Churches have long been mainstays of American culture, particularly in smaller towns. But of late, churches have become a losing proposition for pastors. More and more of them are struggling to handle rising operational costs, not to mention dwindling membership. Read more
A recent slew of changes to Jehovah’s Witnesses doctrines and practices has got people reeling in dizziness, and for good reason. It’s rare to see such a high-control religious group going this far to soften its weirder, more cultish aspects. Read more
Even before evangelicals realized they were in a full decline, they pushed hard on the idea of the offense of the gospel. This is the idea that somehow, their religion’s message massively offends normies. But ‘the gospel’ isn’t offensive at Read more
Big-name Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) leader Richard Land had some sad news to share with the flocks last month: Jerry Johnson, a die-hard SBC culture warrior who held important leadership roles within the denomination, had converted to Catholicism. More than Read more
Last time we met up, I showed you some popular Christian zingers they attribute to atheists. We talked about how these lists of zingers operate as a form of ingroup performance. Today, though, let’s pivot to one of the lists Read more
A long time ago, I noticed right-wing Christians’ love for what I called ‘zingers‘: insulting retorts that they think totally own their enemies. Their zingers may mystify their targets, and definitely don’t accomplish what right-wing Christians think they should, but Read more
Last week, while researching the post about the gap between behavior and ideals, I ran across a whole slew of stuff online about costly worship. Evangelicals sell this kind of sacrificial giving as a necessity for Jesusing perfectly. But it’s Read more
In the past few weeks, I’ve had a lot of time to think about this entire Shawn Bolz hypocrisy and harassment scandal. For years, I’ve known that dysfunctional authoritarian religious groups sprout way more hypocrisy than more functional groups can Read more
Not long ago, Ryan Burge revealed some of the major disaffiliation drivers in Christianity these days, with the top contender being hypocrisy. In other words, 42% of Christians who disaffiliated from Christianity cited hypocrisy as one of their major reasons Read more
Just when we thought the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) couldn’t possibly fail harder than it already is, Heath Lambert has arrived on the scene to help them decline some more. This hardline Old Guard pastor demonstrates exactly why the SBC Read more