Ex-Patriot

Confronting Christian nationalism (and other bad ideas)

Category: Humanity

  • Inerrancy is the Problem Behind the Problems – Part 3

    Inerrancy is the Problem Behind the Problems – Part 3

    But what happens when the book we’re standing on starts to feel unstable? What happens when weak points appear in the ways we were instructed to read biblical texts? What happens when the so-called ‘doctrine’ of inerrancy we were taught begins to reveal its flaws? What now? What do we do with the Bible?

  • Inerrancy is the Problem Behind the Problems – Part 2

    Inerrancy is the Problem Behind the Problems – Part 2

    In the minds of so many evangelicals, God may as well have swung a pocket watch in front of the biblical writers, telling them they were feeling “very sleepy”, then dictated word for word the text they were to compose. Or better yet, simply shoved those writers aside, saying He’d “take it from here”, dipped…

  • Thieves of the Forest: A Parable

    Thieves of the Forest: A Parable

    Soon, though, they realized all was not well in the forest. Huge swathes of woodland vanished, seemingly overnight; only shallow stumps remained to prove trees were ever there. Wildlife numbers dwindled. Even once-mighty rivers slowed to a trickle further downstream.

  • No, We Don’t Know What’s Going to Happen – and That’s a Gift

    No, We Don’t Know What’s Going to Happen – and That’s a Gift

    Humans can’t predict the future. Rather than fret about what the Trump administration may or may not do, let’s choose how we want to live.

  • Liturgy of Cups and Paths: July 14-20

    Liturgy of Cups and Paths

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    July 14-20

    Some lift the cup in joy, in contentment, or in peace; Others lift it in bitterness, or sorrow, or pain. May each one sense you near, within reach, close as the cup in the hands.

  • Liturgy from Solitude: July 7-13

    Liturgy from Solitude

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    July 7-13

    As you journey through these days, May you be aware of the God who journeys with you, The God who journeys with all, In all times and all seasons.

  • Liturgy of Nearness: June 30-July 6

    Liturgy of Nearness

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    June 30-July 6

    Eternal glory to the Father, the Son and the Spirit of God. So it was at the dawning of the world. So it is in the moments we live. So it will be to the ages of ages. Eternal glory to the Three who are One.

  • 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…

  • 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.

  • Hope Less?

    Hope Less?

    To put it in the most raw and unvarnished terms, watching this shitshow leaves a flat, cynical sensation where hope used to be. But I want to put my rally cap back on.