer: ‘Aren’t you glad your mother was pro-life?’ But my mother was pro-choice.
Posted inLeaving Religion
Gatekeeping in Christianity: They’re all imposters
Quite literally speaking, gatekeeping is as old and as cherished a tradition for Christians as celebrating Communion. Back when I was evangelical, I saw this truth firsthand. Indeed, I encountered a truth about Christianity that deeply troubled me: the adherents of every flavor of the religion were completely certain that they Jesus-ed perfectly, while every […]
Posted inReligion
Why authoritarian Christians desperately need literalism
The very worst sorts of Christian leaders and groups desperately need their followers to buy into biblical literalism, which is quite possibly the most childish and poorly-informed hermeneutic possible.
Posted inReligious News
Why Southern Baptists weren’t part of the Native Americans abuse report
Recently, the United States government finished the first part of its investigation into federally-funded boarding schools that abused Native Americans. As you might expect, it’s a dark read. Primarily, it reveals that for 150 years, the American government used these schools to systematically destroy Native Americans’ culture. Worse, the government sought to destroy that culture […]
Posted inReligious News
Nancy Pelosi and Communion: Revealing a rift in Catholicism
Communion is a big deal to Catholics in America. But about a month ago, a Catholic archbishop in America barred Nancy Pelosi from being able to take Communion because of her vocal position on abortion rights. The Vatican clearly didn’t agree with this decision, and she herself clearly didn’t either.
Posted inReligious News
Franklin Graham and Naghmeh Panahi: An all-too-common betrayal
Franklin Graham’s behavior is not some aberration, and neither was his bizarre decision to bring Panahi’s abuser to a military ministry shindig. It’s par for the course in evangelical ministry.