History and Science
We like to scare ourselves: The rise of horror games
Fear is part of the human condition. Horror games speak to that part of us and allow us to take a little control over it.
Analyzing Christianity
‘American Gospel’ accused of being Calvinist propaganda
Hi and welcome back! Last weekend, we watched American Gospel: Christ Alone. It’s a documentary about the true and accurate form of the Gospel, presented by a group of Christians who think they’ve got it right. Immediately after its release, other Christians who disagreed with them went on the attack. One of Read more
The Games We Play
J.K. Rowling and the Measuring of a Woman
Lately, a huge controversy hit social media when J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter books, offered a series of her own hot takes on transgender people. Some of what she said sounded very much like the stuff we see out of toxic Christians, so today I wanted to talk about the measure of a woman. What goes into womanhood? Who gets to decide? And who gets excluded by these lists of requirements?
Analyzing Christianity
The Worst ‘Father’ in the World
From all the Daddy God blathering to the Heavenly Father crowd, Christians can’t resist comparing their imaginary friend to a real live father. And more than that, in their viewpoint, he’s not just exactly like a real live father–he’s better than any human father could ever be. Today, let me show you why that idea is both nonsensical and insulting to decent fathers everywhere.
Analyzing Christianity
A Totally Useful and Reliable List of Christian Books About Atheism
The list shows us everything that Christians get wrong about atheism–and to a certain extent why they get it wrong.
Analyzing Christianity
Leaving the Shack to Find Our Independence.
It seems fitting, however, to return to this topic of power now as we look at the Christian glurge movie/book The Shack and observe its main teaching: that independence is to be distrusted and rejected.
Analyzing Christianity
Sophia’s (False) Choice.
The Shack, the latest popular Christian glurge to get made into a movie, pretends to be a serious answer for the age-old question plaguing Christians: why does their god, who is supposed to be omni-everything as well as loving and gracious, allow terrible things to happen in his created world?
Analyzing Christianity
Just a Little Bit of Racism in The Shack.
The Shack, the latest in a long line of Christian glurge movies and books, lives in that weird middle ground where Christians think they’re being progressive and yet turn out to be as locked in systemic racism as any of their peers.
Analyzing Christianity
The Shack: A Land Where Dreams Come True.
The Shack is one of a very long line of Christian glurge media that recreates reality for believers, giving them the thrill of “seeing” their beliefs mesh at last with the real world. But for everyone else, stories like this one simply make the religion sound worse.
The Games We Play
Using the Dirk Gently method of navigation
This is a short story about getting lost and found again. A long time ago, I was driving through Omaha, Nebraska (as opposed to Omaha, Colorado, I guess) for the very first time. I was trying to find a particular Japanese restaurant there that I’d been told was very good, Read more