Reading Time: 9 minutes The other day, I was thinking about Christian conversion testimonies. In a lot of ways, they function as narrative stories. However, their similarity to well-told tales mostly ends at having a general three-act structure. They can’t actually stand as good stories because they don’t reflect anything real in the human situation — and they’d be bad that way even if their tellers didn’t try to work miracles into them so often.
testimony
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
Karen Witemeyer and the Fuss Over Her Romance Novel
Reading Time: 9 minutes Recently, a Christian romance novelist, Karen Witemeyer, wrote a book called At Love’s Command. On July 31st, the Romance Writers of America (RWA) awarded this book the win for ‘best romance with religious/spiritual elements.’ It’s a deeply disturbing book due to its racism toward Native Americans — and its casual revisionist treatment of real-world events like the slaughter of Lakota Sioux at Wounded Knee. Karen Witemeyer and her professional organization don’t understand all the fuss here at all! Today, I’ll show you that fuss — and then why these Christians are just soooooo mystified.
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
Beach Reach Training: How to Craft a Testimony (And Why)
Reading Time: 9 minutes Hi and welcome back! Lately, we’ve been talking about Beach Reach. That’s a short-term mission trip (STM) organized by the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). For two weeks, college-age SBC-lings descend on a beach during American universities’ Spring Break. During their trip, these volunteers offer charity services to a truly deserving group that is desperately in […]
Posted inReligion
Christians’ Narrative Around Deconversion Isn’t Helping Them
Reading Time: 8 minutes I recently caught an interesting YouTube video by Seth Andrews (‘The Thinking Atheist’). It shows people who’ve left Christianity talking about why they left. And it got me thinking about the drastically-different narrative that toxic Christians spin about people who leave their ranks — and why they create such narratives. Today, let me show you a contrast to the simple truths shown in this video: an article by a conspiracy-theory-addled Christian who desperately needs ex-Christians to conform to a script he created.
Posted inReligion
‘Millions of Souls’: the Manipulation Tactic Christian Predators Love
Reading Time: 8 minutes Hi and welcome back! Happy Chocolate Day! We are still snowbound here at Casa Cas. At least this weather lends itself to introspection. Indeed, I’ve had something on my mind for a bit now: the weird manipulation tactic Ravi Zacharias used on his victims, according to the official sexual misconduct report his ministry commissioned. It […]
Posted inReligion
Madison Cawthorn: How Evangelism Success Claims Work
Reading Time: 9 minutes Hi and welcome back! Recently, I showed you an interview with a young Republican fundagelical named Madison Cawthorn. In that interview, he made some claims about his evangelism success. Those claims reminded me very powerfully of similar ones I heard when I myself was a fundagelical. Indeed, fundagelicals seeking power and attention often make claims […]
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.