Reading Time: 14 minutes To save his job, Christian Watts clung hard to a time-tested, long-honored evangelical get-out-of-scandal-free card: calling upon Christianese to escape the writing on his wall.
Tennessee
Posted inGeneral
What Evangelism Success Claims Really Mean
Reading Time: 9 minutes Still, 53 recruits is 53 recruits. Who else is having this kind of success in the SBC right now? Almost nobody, that’s who. J.D. Greear coasted on similar success straight to the SBC’s presidency. I can well imagine Jordan Easley doing the same thing in a few years.
Posted inPolitics
Grace Chapel Megachurch: A Mutiny of Their Own
Reading Time: 10 minutes Sarah Berger, the wife of Grace Chapel’s former high priest lead pastor, Steve Berger, grabbed the mic to rant at length about how her husband had been hard-done-by in the change in leadership. In her rant, though, Sarah Berger said something that really caught my eye. Today, let me show you how an authoritarian leader pulls rank to force compliance from followers.
Posted inReligion
Russell Moore: Not Really a Hero
Reading Time: 8 minutes In these two letters, Moore tries very hard to portray himself as a man of deep principles and great morality: a hero in every sense of the word, fighting hard against the enemies of good in the halls of power in his denomination. Alas, his actual behavior doesn’t quite support that portrayal. Today, we’ll see how Russell Moore fits into his own self-presentation as a big damn hero.
Posted inEducation, The Secular
Humanists Challenge Tennessee School District over Unconstitutional Graduation Prayers
Reading Time: 2 minutes This is from the AHA: Today, the American Humanist Association (AHA)’s legal director notified Tennessee school officials of looming legal action over constitutional violations occurring at Bledsoe County High School, and most likely within the Bledsoe County School district at large, in Pikeville, Tennessee. The AHA’s demand letter, written on behalf of a concerned AHA […]
Posted inReligion
Thom Rainer’s Defense of LifeWay’s Failure (LSP #79)
Reading Time: 8 minutes Come join me for a weird ride through Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) politics, infighting, and a strange show of defensiveness from one of their biggest names, Thom Rainer. Today, Lord Snow Presides over yet another SBC attempt to make catastrophic failure sound like incoming victories galore.
Posted inLGBTQ
False Persecution and Dogwhistles: Mike Huckabee Gives Away the Game
Reading Time: 12 minutes Mike Huckabee’s latest attempt was a few days ago, when he was appointed to–and then resigned from–the Country Music Award Foundation’s board of directors. The whole affair is such a beautiful microcosm of false persecution that I find myself drawn to it now. Here, today, is what happened and why it’s important as part of Evangelical Churn.
Posted inReligion
Fundagelical Preppers and the Problem with ‘Pokkalypses.
Reading Time: 13 minutes Last year I wrote about the rising numbers of fundagelical Christians getting into prepping, a subculture devoted to preparing for some imagined upcoming apocalypse. Not only are their efforts not actually very useful or helpful to anybody, but all this preparation speaks more to their own fear of change than to any possible future troubles the world might face. I’ll show you how today.
Posted inReligion
Jesus Sure Changes People: Douglas Wilson Edition.
Reading Time: 11 minutes You can see the divine Jesus Aura illuminating this man’s life and see for yourself how amazingly transformed he’s been by the love of his god. Friends, marvel as I present to you: Douglas Wilson, the TRUE CHRISTIAN™ who’ll change your mind about the effectiveness of fundagelical doctrines.