For a couple years now, we’ve been hearing about certain aesthetics adopted by alt-right Gen Z Christians. So today, let’s check out the latest news about the alt-right, then check out why their followers find alt-right flavors of Christianity so appealing—and see what right-wing Christian leaders think about this influx Read more
As the new year begins, it’s time to look at one of the most amazing and spectacularly daffy practices within evangelicalism: Prophecy. It’s one of those dealbreakers within Christianity. It shows there’s nothing supernatural or divine at the religion’s heart. But evangelicals in particular can’t help themselves. They love prophecy, Read more
For years now, I’ve offhandedly mentioned evangelicals’ enduring hatred of postmodernism. They don’t understand what it is, but they sure know they hate it! Today, let’s plunge into what it is, why they hate it so much, and why they can’t ever truly get away from it. (This post and Read more
Another day, another sex abuse crisis in an authoritarian flavor of Christianity. This time, it’s the Jehovah’s Witnesses facing the music. Authoritarian Christians keep thinking it won’t happen in their church, right up until it does. And when—not if—it does, they act completely shocked. They shouldn’t. Any really authoritarian religious Read more
On July 31, Brent Leatherwood resigned his position as the leader of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). He lasted about four years in all, which is pretty good for an SBC leader with as many hardliner enemies as he had. And oh Read more
Another day, another sexual predator in evangelicalism: Michael Tait has become the face of the newest scandal in evangelicalism. He’s not just any evangelical, though. He’s the former frontman for the long-running, super-popular evangelical singing group the Newsboys! Not only that, but one evangelical watchdog site calls this revelation “Nashville’s Read more
When I review Alpha Course evangelism videos, I double-check my ideas by consulting a printed manual for the entire course. This time around, when I reviewed its fourth video, the manual contained an interesting discrepancy between its syllabus and the video’s actual contents. Today, let’s dive into this very telling Read more
For years now, I’ve considered it a major red flag to find the presence of a church discipline policy in a church. These policies grant church leaders enormous, unchecked power over congregants—who don’t realize how that power may be misused until they themselves are caught in its crosshairs. Usually, the Read more
Years ago, I wrote about Bill Schnoebelen as part of the Cult of Before Stories series. The Cult includes that vast collection of fake, bombastic Satanism-and-witchcraft-themed testimonies that hucksters peddle for attention and profit to evangelicals. These fake testimonies hit their peak around the late 1980s before petering out in Read more
Somehow, evangelical pastors have figured out how to make their end of Christianity even worse—by implementing the ‘Moses Model’ of church leadership. It really is remarkable how they’ve turned an essentially dysfunctionally-authoritarian flavor of religion into such an extreme worst-case-possible scenario. But the Moses Model lets them make that transition Read more