Category: Culture

  • #3: Under the Christian Nationalist Tent (or, Finding Empathy)

    #3: Under the Christian Nationalist Tent (or, Finding Empathy)

    You’d be forgiven for thinking that if this kid was what a soldier in the Lord’s army looked like, you didn’t love our chances. Nonetheless, we all thought we were doing the Lord’s work.

  • Female Submission: Let’s Stop Doing as the Romans Do

    Female Submission: Let’s Stop Doing as the Romans Do

    When it comes to the position of women in complementarian and fundamentalist circles, we think and act a lot less like Christians and a lot more like Romans.

  • ‘Christian Nationalism’ Isn’t Christian

    ‘Christian Nationalism’ Isn’t Christian

    When Rocky Balboa defeated the juiced Russian monster, Ivan Drago, on his home turf, my young heart was stirred. Vengeance for Apollo! And when he drew a standing ovation from the entire Politburo with his “everybody can change” speech, I shed tears. Red, white and blue tears. Take that, Soviets! Now, years later, it turns…

  • The Biggest Relativists of All

    The Biggest Relativists of All

    Be on your guard, they warned me. A new danger was rising, they warned me. Christianity itself was about to face its greatest existential threat, they warned me. With imprecations like these, some of my evangelical leaders warned me about insidious villains emerging from the dark realm to destroy the very fabric of faith. These…

  • We’re Not the Heroes

    We’re Not the Heroes

    Scripture so often champions the poor, powerless and oppressed. But we’re not the poor and we’re not the oppressed; we’re the privileged and affluential.

  • Ladies, Front and Centre

    Ladies, Front and Centre

    If we aren’t listening [to the New Testament evidence] by now, then I’m forced to wonder if we’re simply unfamiliar with this material, or hopelessly stubborn in our intellectually lazy appeals to the same few proof texts, or spineless because we recognise the power of the biblical evidence, but fear inviting controversy in our churches…

  • Why I’m Not a Patriot

    Why I’m Not a Patriot

    Eventually, I broke off the love affair with my nation, when I decided it was at odds with my faith. Actually, I just ghosted it until it stopped expecting anything from me.

  • Is This the Moment?

    Is This the Moment?

    This is the moment, I guess. Well, not precisely this moment. At the present moment, we’ll pay respects and acknowledge (I hope) the passing of an extraordinary woman. Sure, the usual assortment of trolls will no doubt emerge from under their bridges to ooze vitriol toward Ruth Bader Ginsberg onto their Twitter feeds. But I…

  • A Better Party?

    A Better Party?

    Yesterday, I watched former President Obama’s speech to the Democratic National Convention. And I found myself bemused in the early goings. President Obama waxed eloquently about the “North Star that would guide future generations…to better realise our highest ideals” which was “embedded” in our great Constitution. Yes, admittedly, that holy document didn’t stop power from…

  • White Evangelicals: It’s Time to Own Our Choices

    White Evangelicals: It’s Time to Own Our Choices

    We white American Evangelicals should take responsibility for the situation we’ve fostered and the president we’ve enabled.