I took my religion’s claims seriously. In other words, I expected our claims to stand up to the same basic testing and investigation that any other claim would get. WOW, did that attitude not go over well! So today, Lord Snow Presides over how I got (gently) smacked down for daring to suggest a formal test of one of my church’s biggest miracle claims.
I saw a video lately about multi-level marketing schemes (MLMs) and their similarity to classic religious cults. I want to show you this idea in detail–and maybe offer some hope for those who love people who’ve gotten sucked into this predatory business model. Today, Lord Snow Presides over the weird similarity of cults and MLMs!
We’ve been talking lately about the rash of church closures in America. A figure of 6,000-10,000 closings a year began circulating online recently, and it’s got a lot of Christians in a tizzy! Well, today let’s see what their big grand plan is to reverse that trend. (Spoiler: What they’re suggesting won’t help, and I’ll show you why, too!)
Recently, I mentioned a startling figure making the rounds in Christian-Land: this notion that 6000-10000 churches per year close in the United States. At the time, I couldn’t find the source for the figure. Today, though, I want to dive into it and see where it comes from, if I can, and figure out if it’s accurate. Then we’ll look at what it means.
Out of every accusation belligerent Christians fling at those who reject their sales pitches, the one about us being angry at God has to be one of the most baffling and irritating. But Christians make this accusation for some very important reasons. Today, I’ll show you what those reasons are–and what this accusation really means.
We’ve been talking lately about how Christians treat the people they’re trying to recruit. Sales-minded Christians often borrow strategies from the Bible, and this one is no exception: cold reading. I’ll show you what it is, why Christians like it, what they think is happening when they do it, and then—of Read more
We’ve been talking lately about the lamentably-common trope of Christians expressing great sadness over our non-belief. I’ve been noticing one outgrowth of that sentiment: the idea that ex-Christians would never have lost faith if we’d only encountered the best and most correct form of Christianity. And lucky for us, Magic Read more
Today, I’ll show you the shared features of these two popular testimony styles, and which testimony I think wins the fight for Christians’ attention and money–for now.
Christian cults sound so weird and alien to most people. But this one will probably sound even more sinister than the culty norm. It’s called Xenos Christian Fellowship, and it’s taken root in Ohio thanks to a philosophy that’s unique even by Christian-cult standards. Here are the details, just in time for Spooky Week.
WELL. The best-laid plans and all that! I found something to lead us up to J.D. Greear’s skidmark of a post from last week. Y’all need to see this first–if only to prepare yourselves. It seems that evangelical leaders have come up with yet another way to sabotage their young Read more