Reading Time: 7 minutes Recently, Elon Musk challenged Vladimir Putin to single combat–with the winner taking Ukraine. It was a dumb joke, for all that Musk claimed to be “absolutely serious” about it. But it caught my attention because the person he challenged happens to be one of the biggest authoritarians on the planet. That kind of challenge means something to an authoritarian that a non-authoritarian doesn’t quite understand.
Cult of Before Stories
Posted inLeaving Religion
Testimonies: Why false stories backfire spectacularly
Reading Time: 11 minutes With the base cunning of a narcissist, Biff recognized — probably very quickly — that boring testimonies don’t exactly open doors in evangelicalism.
Posted inReligion
Why A Redemption Arc Mattered More Than Atrocity Apologetics
Reading Time: 8 minutes Hi and welcome back! Yesterday, we talked about a romance novel by Karen Witemeyer, At Love’s Command. In it, a genocidal war criminal finds peace, healing, and redemption thanks to Jesus Power and the love of a good woman. Many Christians loved this story, but a lot of other folks got very upset with it. […]
Posted inGeneral
Why QAnon is attacking evangelical leaders lately
Reading Time: 9 minutes In the past, we’ve discussed QAnon — the new moral panic and conspiracy theory that has consumed white evangelicals in America. QAnon claims more white evangelicals than any other religious group. Mostly, these QAnon followers are the rank-and-file of white evangelicalism. Unfortunately, their religious leaders have no idea in the world how to deal with […]
Posted inReligion
How the Satanic Panic Led Straight to QAnon
Reading Time: 11 minutes After a couple of years of ignoring the whole thing, evangelical leaders have finally noticed just how many of their flocks have begun chasing after QAnon. And of course the flocks have done that. Thanks to the Satanic Panic years ago, they were primed and ready for just such a time as this.
Posted inReligion
John Ramirez: A Star Might Be Fading
Reading Time: 5 minutes He’s carved out a small career for himself by trying to resurrect the old Satanic Panic. Every Halloween for years now, he’s been seeking attention in the more gullible Christian circles with his tall tales. Today, let’s check in on John Ramirez and see how he’s doing this year.
Posted inReligion
MLM Hunbots Have Discovered Trendy Testimonies
Reading Time: 14 minutes Here, a high-ranking hun offers her totally-used-to-be-an-antiMLMer-y’all testimony. And she does it for the same exact reasons that trendy Christians claim to have been totally atheists before their conversions, and with the same exact goals as well. So today, let’s explore the similarities between these two toxic groups and the testimonies they deploy as sales pitches.
Posted inUncategorized
Keeping Up Appearances in the Cult of Family
Reading Time: 9 minutes Lately, we’ve been talking about authoritarian Christians’ new marketing push: the Cult of Family. Only these Christians know how to create and maintain happy families. Didn’t you know? But as we saw last time, these same Christians despise the values that go into that wondrous and rewarding task. They follow very different values. And they accidentally reveal, constantly, how those values turn out for them. Today, let me show you how toxic Christians let slip what their family lives really look like, and why they do it.
Posted inReligion
Before the Cult of “Before” Stories: Tricking Authoritarians
Reading Time: 12 minutes I came face-to-face with two completely untrue beliefs I held: that my god transformed people upon conversion, and that Christians would never lie while representing that god. Hooboy, don’t ya just have to laugh sometimes? I was so innocent. So this story is about how my then-husband Biff arrived at that dais to lie for Jesus. To get there, he had to fool a whole lot of people–and that is exactly what he did. Today, let me tell you what happened right before that devastating night.
Posted inReligion
What Ed Stetzer Thinks He Knows About Platforms (Is Wrong, As Usual)
Reading Time: 11 minutes Today, we look at yet another Christian who shows us exactly why his religion is struggling like it is. More than that, even, Ed Stetzer gives us a blueprint for his embattled tribe’s response strategy, and with it, perhaps a little hope for the future.