If you look back on Fred Phelps nasty activism and you zoom out a bit to see the bigger picture, you’ll see that wherever he went there was always also someone else who was trying to help. The world only spins forward. Look for the helpers. Read more
If you ever heard of Gothard's Institute and his teachings, then you also heard rumors or stories about some of the families involved with all of that. It cannot ever be said that it is a surprise to hear such stories. Gothard's teaching is all about hierarchy, which is to say it's all about power -- power over other people. It attracts and creates adherents who crave power over other people. Bullies, in other words, abusers, predators, and little petty tyrants of every sort. Read more
Can't nothing bring me down when I've got Thursday morning links, including: Maria Bamford, Pete Holmes, a persecuted beard, phosphorescent reindeer, a lost kingdom, Ice T on D&D, Stephen King, hipster independents, time-traveling Frisbees and more. Read more
PCC's president, Troy Shoemaker, has addressed allegations of sexual assault at the school in a chapel message to students that, unfortunately, seems mainly intended to deflect any legal, moral or financial liability. Shoemaker isn't launching an offensive to ensure that Pensacola rids itself of this problem. He is carrying out a defensive exercise to deny that Penscola has any such problem. Read more
Is it not a tricky business answering negative questions? On "fools for Christ" and "jerks for Jesus." Ex-gay therapist says get rid of those Adele CDs. "Sociologist" finds that regularly receiving the sacraments prevents Catholics from getting divorced. The dismantling of Cedarville University. Housing discrimination functions exactly as it was designed to do. Level up: Jack Chick's "Dark Dungeons" is becoming a movie. Read more
It has happened before and, as Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux shows, it is happening again. History will, again, be rewritten. The Bible will, again, be rewritten. So write yourself a note and seal it in a time capsule. Remember. Read more
"Talk to me like I'm stupid," Ta-Nehisi Coates says when he asks his readers about things he doesn't understand. Let me borrow that here. Explain this stuff the way you would to someone who can't be assumed to know any of the lingo or the basic ideas involved. Explain it the way you would if you were asked to do so between innings for the fans at a ball game. Or explain it they way you would to a room full of clever junior high students. Read more
For Jennifer LeClaire and for Charisma, sexual abuse in the church and in religious institutions are due to a particular demonic spirit named Jezebel. Literally. Therefore, for LeClaire and for Charisma, the best response to such abuse is spiritual warfare, prayer and exorcism. Read more
They shared a first name, and they were both ordained ministers, but other than that they were polar opposites. They present us with two very different possibilities -- two choices, two options we all have. We can think of them as Fred and Anti-Fred. Read more
I haven't wasted nearly as much time as I'd like to #mcconnelling. "A few choice New York words." Fundamentalists are low church, so don't include wine, incense or vestments in your fundie jokes please. When "mainstream" evangelicals don't call out extremists like Scott Lively, then it's no surprise that such extremists get treated as representatives of mainstream evangelicalism. Read more
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