Before I get into this post and its corollary, Street Preaching and the Christian Right, Part 2: Inside the Mind of a Street Preacher, let me just note that these posts contain very disturbing material. Be prepared to confront misogyny, rape, assault, homophobia, transphobia, racism, Islamophobia, bigotry toward other confessions, including Mormonism, Hinduism, and Catholicism, and … Continue reading Street Preaching and the Christian Right, Part 1: Suffer the Little Children
Educated Evangelicals, Academic Achievement, and Trumpism: On the Tensions in Valuing Education in an Anti-Intellectual Subculture
Authority First: The Enclave Strikes Back "I sat in the waiting room wasting my time, and waiting for Judgment Day. I praise liberty, the freedom to obey." - Green Day, "21st Century Breakdown," 21st Century Breakdown (2009) Fundamentalists force an inhumane choice on reflective, empathetic individuals who grow up in their enclave communities: assent that 2 + 2 … Continue reading Educated Evangelicals, Academic Achievement, and Trumpism: On the Tensions in Valuing Education in an Anti-Intellectual Subculture
#ChristianAltFacts, or, how the Christian Right Broke America
Christopher Douglas's article "The Religious Origins of Fake News and 'Alternative Facts,'" published yesterday on Religion Dispatches, is a must read for anyone who wants to understand why and how America's asymmetric polarization--polarization from the Right--has led to Trumpism. You cannot understand this apart from the theocratic element and the relationship between fundamentalist psychology and … Continue reading #ChristianAltFacts, or, how the Christian Right Broke America
Ex-Evangelical Conversations: An Interview with Grete Howland
Among the reasons I decided to start blogging are not just a desire to raise awareness about the dangers of illiberal religion to democratic politics and an impulse to express my own ex-Evangelical voice, but also a desire to help build up the ex-Evangelical and broader ex-fundamentalist community. Many ex-Evangelicals end up feeling isolated, … Continue reading Ex-Evangelical Conversations: An Interview with Grete Howland
The Council for National Policy Wants Betsy DeVos to Christianize Public Schools – CNP “Education Reform Report”
The Washington Post has, thankfully, drawn attention to some very concerning plans on the part of the powerful, secretive conservative group the Council for National Policy to undermine the separation of church and state in America. Specifically, the CNP seems confident it can convince Betsy DeVos to move not only toward pushing for "school choice"--i.e., using … Continue reading The Council for National Policy Wants Betsy DeVos to Christianize Public Schools – CNP “Education Reform Report”
More Evangelical Purges Come to Light – Why are Some People Surprised?
No, seriously. The question in the title of this blog post is not rhetorical. I would really like to understand not only why outside observers of Evangelical subculture, such as Emma Green, seem surprised at the extent to which Evangelical institutions discipline their members to keep them on message, but also why some people who … Continue reading More Evangelical Purges Come to Light – Why are Some People Surprised?
Not Your Mission Field 