Analyzing Christianity
The Religious Right has not ‘distorted the faith,’ but revealed it for what it is
In 2006, Randall Balmer accused evangelicals in the Religious Right of wrecking evangelicalism. But they didn’t. Christianity itself did.
Analyzing Christianity
Wingnut Christians: Analyzing their claims
This J. Robert Smith fella definitely tells his TRUE CHRISTIAN™ audience what they desperately want to hear. (To put it in Christianese, he tickles their ears. And that’s not a good thing.)
Analyzing Christianity
Anatomy of a false persecution claim: THE EVER-LURKING THREAT (of love and kindness)
Authoritarians hate a lot of people. But they hate apostates far more than anybody else. An apostate is a threat and a danger, one which must be eliminated immediately and with as much force as can be mustered.
Analyzing Christianity
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.
Analyzing Christianity
Next Gen: Southern Baptists still have no idea how to recruit young adults, thank goodness
Next Gen will totally and for sure fix the SBC’s decline!
Analyzing Christianity
Workplace evangelism: fishing off the company’s dock
In the military, with its huge, life-altering penalties for insubordination and disobedience, it’s more important for military leaders to firmly and decisively rein in these overreaching authoritarians.
Analyzing Christianity
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.
Analyzing Christianity
New Catholic Movements: Pope Francis ain’t reforming them before his retirement
For a couple of years now, Francis has taken increasingly-strong steps to rein in the founders of New Catholic Movement groups.
Analyzing Christianity
Just Jesus harder: Advice that always fails, for a reason
Jesus-ing harder doesn’t fix anything. It just keeps Christians chasing a dragon they can never actually catch, then blaming themselves for never catching it.
Analyzing Christianity
‘Use as example’: Southern Baptist self-protection in action
The whole document is horrifying reading. But one line in it particularly caught my eye. It read, “Use as example.” Today, we’ll look at this so-called “example” that the SBC’s leaders wanted to stand out as a perfect example of sexual predators in SBC ministerial ranks. Along the way, maybe we’ll see just why the people behind this document wanted to use this particular person, Perez Blackmon, as their ur-example.