One of the genuinely weirdest turns that fundagelical Christianity has taken in recent decades has been its bizarre emphasis on hypermasculinity and rejection of all that is even vaguely perceived as feminine. I first encountered this strange focus when looking at the car of a co-worker some six or so years Read more
I was thinking today about the various ways in which Christians keep trying to do stuff they think Jesus did in the Bible–and failing miserably. I really wish they’d stop, because it is simply cringe-inducing to behold. Today I’m going to talk about some of the ways they try to do it, Read more
Last time we talked, we covered a straw man essay written by a Baptist pastor, Bo Wagner, that he called satirical. A pity he doesn’t actually know what satire is, any more than he knows what atheism is. Last time we talked about what he doesn’t understand about atheists. Today we’re going to talk more about what he doesn’t understand about satire.
Last time we talked, we covered a “satirical” straw man essay written by a Baptist pastor, Bo Wagner, about a fictional atheist. A pity he doesn’t actually know what satire is, any more than he knows what atheism is. Today we’re going to talk more about what he–and by extension Read more
It’s been a rather mind-blowing week over in Christian Bizarro-land. The anniversary of the landmark decision Roe v. Wade was coming up, and it happened to coincide with the start of a legislative session in Congress, so naturally there’s been quite a lot of grandstanding and showboating going on as Christianist politicians and religious leaders alike jockey to demonstrate who loves fetuses the most.
You’ve probably heard of that genre of books called heavenly tourism. In these books, a Christian discusses a Near-Death Experience (NDE) they had where they think they visited an afterlife that looks remarkably like the Christian Heaven. They were allowed to return (or requested to do so) and now they feel that their life’s mission is to tell as many people as they can about their experience. Christians love these books. But now one of these heavenly tourists has recanted his story. Here’s how he did it, and why, and what it means for Christianity.
A long time ago when I was administering a roleplaying MUD* online, I began to notice that the staffers responsible for creating and running plots and storylines for players kept defaulting to very supernatural themes.
Merry Christmas and welcome back! Hope you had a wonderful holiday. Today I want to talk briefly about this really interesting piece I saw about the annual “War on Christmas” that Fox News (Faux Noise?) trumpets and bleats about with more stridency every single year. In this piece, Chris Stedman Read more
We’ve talked about Joyce Meyer before in this space. She’s an easy target, low-hanging fruit, even a piñata, so to speak. She’s a shrewd businesswoman who knows her target audience and panders to that audience shamefully and completely. I can’t even really blame her for finding her niche and tailoring her approach to it as well as she has; if it weren’t her, then it’d be someone else there in her place.
And who is that audience? Middle-aged Christian women who just want to feel a little assurance that they’re doing the right thing, women who believe that their faith will be rewarded if they comply and who need reassurance that that reward is still in the offing.