Reading Time: 8 minutes Bill Schnoebelen is one such storyteller. Once a popular figure in fundagelical Christianity, his narrative long ago lost its cachet. He’s had to reinvent himself–but is finding that once someone’s joined the Cult of Before Stories, that’s really hard to do.
Cult of Before Stories
Posted inReligion
We Welcome Ben Carson to the Cult of “Before” Stories.
Reading Time: 10 minutes A long time ago, I wrote a post called “A Cult of “Before” Stories” in which I described what it was like as a young Christian to realize that my then-husband had constructed a testimony full of lies–and how I realized that pretty much all of the really dramatic testimonies I heard from other Christians were largely untrue as well. On the heels of realizing that these stories were untrue, I also began to perceive the unbelievably rich rewards Christians get for concocting and sharing these dramatic testimonies. I began to see my tribe as one that was simply obsessed with these “before” stories–thus, my name for the mindset.
Posted inLGBTQ News, Religion
The Cult of Before Stories: Heather Barwick, Sharper Than a Serpent’s Tooth
Reading Time: 14 minutes I wish it could shock me anymore, seeing a family ripped apart by religion. It happens constantly in this modern age–and will probably get worse, really. But this story touched me particularly today because it hit a few all-too-familiar notes in that discordant jangle that is the Cult of Before Stories.
Posted inReligion
The Cult of Before Stories: Sharper Than a Serpent’s Tooth.
Reading Time: 12 minutes I wish it could shock me anymore, seeing a family ripped apart by religion. It happens constantly in this modern age–and will probably get worse, really. But this story touched me particularly today because it hit a few all-too-familiar notes in that discordant jangle that is the Cult of Before Stories.
Posted inReligion
I’m Still Not a Francis Fangirl.
Reading Time: 12 minutes I’m still not a Pope Francis fangirl. Here’s why.
Posted inReligion
Alex Malarkey and a Shocking Twist in the Old Story of Lying for Jesus.
Reading Time: 10 minutes You’ve probably heard of that genre of books called heavenly tourism. In these books, a Christian discusses a Near-Death Experience (NDE) they had where they think they visited an afterlife that looks remarkably like the Christian Heaven. They were allowed to return (or requested to do so) and now they feel that their life’s mission is to tell as many people as they can about their experience. Christians love these books. But now one of these heavenly tourists has recanted his story. Here’s how he did it, and why, and what it means for Christianity.
Posted inReligion
The Cult of Before Stories: Shane Hayes, Part 1.
Reading Time: 13 minutes A while ago, Kirk Cameron popularized a fairly-new evangelism technique: claiming that he knows all about atheism because he, himself, was once an (gasp! Shock! OMG!) atheist. He thought it gave him some kind of leg up on authority and credibility to say that he’d once been an atheist, and though the attempt backfired hilariously […]
Posted inReligion
Why They Lie.
Reading Time: 9 minutes (CN: Religious overreach, movie/book spoilers about Hot Fuzz and Watership Down.) The movie Hot Fuzz had one element in it that really weirded me out. And I’d better not be spoiling this for you: the bad guys in the movie keep repeating, over and over again, that they’re doing what they’re doing “for the greater […]
Posted inReligion
Liars for Jesus and the truth that wasn’t ever there
Reading Time: 11 minutes I have a real fascination with stories of liars who get found out. Today I want to talk about why these denouements are important to tell. Before we start, though, I want you to picture in your mind these things: Chances are, whatever you’re picturing wasn’t much like the reality, is it? Most of us […]
Posted inReligion
No, Virginia, Jesus Doesn’t Magically Change People
Reading Time: 8 minutes It’s time again for another episode of “Christians Behaving Badly.” I’ve seen some additional–and dramatic– stories of Christians who did not actually experience the 180 turnarounds that Christians like to say people experience with Jesus. I’m bringing this up because Christians like to pretend otherwise, and it’s time we really confronted this myth and busted […]