As the weather heats up, the concept of pilgrimages enters my mind. Somehow long ago, Protestants lost this custom. But it’s never really died out. I can see why, too. Something about a long walk along ancient paths sparks something within the human heart. Today, let’s explore where pilgrimages originated Read more
An April headline announced that ‘Young Women Are Leaving Church in Unprecedented Numbers.” After many years of right-wing Christian men’s complaints about the ‘feminization’ of Christianity, one would think they’d be happy to hear this news. After all, that means their pastors now have a lot more time to cater Read more
It isn’t easy to assess miracles when someone lives in what Carl Sagan once called a demon-haunted world. That kind of world operates with way different rules than our real one does. However, it’s nice to see some Christians trying to analyze miracles for divine meddling. Today, let’s see how Read more
Yet again, Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) leaders have revealed that with their sex abuse crisis, the rot goes all the way down to the roots and all way up the ladder of power. Recently, federal prosecutors discovered that several SBC seminary leaders deliberately concealed information about one of their students Read more
Church hospitality is usually another way of saying being nice to church visitors. And for some reason, evangelicals fall down hard at doing this one simple thing. Sure, they know they’re supposed to be nice to their own members and to the visitors who show up. But there’s a big Read more
Evangelicals like to pretend that evangelism is just a formality they perform. They think their god strong-arms people into belief, merely utilizing the evangelist as a conduit. But nothing could be further from the truth, as one denomination reveals in a lengthy writeup. Southern Baptists talk a big game about Read more
In the online world as in meatspace, complementarianism is a treasured ideology for the Religious Right. They might use different names for it, like tradwife/tradman, but these regressive marriage rules form a bedrock foundational belief for them. But it keeps failing. More than that, it fails spectacularly. But its failure Read more
Because I’ve been following the SBC’s doings for years, I can spot places where things don’t line up at all. And this year, something is definitely not lining up.
What a sad demotion for this accomplished, educated, intelligent queen from eons past: To be reduced to the pawn of a misogynistic, control-hungry pastor seeking a return to his former power.
As Christians have known for many centuries, it’s a lot easier to fake miracles than it is to fulfill Jesus’ grandest hope for his followers!