Fundamentalist Aesthetics

Last updated on: July 3, 2014 at 11:28 am By Sierra Phoenix

Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. -1 Samuel 16:7 Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society. -Mark Twain In preparation for my next series, on how evangelical-fundamentalism instills homophobia in its youth, I’m going to talk for a moment about fundamentalist aesthetics. Every once in a while, I run into fundamentalist women while shopping. The experience is always a little jarring. It’s a bit like finding yourself accidentally behind one-way... Read more

Quick Hits: Modesty, LGBTQ, and “Honoring” Women

Last updated on: July 3, 2014 at 11:28 am By Sierra Phoenix

A North Carolina pastor’s anti-gay tirade has gone viral on youtube. He proposes sending all non-heterosexuals to concentration camps, where they will die off because “they can’t reproduce!!1eleven11!!1” In other words, he’s the guy Jonathan Swift could only pretend to be. NC Pastor Gives Sermon on Killing Off Homosexuals Members Stand Behind Pastor’s Anti-Gay Sermon Melissa’s partner Haley writes about her experience as a transgender woman raised as a fundamentalist man: When You Are Everything You Were Taught to Hate... Read more

When Modesty Makes No Sense

Last updated on: July 3, 2014 at 11:28 am By Sierra Phoenix

Whenever I punish myself by reading evangelical-fundamentalist blog posts about modesty, I run into images like this. Not only do such images read like posters from the Department of Missing the Point, they reveal the kind of mindset that the modesty doctrine creates in young women. “Modestly” dressed women still live in a world in which a woman’s worth is correlated with her sexual desirability; their modesty does not exempt them from worrying about whether or not they’re attractive. Indeed,... Read more

The Last Name Project

Last updated on: July 3, 2014 at 11:28 am By Sierra Phoenix

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From Two to One and The Feminist Mystique are co-hosting a series called The Last Name Project, “profiling an array of individuals and couples about their last name decisions upon marriage or what they expect to choose if they marry.” A little while ago, Libby Anne of Love, Joy, Feminism did a guest post for this series. Now I have, too: [Sierra] The Last Name Project Libby Anne and I have come to opposite conclusions on the subject, so you... Read more

Oh, “Brother.”

Last updated on: July 3, 2014 at 11:28 am By Sierra Phoenix

When I was a kid, I had a really hard time with titles. I felt awkward calling people “Aunt Sarah” or “Mr. Smith,” possibly because my parents never bothered to use titles in front of me. They called their friends and relatives by their first names, and that felt natural to me. Whenever I heard other kids refer to my mother as “Mrs,” I thought of this scene from Anne of Green Gables: “What am I to call you?” asked Anne. “Shall... Read more

Group Identity and Child Abuse

Last updated on: July 3, 2014 at 11:28 am By Sierra Phoenix

A little while ago, Libby Anne wrote a great post called Sex Abuse, the First Stone, Judge Not, and All That. It’s about the ways that some evangelical Christians have responded to accusations against the late Tom White, former president of Voice of the Martyrs who killed himself while being investigated for child molestation. In short, White’s followers have recruited a set of Biblical aphorisms intended to make “fallen” religious leaders invulnerable to criticism. Anyone who so much as informs... Read more

Eagle Cry Radio Cries Some More

Last updated on: July 3, 2014 at 11:28 am By Sierra Phoenix

Joseph Branham’s reactionary letter to the WHAS11 news story on William Branham and the Message has been reprinted on the website of Eagle Cry Radio, an all-Message internet-based radio group. Their headline is “Bro. Joseph Branham Responds to Local News Report About the Message Being a Cult.” Funny, because the actual news report never called the Message a cult. Freudian slip? (more…) Read more

Libby Anne: Christian Patriarchy and Bodily Ownership

Last updated on: July 3, 2014 at 11:28 am By Sierra Phoenix

(Note: This is cross-posted from Love, Joy, Feminism. The original is here.) By Libby Anne My mother taught my sisters and I that our bodies belonged to our father. She told us that if we wanted to alter our bodies by a piercing or tattoo, that had to go through him – even if we were adults. She told us that once we married, our bodies would belong to our husbands, and we would likewise have to get permission from... Read more

Joseph Branham’s Reactionary Letter

Last updated on: July 3, 2014 at 11:28 am By Sierra Phoenix

I was alerted to Joseph Branham‘s written response to the WHAS11 news story on his father, William Branham, by a drive-by commenter who thought her comment would be lost in moderation. On the contrary, I’m quite willing to engage with the contents of the letter. In summary, it charges that the news story was biased, that quotes were taken out of context, and that the whole thing unfairly represented Message believers as a weird cult. You can read the full... Read more