We like to tell ourselves that "Amazing Grace" hymn-writer John Newton became an abolitionist because he converted to Christianity, but it would be more accurate to say that he eventually became an abolitionist despite his conversion. That conversion immersed him in the biblicism of evangelicalism, which at that time approached the subject of slavery with the same "literal" and "plain-reading" hermeneutic that white evangelical biblicism promotes today. Read more
The first-century disciples at Pentecost and in the generations that followed were not Bible Christians in anything like the way contemporary white evangelicals think of that term. They couldn't have been for the very simple reason that the Bible did not yet exist. ... I'm not talking about theology, but about technology. The Bible is a book. And in New Testament times, books hadn't been invented yet. Read more
I'm speechless today, so let me turn the microphone over to Jay Smooth, Pamela Merritt, Ed Kilgore, Richard Beck and Jamelle Bouie. There's a theme here, I think, and even the one that seems like it's not a part of that theme actually really is. Read more
"Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love." Read more
These two paragraphs can serve as a metaphor for, or a summary of, the kind of religion that Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins are advocating in these books. It's a faith that drives you to work for the emperor, faithfully and capably obeying everything the empire commands while enjoying the prestige and paychecks that come with such work. Yet at the same time it encourages you to imagine yourself as a rebellious and counter-cultural. So even though it leads you into complicity with "horrible atrocities," you'll be able to blithely take it all in stride. Read more
Telephone Free Landslide Linkery, including: Wile E. Coyote, David Bowie, the Sexiest Man Alive, biathletes, foul-mouthed apostles, the Harlem Globetrotters, the French Resistance, pardoned turkeys, ugly holiday sweaters, and the latest Antikythera Mechanism news. Read more
Some Monday morning linkage, including: Why the burning of a black church isn't "news;" Canadian indie-rock vs. giant robots; white riots, creationists, and a story about some whip-smart Kenyan kids that will make you smile. Read more
Today we meditate on awful thoughts and awful words and we take up wickedness again. And if we can think of anything else, we'll do that too. Because as long as we're in, and in for good, we might as well go the whole hog. Read more
"What do mortals get from all the toil and strain with which they toil under the sun? For all their days are full of pain, and their work is a vexation; even at night their minds do not rest. This also is vanity." Read more
Sen. Tom Coburn is not allowed to lecture anyone about "illegal" immigration. And Sooners are, by definition, pompous hypocrites whenever they decide to bloviate about "the rule of law." It's simply ridiculous and merits only ridicule in response. Sen. Coburn is either woefully ignorant about "where he comes from" or else his talk of "the rule of law" is something he believes only applies to other people. Either way, he is a silly, silly man, even by congressional standards. Read more
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