Unaware that their cause had been lost, a small number of Japanese soldiers deep in the jungles of the Philippines continued waging guerrilla warfare against an imaginary enemy years after World War II had ended. Via dropped pamphlets, newspapers left everywhere, and even relatives at the jungle’s edge hollering at them through bullhorns, the diehard soldiers got the news the war had ended. They just didn’t believe it. (more…) Read more
Letter of the day: I’ve been loosely following you on Facebook posts for awhile now; I’m particularly drawn to what you have to say about being gay and Christian (and what a cluster-fuck the church has made of this issue). [Note: I never actually written the term cluster-fuck. I think. I hope. Oh, fuck it; I probably have: I, the Comfortably Cursing Christian.] Today I started digging deeper into your blog, and reading more of your posts. I wanted you... Read more
Foundational to the reasoning informing Francis Chan's videommercial for his new book about hell is that mortals can't fathom the mysteries of God’s justice. The real mystery is why it’s not considered absurd and dangerous to propose that God has a sense of justice diametrically opposed to the sense of justice innate to just about every human being. Read more
This post is included in my book UNFAIR: Christians and the LGBT Question. Read more
I’ve gotten in some very kind emails asking about my childhood. So I thought I’d share the below. It’s … well, what it is. My Childhood: The Play Act One: Before The Divorce (The curtain rises on the SHORE dining room. The year is 1963: the time of the culture jam between “I like Ike” and “I like major hallucinogens.'” It’s dinner time. Sitting at the dining table are DAD SHORE, wearing a business suit; his almost mesmerizingly handsome... Read more
Apropos of yesterday’s Young Woman: This, Finally, Is Your World, my wife Catherine asked me to write this. “If anyone in this world should be wracked with low self-esteem,” she said, “it’s you. You had the worst parents ever. First your dad moved out; then your mom literally abandoned you — and your dad is never, for one single moment, anything but horrible to you. But you don’t suffer from low self-esteem at all. And the reason you don’t is... Read more
[Fwiw, on my former blog–before I moved my blog here to Patheos–this post did some 6k shares.] If you’re a teenage girl, don’t you think it’s great when a middle-aged guy like me whom you don’t even know starts giving you advice about life? Isn’t it just the best when that happens? Do you know why we men are always giving out advice like we’re the Oracle of Mt. Potbelly? Because we think we know everything. And do you know... Read more
Dear Any Young Woman Struggling Against Low Self-Esteem: There are two kinds of low self-esteem. One is the fairly constant, low-level sort that throughout any given day makes you feel awkward, embarrassed, or acutely dorky about all kinds of things you’ve said, done, thought, and been. The other is the darker, uglier, more pervasive, cutting-yourself kind. (more…) Read more
Here’s my new web badge, designed by the inimitable Dan Wilkinson. (more…) Read more
(This is basically the print version of the point I made in my little Theology Bears video, Christian vs. Non-Christian: Who Gets Into Heaven?) Christians big on talking about who does and doesn’t get into heaven inevitably point to this quote from Jesus found at John 14:6: (more…) Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In