Some Confessions of a Past Proselytizer I remember how stressful it was for me, as a child and young adult, to believe I "had to" attempt to convert others to Christianity--specifically the evangelical variety I grew up in, which those in my community took to be most authentic expression of the faith. As a result … Continue reading Empowerment against Evangelization: Countering Conversion Attempts by Asserting Moral Autonomy
Talking Back to Conservative Christians as They Attempt to Appropriate #ChurchToo. A Day of Action on Thursday, December 13
This coming Thursday, December 13, Wheaton College's Billy Graham Center will host its third "GC2" Summit, this time focusing on #ChurchToo and the epidemic of abuse and sexual assault in evangelical churches and fundamentalist churches. (GC2 stands for Great Commission/Great Commandment, and I suppose the organizers think their abbreviation is hip and clever, when it's … Continue reading Talking Back to Conservative Christians as They Attempt to Appropriate #ChurchToo. A Day of Action on Thursday, December 13
Escape from Jesus Land: On Recognizing Evangelical Abuse and Finding the Strength to Reject the Faith of Our Fathers
The View from Jesus Land, USA My great-grandpa was the only member of my mom's side of the family never to abandon the Democratic Party for the Republicans. He would not leave the political party of his father. Similarly, a friend of my family's who worked as a lawyer in a small Midwestern town for … Continue reading Escape from Jesus Land: On Recognizing Evangelical Abuse and Finding the Strength to Reject the Faith of Our Fathers
Update and Exvangelical Miscellany: Academia, Exvies, the Evangelical Reckoning, the Columbia International University Scandal, and Jerusalem
T.S. Eliot surely did not have academia in mind when he wrote "April is the cruelest month," but his assertion does apply well enough to academia. It's a "wasteland" for the vast majority of Ph.D.s minted in the last 10 years or so, after all, and, for those of us holding on to academic employment, … Continue reading Update and Exvangelical Miscellany: Academia, Exvies, the Evangelical Reckoning, the Columbia International University Scandal, and Jerusalem
The Fundamentally Free Blog Launches an #EmptyThePews Series
Coming on the scene only in January of this year, Fundamentally Free is a new ex-Evangelical blog that has already published a good deal of valuable and impressive content by a diverse array of authors. On March 20, 2018, Fundamentally Free's Twitter account put out a call for #EmptyThePews stories--stories of why and how individuals left … Continue reading The Fundamentally Free Blog Launches an #EmptyThePews Series
The Last Temptation of American Journalism, or, Michael Gerson is Not a Hero
If there's one temptation America's major newspapers and magazines seem unable to resist, it's the temptation to normalize America's white Christian extremists--including traditionalist Catholics, yes, but especially Evangelicals. On the whole, this 81% Trump-voting population represents a clear and present danger to American democracy and the future of human rights, but time and again The … Continue reading The Last Temptation of American Journalism, or, Michael Gerson is Not a Hero
Ex-Evangelicals in 2017: A Not Your Mission Field Year in Review
2017 has been a devastating year for America, and a disheartening year for those of us who care about human rights and democracy, and who have been resisting the rise of American authoritarianism under our current, illegitimate, president. This group includes the ex-Evangelical community, many members of which have shown dedication to exposing the authoritarian, … Continue reading Ex-Evangelicals in 2017: A Not Your Mission Field Year in Review
A Few Words on #ChurchToo: Evangelical Abuse Scandals, Hashtag Campaigns, and Ex-Evangelicals in the Media
On November 21, Hannah Paasch launched a new hashtag campaign that she and Emily Joy had come up with together. #ChurchToo, as Hannah noted in the first tweet with the hashtag, is about a much needed "day of reckoning for the church." Evangelical Protestantism is, as a rule, intensely patriarchal, and the numerous Evangelical abuse … Continue reading A Few Words on #ChurchToo: Evangelical Abuse Scandals, Hashtag Campaigns, and Ex-Evangelicals in the Media
Not Your Mission Field 