Theological musings for Independence Day, from Frederick Douglass and Martina McBride. Plus a parable from my favorite scene in a play by Neil Simon, on his 90th birthday. Read more
Theological musings for Independence Day, from Frederick Douglass and Martina McBride. Plus a parable from my favorite scene in a play by Neil Simon, on his 90th birthday. Read more
On Friday we looked at one of the stranger theories promoted by Alex Jones on his radio/Internet broadcast platform, “Infowars.” Jones — who has been praised, courted, and elevated by his friend President Trump — was one of the loudest promoters of the “Pizzagate” nonsense, which claimed that many prominent Americans belonged to a secret cult of pedophile Satanists abducting children, torturing them sexually and otherwise, then ritually sacrificing them before harvesting their organs. Jones claimed that all of this... Read more
It's appropriate to see the humor in this. After all, the same people who claim to believe that NASA is smuggling abducted children to a secret Martian colony also claim that NASA faked the Moon landing. And they also believe "Pizzagate" -- which posits that there are child-abduction-sex-slave-blood-harvesting rings in secret tunnels beneath their neighborhood pizza parlors. Why build a colony on Mars if you've already got all the pedophilia-and-human-sacrifice you need just down the block? Read more
Rayford Steele, in this scene, is divinely guided here to become the ideal evangelist. He has been transformed through prayer into a soul-savin’ mofo with a spirit-led mojo. If readers want to know how to witness/evangelize/proselytize/lead-others-to-a-saving-knowledge-of-Jesus-Christ-as-their-own-personal-Lord-and-Savior, then these pages here are where Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins show them how to do it. Read more
Consider the actual mechanism at work in that “Bible debate” over slavery. Consult the concordance and look up passages containing the words “slavery” or “slave.” But don’t look up passages containing the words “kidnap” or “captive” or “rape” or “oppression” or “bondage” or “justice” or “theft” or “wages” or “children.” Read more
The private jet is the detail that really jumps out at everybody. As it should — it’s such an extravagant example of the kind of crassly self-indulgent excess and exploitative corruption at the heart of this story: Meanwhile, a company run by Gary’s wife, Kim Sekulow, has received $6.2m since 2000 in fees for media production services and for the lease of a private jet, which it owned jointly with Jay Sekulow’s company Regency Productions. The jet was made available... Read more
Kelly J. Baker studied one of the darker corners of American history, writing Gospel According to the Klan: The KKK’s Appeal to Protestant America, 1915-1930. Baker wishes this was simply the esoteric specialty of a historian, but her topic of study remains disturbingly relevant today. She’s written about that continuing relevance in a Religion & Culture forum piece, “The Artifacts of White Supremacy.” An important element in that essay is Baker’s focus on the Klan’s idea of “100-percent Americanism.” It’s strikingly similar... Read more
You have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you? Read more
Those of us who have served time in conservative Christian youth groups recognize this theme from the many, many Why Wait lectures we heard. Your purity and innocence, the lecture always said, are the Greatest Gift that you can offer to your spouse on your wedding day. Setting aside the merits of this particular pitch for chastity, the strange thing here is finding that the inner monologue of jet-setting, secular, un-saved Buck Williams sounds like a True Love Waits seminar. Read more
At this point in the sermon, pastors often balk and attempt to do the impossible -- to provide an example of their personal "sin" that is not actually shameful or hurtful or distasteful. They'll bring up some minor matter of akrasia, some petty foible or embarrassment. They'll confess to once saying a dirty word when they accidentally hit their thumb with a hammer, or to being impatient in traffic. Their personal illustration, being something trivial, trivializes the entire sermon. Read more
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