Analyzing Christianity
White evangelical racism: Two bad tastes that taste worse together
How white evangelical racism became such a problem, and why it will remain so for the foreseeable future.
From Patreon
2022 Annual Report: Another bad year for the Southern Baptist Convention
Every summer, evangelical-watchers enter their equivalent of March Madness. Of the World Series. Of, dare I declare, the Super Bowl. That’s because every summer, the biggest evangelical denomination of ’em all, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), holds its Annual Meeting and releases its Annual Report. In every Annual Report, the Read more
Analyzing Christianity
“Everyone’s a slave to something” — except not really
When I was just a teenager, some evangelical set this over-simplistic equation in front of me: Pick your master, because you’ll always be a slave to something.
SBC Watching
Tom Buck: In the land of hypocrisy, secrets are currency
I wonder how long Tom Buck struggled with the secrets he knew about Jeff Ford before using them to attack his faction’s newest enemy #1. One minute? Two? Less?
Analyzing Christianity
Pastor Tom Buck is very upset that his enemies exposed his abusive behavior
By painting himself as the poor widdle victim of a meaniepie leak, while entirely denying/ignoring the fact that the leak was about his abuse of his own wife, Tom Buck clearly hopes to escape the scrutiny that cost Paige Patterson his job–and not hinder his faction leader, Tom Ascol, from reaching the heights of SBC power.
From Patreon
Deconversion: When I was the only ex-Christian in the world
It truly is marvelous to consider how far American culture has gotten in just the past 20 or 30 years! When I deconverted, I had to figure everything out for myself. As far as I knew, I was literally the only ex-Christian in the whole wide world. And let me tell you: life felt pretty damned lonely.
From Patreon
Cooperative Program giving is way up—but not because of Baptists’ generosity
Donations to the SBC’s all-important Cooperative Program are a bit higher than expected. I think I know why.
Analyzing Christianity
Simple misfortune, or divine punishment for sin?
Sometimes when I look back at my days as a Christian, I’m thunderstruck by how absolutely exhausting it was in every single way. For a religion promising peace, rest, a light yoke, and vaguely-defined joy to its followers, Christianity brought precious little of any of it to any of us. Not long ago, I ran across a Southern Baptist Bible study about sin that really reminded me of that exhaustion.
From Patreon
Our creepy evangelical Easter evangelism exhortation is here
This busy Easter season, Ben Mandrell wants evangelicals to see him as a valid source of advice for learning to evangelize without losing one’s friends. But he has no idea how to do it himself.
Analyzing Christianity
‘Who’s Your One’ campaign is everything wrong with the Southern Baptist Convention
A traveling evangelist has begun upselling a failed 2014 evangelism campaign called “Who’s Your One?” Today, let me show you what this campaign is, who started it and who adopted it and why, how it failed, and most importantly what it tells us about the Southern Baptist Convention as a whole.