A younger friend recently told me she knows a number of guy friends who don’t care much for female artists. “Any female artists?” I asked her. “Any,” she replied, as if there’s something fundamental to being female that makes one less capable of making good art. I found this difficult to absorb. How could anyone believe that? Thinking back through the list of those authors, singers, speakers, and general opinion sharers from whom I’ve personally benefited over the years while… Read more
August 7, 2020
C.S. Lewis and the Art of Holy Deception
August 7, 2020 By Neil Carter
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It only recently occurred to me that I am now older than C.S. Lewis was when he first delivered the Broadcast Talks for BBC Radio upon which his later book Mere Christianity was based. Like him, I have been a teacher for decades; but unlike him, I have also spent decades parenting several children and stepchildren. Beyond that, I have also studied theology in a formal setting, something Lewis humblebragged that he had never done. Does it strike you as… Read more
July 23, 2020
C.S. Lewis and the Argument from Wishing
July 23, 2020 By Neil Carter
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Yesterday I posted the first of what I plan to become a series of chapter reviews of Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. I know I’m late to this game—others have already dissected this work many times over—but I’ve never written out my own thoughts for those who would want to know them. It’s long overdue. In the first chapter, Lewis began his argument for the rationality of the Christian faith by submitting that all people possess a sense of right… Read more
July 22, 2020
C.S. Lewis and the Law of Nature
July 22, 2020 By Neil Carter
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For years now, I’ve been putting off writing a review of Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, but the time has finally come for me to take the plunge. One of my daughters asked for my thoughts about the book recently, and given that unpacking my deconversion for my girls was the reason I started blogging in the first place, I’m going to take my time and do this thoroughly. I’m no master debater, but I invested way too much time… Read more
July 4, 2020
The Worst Parent Ever
July 4, 2020 By Neil Carter
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Are you a parent? If you are, then I’d like you to try a thought experiment. Imagine that your 4-year-old child struts up to you and proudly hands you a colorful drawing of, well…you’re not entirely sure WHAT it is. Then she tells you that it’s a drawing of her and you, neither of whom are discernible to you in the scribbled mess on the paper. So you respond to her thusly: “This looks nothing at all like either one… Read more
June 18, 2020
Dear Preacher, It Isn’t Your Fault (But It Is Still Your Responsibility)
June 18, 2020 By Neil Carter
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I’d like to say a few things to those entrusted with leading evangelical Christian communities through this racially charged climate. I once considered myself one of those people but, as you can tell from the name of my blog, I changed my mind. I would argue that leaving the fold does not disqualify me from this discussion. On the contrary, the fact that I myself was once a committed insider–a leader, even–but later exited the faith should make my input… Read more
June 14, 2020
Episode 30: Screen Doors and Porch Swings
June 14, 2020 By Lori Arnold
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When I first came out as an atheist online, it was one of the most terrifying moments of my life. I still remember how my heart pounded, how I kept the post in my drafts folder for days, trying to decide if I should publish or not. How I asked my then-husband repeatedly if he was okay with me outing us. How I worried about all the people who would be upset, about all the doors that would slam in my… Read more
May 10, 2020
The Culture Wars Have Jumped the Shark
May 10, 2020 By Neil Carter
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When I was in college and seminary, my professors were always sounding the alarm over the postmodern condition, warning us that the loss of a central guiding “worldview” in America would produce culture wars in which every group and cultural identity would spar with each other, fighting for greater control of the public sphere. Then would come, I suppose, the collapse of “western” civilization and maybe even of democracy itself. They were always harping on “the loss of truth,” by… Read more
April 9, 2020
How ‘Be Not Afraid’ Endangers Us All
April 9, 2020 By Neil Carter
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I think I’ve finally put my finger on what’s beneath my frustration with my fellow Southerners during this global pandemic—I mean besides the mortal peril into which their continued science denialism is putting us all, both in the short term (see COVID-19) and in the long (see climate change). I was already exasperated with their undying devotion to Donald Trump, a man whom they they despised right up until the moment he became the official nominee for God’s Own Party…. Read more
March 5, 2020
The Coronavirus and a Better Gospel
March 5, 2020 By Neil Carter
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As you may already know, last night President Trump phoned in an interview to Hannity and brazenly disagreed with the World Health Organization about the fatality rate of the latest global health threat, the COVID-19 virus. Viewing the appearance of the Coronavirus as more of a public relations issue than as a matter of public health, Trump takes personally any negative talk about American preparedness for dealing with the current spread of the disease. You can look at the numbers yourself. As of… Read more
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