It’s time once again to crown a new champion of American Christianity. We’ve got some of the toughest 1st round matchups in American Jesus Madness history this year, which is why more than ever before we need you to vote and vote often!! Vote for your favorite, vote for your least favorite, vote for the thing you’re passionate about, or vote for the thing you can’t believe is a real thing plaguing Christianity in America but this is the world... Read more

Welcome to the 7th anniversary edition of American Jesus Madness, the third best make-believe Christian tournament on the internet. If you’re brand new to this, American Jesus Madness is my spin on March Madness (which begins this week), but instead of basketball teams, I use Christian pop culture to create the bracket you see above. It’s a mix of the good, the bad, and the downright crazy that defines American Christianity. From this battle royale of insanity, love, and blasphemy will emerge this year’s champion of... Read more

American Jesus Madness 2016 seems like a lifetime ago. It was a simpler time when Red Starbucks Cups were crowned champion of American Christianity, a time when the collapse of American democracy didn’t seem imminent and everyday didn’t bring a terrifying new headline out of the White House. You know, the good old days, when politicians were only corrupt and not corrupt AND agents for the Russian government. And when the American Church had its problems, but wasn’t head over... Read more

(Credit: Ted Eytan, Flickr Creative Commons) Like so many other things coming out of the Trump administration, yesterday’s rescinding of Obama-era guidelines ensuring students could use the bathroom of the gender they identify with is bigotry disguised as safety. The claim that the transgender community is just a bunch of perverse sexual predators dressing up to use a different bathroom in order to sexually assault children is a demonstrable lie. Perpetuating that lie, just like perpetuating any other lie, is a... Read more

You may have seen the above snapshot floating around the internet recently. It’s part of the schedule for the upcoming CPAC conference. If you haven’t seen it, you’re probably nevertheless familiar with the “heaven has a wall, extreme vetting, etc.” talking point that has become popular among Trump supporting Christians. The rhetoric is taken from Revelation 21 in which John describes what heaven looks like – using a heavy dose of apocalyptic imagery to do so. At the most basic level,... Read more

(Credit: Climatalk .in, Flickr Creative Commons) Yesterday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the temporary suspension of Donald Trump’s refugee ban. Today, my Facebook feed is predictably filling up with outrage from his supporters, many of which I’m sad to report are self-professed Christians. It’s the same sort of outrage (and often from the same people) I hear whenever a new state legalizes same-sex marriage or whenever a bakery doesn’t want to bake a particular cake or whenever a wedding... Read more

(Credit: Takver, Flickr Creative Commons) According to Wikipedia, there are…a lot of Bible translations. I’ll be honest. I lost count. But if the exact number matters to you, you can click here to count them yourself. Suffice it to say, there are a lot of Bible translations – and I’m just talking about the English language versions. You know, the KJV, the NIV, the NRSV, that sort of thing. To that list, we can now add at least one new version of... Read more

(Credit: Imugr) Donald Trump can change the world with just one tweet. Not for the good, mind you, but as President of the United States, Donald Trump can shake up the stock market, set off a diplomatic crisis, or potentially even start an armed conflict should a foreign enemy either misinterpret or simply not take kindly to something he tweets at 3 o’clock in the morning. That’s a lot of power for just one Twitter account and it’s power Donald... Read more

(Credit: Matt Johnson, Flickr Creative Commons) I know this makes me “that guy” who quotes himself, so please pardon my pretentiousness, but in light of Franklin Graham’s latest baptism of Caesar, it feels like something that needs to be said again. Yesterday, I wrote about the irreconcilability of following Jesus and supporting Donald Trump. For me and many other Christians on both sides of the aisle, such a notion is obvious and the reasons why are legion. But, not surprisingly, there are some folks... Read more

(Credit: Wonderlane, Flickr Creative Commons) He said his personal motto is “eye for an eye.” He unrepentantly declared he doesn’t ask for forgiveness. He said he wants to bomb half of the Middle East until there’s “nothing left.” He proposed a tracking system to monitor immigrants. And a wall to keep them out. And laws to keep more of them out. He exploited the poor to build his empire. He pathologically lied. He said it was fine to consider his daughter... Read more