Reading Time: 12 minutes When an abusive evangelical pastor, Christian Watts, tried to downplay his grooming of a teenager decades earlier, he described his predation as ‘my past sin.’ That’s a time-honored tactic for people caught in his exact circumstances. Let’s take a closer look at this tactic to see why it works so well in evangelical culture.
sin
Posted inPolitics
Why hasn’t Trump become a Christian?
Reading Time: 2 minutes Jesus didn’t offer his religion to people who were already good. In Jesus’s modest opinion, some people know how to do the right thing without the guidance of his philosophy. Read his words in the gospel of Luke 5:32 and you can arrive at no other conclusion: “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to […]
Posted inReligion
How to Totally Solve Spiritual Drought
Reading Time: 5 minutes Hi and welcome back! Yesterday, we checked out a Christian essay describing spiritual drought. That’s the feeling Christians get when they just don’t feel connected or filled-up by their god. At any given time, huge numbers of Christians feel this way. And obviously, that’s a problem. After all, their marketing says their god is standing by, […]
Posted inReligion
The Caste System of Calvinism: Treating People Like Things
Reading Time: 7 minutes Recently, a young and fervent Calvinist, Robert Aaron Long, decided that the best way to deal with his personal difficulties was to murder a whole bunch of innocent people. His church, Crabapple First Baptist, immediately distanced itself and is doing its level best to pretend their teachings had nothing whatsoever to do with Long’s decision or his difficulties. But I’d venture to guess that the opposite is true. Calvinism teaches adherents to treat people like things, and it does so through its central tenet.
Posted inReligion
The Birth of Jesus: Anything But Heartwarming
Reading Time: 7 minutes Hi and welcome back! It’s very nearly Christmas, that special, magical time of year when Christians celebrate the arrival on Earth of their god’s future human sacrifice. Oh wait. I mean, the birth of their savior. As you might guess, I don’t consider this myth nearly as admirable as the vast majority of Christians do. Today, […]
Posted inReligion
Why Evangelicals Can’t Follow Their Own Rules About Sex
Reading Time: 11 minutes Today, let’s wonder together why evangelicals’ sex rules give believers so much trouble.
Posted inReligion
Why Evangelicals Hate Unapproved Sex the Most
Reading Time: 8 minutes In the evangelical world of all sins being equal, unapproved sex remains the sin that is the most equal of all. We got reminded of that truth recently in the story of Carl Lentz, a megapastor who lost his job for cheating on his wife. Today, let’s dive into why evangelicals fight against this ‘sin’ more than all others combined.
Posted inReligion
Carl Lentz: Why He Committed ‘Moral Failures’
Reading Time: 9 minutes Yesterday, Hillsong, a massive international megachurch complex, fired one of their lead pastors, Carl Lentz. They cited ‘moral failures’ as the reason for Lentz’ firing. The moment most of us heard that phrase, of course, we knew what it meant. And indeed, Lentz confirmed that suspicion in a follow-up Instagram post. Today, let’s check out the scandal and see where Carl Lentz laid his blame — because of course he did lay blame.
Posted inUncategorized
BSR 28: There Is No Such Thing as Sin (28 of 28)
Reading Time: 6 minutes Bite-Size Reply #28: “no sin” means no morality, prove your claim that there’s no God, and nature reveals God. Let’s critique.