In a recent article, the newspaper formerly known as the New York Times offers an eye-catching headline: “Racists Are Recruiting. Watch Your White Sons.” The image is an inspired piece of pop art: a blond-haired, gangly boy disappearing into a giant iPhone made of writhing snakes. One shoe is still outside the phone, the shoelaces untied. The tag on his shirt sticks out against his neck. It’s a perfect visual encapsulation of vulnerability entrapped by evil. The author, Joanna Schroeder,… Read more
October 15, 2019
Shallow Woke-Scolding Won’t Save White Boys From the Alt-Right
October 15, 2019 By Esther O’Reilly
11 Comments
September 20, 2019
Greta Thunberg’s Meaning Crisis
September 20, 2019 By Esther O’Reilly
195 Comments
Today marked the beginning of a week-long Global Climate Strike. Per the official website, this international youth-galvanized effort is being orchestrated “to demand an end to the age of fossil fuels and climate justice for everyone.” The reader may be forgiven for wondering whose sin is to be punished by the meting out of said justice, and precisely how much penance is required to satisfy it. As you scroll down, a video thumbnail presents itself with the hope of further… Read more
August 5, 2019
The Boys Are Not All Right
August 5, 2019 By Esther O’Reilly
90 Comments
No words will suffice but “good” and “evil.” No language will suffice but the language of war. Read more
July 29, 2019
Book Review: Dignity, Chris Arnade
July 29, 2019 By Esther O’Reilly
0 Comments
When I bought and read Chris Arnade’s book Dignity, I was determined to be one of the first in line to say all the good things about it that could be said. But life had other plans, and other people said them first. So I now find myself sheepishly shuffling in late to add my own too-lengthy thoughts. They haven’t been easy to pull together. But then, Dignity is not an easy book to review. My first taste of Arnade’s… Read more
June 15, 2019
6 Lies Christian Apologists Shouldn’t Buy
June 15, 2019 By Esther O’Reilly
11 Comments
I’ve occasionally been described by people slightly familiar with my work as an “evangelical apologist.” Depending on who assigns that sort of a label, this could bring any number of assumptions and connotations along with it in the mind of the giver. In my case, a good number of them are probably going to be incorrect. As a cradle Continuing Anglican, I’ve always been on the outside looking in at evangelical church culture, despite my deep appreciation for some of… Read more
May 25, 2019
Jordan Peterson and the Unbearable Task
May 25, 2019 By Esther O’Reilly
54 Comments
It’s not every day that a man confesses his sins on Twitter, but I saw it happen the other day. “If we are going to be damned for eternity for all of the terrible things we’ve done, here is my proactive list,” wrote Chad Felix Greene. Then he launched into his litany. Confession #1: Lying to his grandfather about using his credit card for a porn site. Confession #2: Being a sex worker, including sex with multiple married men that… Read more
May 17, 2019
Towards a Balanced View of Christian Womanhood
May 17, 2019 By Esther O’Reilly
35 Comments
Christian social media has been buzzing of late with a fierce renewal of the long-standing debate over the role of women in the Church. It was catalyzed by this blog post from my friend and Patheos colleague Owen Strachan, which strongly censured female preaching in any context. By itself, the assertion that women should not be ordained as pastors isn’t controversial in conservative evangelical circles. But Strachan goes farther. Apropos of the announcement that popular speaker Beth Moore was going… Read more
April 21, 2019
Jordan Peterson and the Case of the Empty Tomb
April 21, 2019 By Esther O’Reilly
19 Comments
Originally published at Premier Christian Radio’s Unbelievable The future Bishop of Edinburgh was having a crisis. Easter Sunday was coming, and he had to prepare a sermon. It was not his first Easter sermon. Far from it. He knew the Easter sermon rhythm well. Year after year, he had climbed into little pulpits of little churches, ready to feed simple people hungry for the greatest story ever told. He knew how to preach about the resurrection all right. But this… Read more
April 19, 2019
Remember the Broken Things
April 19, 2019 By Esther O’Reilly
1 Comment
The near-loss of Notre Dame prepared my mind for Good Friday this week. Many prayers would be answered as we gradually learned what had been saved: the Pieta, the rose windows, the cross and the altar. But while the flames raged, consuming roof and toppling spire, all I could think of was destruction and irrevocable loss. We tend to celebrate Good Friday with one eye on the Sunday that is coming. We know how it will go: from the cross… Read more
March 29, 2019
Jordan Peterson at Liberty and A Cry For Help
March 29, 2019 By Esther O’Reilly
49 Comments
I’m not sure what people were expecting from Dr. Jordan Peterson’s recent appearance at Liberty University, but nobody could have predicted what happened about halfway through. At roughly the 21-minute mark in the convocation (link here), as Peterson is answering a question, there’s a commotion offstage. A young man rushes up and grabs a microphone, on the verge of tears: “My name is David [full name redacted], and I need help! I need help! I just wanted to meet you…. Read more
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