That time when a terrorist attack struck the Olympic Games
Both Ryan Lochte's clumsy cover story and the media's initial credulous acceptance of it reveal our willingness to assume the worst about South America as opposed to our more civilized society here in...
View ArticleRegrets, I’ve had a few …
A few short blocks from the Christian Coalition's Road to Victory conference there was a movie theater, with a line of movie-goers that stretched down the block. But this wasn't just any movie and this...
View ArticleConcordance-ism backfires for anti-gay preacher
Concordance-ism doesn't ask us to read the Bible. It asks us to "look up" things in the Bible -- to consult the Bible without reading it. I would say this is a terrible, terrible way to read the Bible,...
View ArticleThe culture wars and the class war have merged
"Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love."
View ArticlePostcards from the class & culture wars (2.21.17)
"I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down...
View ArticleThe defenders of slavery taught us how to Bible
Consider the actual mechanism at work in that “Bible debate” over slavery. Consult the concordance and look up passages containing the words “slavery” or “slave.” But don’t look up passages containing...
View ArticleEugene Peterson Gets Ciziked
Peterson heard the gatekeepers' threats and, it seems, he got "The Message."
View ArticleWhen gatekeepers attack
Dave Gushee writes about last week's Eugene Peterson debacle as someone with first-hand experience of what it's like "When the evangelical establishment comes after you." It's not a pretty story.
View ArticleWhen gatekeepers attack (first-century edition)
Take a moment to ponder that and to consider the staggering level of hypocrisy and ingratitude it takes for Gentile Christians today to play the role of that circumcision faction. Are we so foolish?...
View ArticleIdentifying identity: Who gets kicked out, and why?
One way to understand such boundaries of identity is to look at who gets kicked out, and why. Trying to figure out who is -- or who still is -- an "evangelical" is notoriously slippery and difficult....
View ArticlePostcards from the class and culture wars (7.27.17)
"Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you. Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be...
View ArticleOn the “Nashville Statement”
The conservative evangelical "Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood” released a manifesto reiterating their anti-LGBT beliefs...in case we forgot.
View ArticleGatekeepers Require Periodic ‘Statements’ of Allegiance
This is from several cycles back, regarding one of countless, largely forgettable white evangelical "statements" and "declarations" that preceded this week's odious "Nashville Statement." It's still true.
View ArticleThe Ugly Ingratitude of the ‘Nashville Statement’
But that's not the main reason that citing this passage is a necessary response to the ugly ideology of the Nashville Statement. The main reason is because it is a devastating, scorched-earth rebuttal...
View ArticlePostcards from the class and culture wars (10.4.17)
"But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to...
View ArticleRoy Moore is Even Worse than You Thought
Disgraced former judge Roy Moore has always seemed like a caricature of some Southern Gothic monster -- some bastard creation pieced together out of left-overs from Tennessee Williams and Flannery...
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