A post about female masturbation recently appeared on Christianity Today's women's section. Christianity Today is generally more mainstream evangelical than my upbringing, so much so that I remember viewing it as somewhat liberal. This post, though, has had me questioning all of that.The basic gist is this---the author accepts that women are sexual and may turn to masturbation as an outlet for their sexual desire---something that is foreign to many evangelicals---but follows that up by … [Read more...]
In Which Christianity Today Goes Halfway (with gifs)
April 29, 2014 by Leave a Comment
You Don’t Write Your Kids’ Lives (They Do)
March 12, 2014 by 1 Comment
Good gracious, I just came upon a Babble article titled Jessa Duggar Will Have a Chaste Courtship---And My Kids Will, Too. With all due respect, author Kacy Faulconer has no idea whether or not her children will have "chaste courtships." My parents said their children would have chaste courtships too, and guess what? I didn't! Kacy can give her children whatever advice she chooses, but ultimately, once they're adults, she cannot control their choices.I talk a lot here on the blog about the … [Read more...]
Testosterone: Biblical Patriarchy’s Kryptonite
December 3, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Several weeks ago, I talked to my mom about Doug Phillips' affair and the closing of Vision Forum Ministries. My mom talked about how sad that was, and how bad she felt for Doug's wife and children, all of which I'd been expecting. But she didn't stop there, and I hadn't expected her to."Well," she concluded, shaking her head, "he's male."And she clearly felt that explained it. But I was not content to let that go. "Actually mom, most guys manage to not cheat on their wives," I told her. … [Read more...]
It depends upon what the meaning of the word “know” is
November 15, 2013 by 1 Comment
This from Doug Phillips' original "Statement of resignation": There has been serious sin in my life for which God has graciously brought me to repentance. I have confessed my sin to my wife and family, my local church, and the board of Vision Forum Ministries. I engaged in a lengthy, inappropriate relationship with a woman. While we did not “know” each other in a Biblical sense, it was nevertheless inappropriately romantic and affectionate. This from Doug Phillips' recent "Clarification on Res … [Read more...]
Pulling the Victoria’s Secret Dance
October 27, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Fundamentalist and conservative evangelical Christianity is weird. Women are taught to dress modestly in public, to stay away from pornography or premarital sex, etc. Prostitutes and strippers are derided, along with everyone who dresses "like a whore" (i.e. less modestly than they're supposed to). But in private, within marriage? Women are expected to perform. They have to somehow go from reserved modesty to being, well, a man's personal supermodel.Take this blog comment, for instance: I … [Read more...]
The Homosexual Deathstyle; or, A Fixation on Gay Sex
October 10, 2013 by Leave a Comment
A couple years back, I watched a documentary called For the Bible Tells Me So, which looks at five Christian families with gay or lesbian children. Something one of the mothers said really struck me. She said that after her daughter first came out, and introduced her girlfriend, all she could think about was her daughter and her girlfriend having sex, and how disgusting that was. She said that over time, she was able to make a sort of peace with her daughter because she began to see more than … [Read more...]
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