When I was fifteen years old, I was a huge fan of Rush Limbaugh. I hated “feminazis,” and I thought that political correctness made the world oppressive and inauthentic. But I wasn’t racist because I didn’t say the n-word. So I’ve been thinking about what I would say to my fifteen year old self if I had been at the North Carolina United Methodist Pilgrimage youth retreat this past weekend. A racist incident took place, and the response made some of... Read more
Show me how to bleed I’ll never forget the day when I knew I would have to bleed for you; You said to take up your cross; They never told me what a cross meant; They made it the arithmetic of God’s judgment: a simple plus sign to put in between my sin and God’s wrath to cancel each side out – just simple math. That’s what I thought the cross meant. See, in our churches, the cross was always... Read more
All of us are trying to figure out what to say, and many of us are saying things that are hurtful without intending to be. Part of the problem is that social media is such a crazy reality. We type out what we think God has put on our hearts like it’s our own private journal. It doesn’t feel like we’re shouting into a bullhorn in the public square, which is how others receive us in their feed. So none... Read more
Last night, after our Election Day Communion service, I walked over to the Audubon Park fountain with my prayer beads because I didn’t want to go home and start watching the election returns. There’s a circular set of benches that go all around the fountain. It was dark, and I technically wasn’t supposed to be there. A man was pacing around, and he sat down on the bench right next to me. I got scared since it was dark, and... Read more
It’s no secret that I’ve been a bit of a mess this election season. I’ve spent way too much time on fivethirtyeight.com over the past month. One of the things that I’ve been biting my nails unproductively about is all the speculation about early voting demographics especially in my home state of North Carolina. But then I think about Shannon Dingle, a registered Republican, pro-life, white evangelical woman who lives in North Carolina. She set the Internet on fire three... Read more
There are many different factors at play in the rise of Donald Trump. His popularity lies in his perfect embodiment of reality TV celebrity culture, his white supremacy, his anti-intellectual populism, his strategic use of scapegoating, his mastery of sales pitch psychology, etc. But most people who vote for Donald Trump this year won’t be voting for him because they love him. They’ll be voting against Hillary Clinton, who may be the most hated female politician in our nation’s history.... Read more
Jen Hatmaker is a tremendously popular author among evangelical Christian women. She and her husband Brandon lead a church together in Austin. In a recent interview, Jen said that she thought same-sex marriage could be holy. And predictably she was skewered with the white-hot wrath of toxic Christians like Matt Walsh. After all the attacks on Jen, Brandon wrote a longer rationale on Facebook for their shift in views. Their humble, faithful witness amidst a barrage of attacks seems like... Read more
[TW: Suicide] I’m not okay. Three of the most courageous and powerful words anyone can say aloud. Anytime those three words are uttered, they create authentic community. They awaken compassion and shatter oppressive social facades. But it’s so hard to interrupt the cheery banter of college life to say, “Sorry for changing the subject, but I’m actually feeling terrified and I want my life to end.” I didn’t tell anyone I wasn’t okay in December, 1998 when I tried to... Read more
I wish I could have been at the Wesleyan Covenant Association gathering in Chicago earlier this month. I was a few hours away that week at the OPEN Faith conference in Indianapolis. From everything I’ve heard, the WCA was a contagiously euphoric, spirit-soaked space packed with thousands of people. But then there’s the Chicago Statement, the most prominent representative document of the WCA, which presumably speaks for everyone there. As expected, it’s focused entirely on standing up to the gays.... Read more
I’ve had an image haunting my mind for the past several months. At a progressive Christian gathering this summer, there was a drum circle late at night. I’ve experienced some powerful spiritual encounters during drum circles, so I went. It was cool until an older white man started making nonsensical “Indian” noises like “Heyah! Heyah!” and then a bunch of other people started doing it. It made me feel sick. So I tried to redirect by singing some of the... Read more
Mercy Not Sacrifice
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