evangelical christians / evangelicalism / evangelicals Archives - Page 59 of 65

Bible Verses Are Not “Magic” Cards.

It’s amazing to me that Christians can take a book compiled over thousands of years with dozens of mostly-anonymous authors, a book of (revised) history and (imagined) science, of folk magic and supposedly-divine intervention, of petty racism and soaring nationalism, of beautiful poetry and stunning brutality, of–yes–transcendent language and startling insight at times, and reduce it down to sound bites they can select, warp, and then fling at their pleasure to score points against those they view as inferior opponents. To me it seems extremely disrespectful for a Christian to treat their holy book in such a simplistic and reductionist way, but I see it all the time regardless.

By Captain Cassidy, 11 years09/08/2015 ago

Analyzing Christianity

Fireproof: Making and Breaking the Promises.

That brand of Christianity makes some distinct promises to its adherents. If you do this, then you will get that. But it doesn’t actually follow through on those promises. Indeed, it really can’t. Instead it gives people something totally different. Today I want to talk about promises and Fireproof, and how this viewpoint stands up to reality.

By Captain Cassidy, 11 years09/06/2015 ago

Analyzing Christianity

Fireproof: Making Love Out of Nothing At All.

This movie echoes something I myself was taught as a young fundamentalist: that by doing loving things, one can create loving feelings in oneself and inspire loving feelings in a target. In other words, just like the old song by Air Supply put it, we were taught that we could make love out of nothing at all.

By Captain Cassidy, 11 years08/14/2015 ago

Analyzing Christianity

As Seen in Fireproof: The Love Dare, Or How to Get Divorced In Six Short Weeks.

You can’t really talk about Fireproof without talking about the Love Dare, and vice versa. Today I found out why that is.

By Captain Cassidy, 11 years08/12/2015 ago

Analyzing Christianity

Fireproof: Hunting Bears with an Umbrella.

(This is part of our Fireproof review week–here’s the review itself and here’s where I talk about how the movie assumes that only Christians can make marriage work. Consider this, like all my movie posts, full of ALL THE SPOILERS. Also, I’m popping this into our Unequally Yoked Club series Read more

By Captain Cassidy, 11 years08/07/2015 ago

Analyzing Christianity

The Unequally Yoked Club: Fireproof’s Fatal Assumption.

While someone might see this movie and assume–as I did repeatedly–that it was hawking a particular marriage advice manual, The Love Dare, that’s not entirely true. The characters repeatedly reference the book and laud how amazing it is and how much it’s helped their marriages, but the movie is quite clear about exactly what really saved Kirk’s marriage in the movie.

By Captain Cassidy, 11 years08/05/2015 ago

Analyzing Christianity

Fireproof Mega-Review.

Everybody can learn new things. Why, just this morning I figured out how to get italics into my blog post titles. So I knew going into this movie that it’s about Kirk Cameron’s character saving his marriage, so who knows, maybe I’ll learn some amazing new tips and tricks to use in my own relationships!

By Captain Cassidy, 11 years08/02/2015 ago

From Patreon

The SBC Still Doesn’t Get Why Nobody Likes Them Anymore

Sometimes it’s hard to believe that a culture can be this blind to its own faults and problems, and yet here we are at another installment of “Heads in the Sand: Southern Baptist Edition.”

By Captain Cassidy, 11 years06/20/2015 ago

Analyzing Christianity

Covenanters Anonymous: What the TVC-Jordan Root Scandal Means for Right-Wing Christianity

Recently we talked about the Jordan Root/TVC scandal, which involved a megachurch learning about a pedophile in their midst and mishandling that news in every way conceivable. Today we’re going to talk about how this scandal is another illustration of exactly why fundagelical Christianity is doomed and deserves to be so.

By Captain Cassidy, 11 years06/12/2015 ago

Analyzing Christianity

Jordan Root and Yet Another Child Abuse Scandal Erupting in Christianity Right Now.

We’re still reeling from the Duggar sex abuse scandal, but on the heels of it comes another involving Christian leaders totally misreading a child-abuse situation and handling it in the poorest, most insensitive way possible. Another day, another fundagelical scandal involving sex abuse. Say hi to Jordan Root!

By Captain Cassidy, 11 years06/09/2015 ago