Hi, all! I know it has been a very long time since I've created any new content for this site. I never intended to go into blogging hiatus for seven months, but in the meantime I've been promoting my coedited anthology, Empty the Pews: Stories of Leaving the Church. I was doing some public speaking … Continue reading A Personal Update and Some Thoughts on Pluralism
Epic Christian Fails: Pastor Robert Jeffress and the Greta Thunberg Contingency
Robert Jeffress, toxic Christian Zionist, pastor of the 13,000-strong megachurch First Baptist Dallas, and Trump toady extraordinaire, has a solid record when it comes to taking the Bible literally. The prominent Southern Baptist leader has never shied away from such straight-shooting statements as, "We know from the Bible that in fact, we do have a common … Continue reading Epic Christian Fails: Pastor Robert Jeffress and the Greta Thunberg Contingency
Reflections on Religion News Association’s 2019 Conference
On Wednesday, September 18, I flew to Las Vegas, Nevada to attend the annual conference of Religion News Association, an organization that has been around since 1949. https://twitter.com/C_Stroop/status/1174050109606129664?s=20 Some time back, ex-evangelical journalist Liam Adams invited me to be part of a panel on religion reporting and social media along with him, Aysha Khan, and Sophia … Continue reading Reflections on Religion News Association’s 2019 Conference
We are Not a Crisis: Lament the Problems of the Church If You Must, but Stop Erasing Ex-Evangelicals
Anyone other than an editor of a major centrist media outlet might have decided that in July 2019, the jeremiad-over-evanglelical-hypocrisy think piece should be considered passé. So of course Peter Wehner recently published just another such lament in The Atlantic. Don't get me wrong; I'd rather have pundits criticizing conservative, mostly white evangelicals for their hypocrisy … Continue reading We are Not a Crisis: Lament the Problems of the Church If You Must, but Stop Erasing Ex-Evangelicals
Call Me Chrissy
Welcome to the Coming Out Post I've Been Putting Off for Years The first Pride celebration I attended was held on June 28, 2015. It was a small and joyous affair in a small town in the autonomous region of Galicia, located on Spain's Atlantic Coast. None of the few pictures I took came out … Continue reading Call Me Chrissy
On the Conservative Movement and Evangelical Spin Doctoring: A Response to A. J. Nolte
The Big Picture: The Power of Denial in the Conservative Movement If there's one consistent thing that many #NeverTrump conservatives have tried to get the American public to believe, it's that the only problem in the conservative movement and the current iteration of the Republican Party is Donald J. Trump. If we could just get … Continue reading On the Conservative Movement and Evangelical Spin Doctoring: A Response to A. J. Nolte
Ex-Evangelical Conversations: Professor of Psychology Joshua Grubbs (Featuring Advice for Exvies Seeking Therapists)
Joshua Grubbs, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and professor at Bowling Green State University, where he researches the psychology of behavioral addictions, psychology of religion and spirituality, and issues related to personality. He's also one of my favorite follows on #Exvangelical Twitter, and I'm almost surprised at myself that I haven't featured him in Ex-Evangelical … Continue reading Ex-Evangelical Conversations: Professor of Psychology Joshua Grubbs (Featuring Advice for Exvies Seeking Therapists)
Ex-Evangelical Conversations: Christian Abuse Survivor, College Student, and Future Journalist Elizabeth Hunter, Part I
Be warned that today's installment of Ex-Evangelical Conversations is a very disturbing read. Currently a senior at a Christian college, Elizabeth Hunter's path has been a harrowing one of survival involving parental negligence, re-homing, sexual abuse, gaslighting, manipulation, humiliation, and starvation, mostly from the adults in her environment who were supposed to be nurturing and … Continue reading Ex-Evangelical Conversations: Christian Abuse Survivor, College Student, and Future Journalist Elizabeth Hunter, Part I
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
Not Your Mission Field 