Reading Time: 8 minutes When I was a kid, comedians and pundits still felt comfortable joking about how terrible women would be in political office because they menstruate. Hormones, get it? As if only half the population has them, and testosterone has no complex interactions for human bodies. As a child, I absorbed all kinds of reductive claims about […]
toxic masculinity
Posted inReligion
Evangelicalism: Where Aaron Long Learned to Destroy His Temptations
Reading Time: 8 minutes Hi and welcome back! In the wake of yet another mass shooting, unsettling and unsurprising details have emerged about the person responsible, Aaron Long. It turns out he’s one of many evangelical men who get taught to literally destroy anything that tempts them, rather than learning to manage himself and take responsibility for himself. In […]
Posted inReligion
The Redemption of Johnny Lawrence (LSP #161)
Reading Time: 9 minutes Hi and welcome back! Last week, we had a really good time mocking evangelist Greg Stier for idolizing Johnny Lawrence as the villain of the new show Cobra Kai. But the comparison has stuck with me ever since I heard it a while ago. There’s something fundamentally broken in evangelical leaders if they don’t understand the […]
Posted inReligion
An Introduction to Bro-Dude Christianity
Reading Time: 11 minutes Hello and welcome! A few months ago, we talked about evangelicals’ reckoning with mental illness in their ranks. One flavor of Christianity seems especially vulnerable to this problem, too: bro-dude Christians. Today, let me show you what bro-dude Christianity is — and how it’s made toxic Christianity even worse. (Disclaimer: Today, we discuss toxic Christianity. Obviously, quite a […]
Posted inReligion
Pastoral Suicide: A Sad Dealbreaker for Evangelicals
Reading Time: 11 minutes Recently, I learned of very sad news: Darrin Patrick, an evangelical pastor, has apparently died by suicide. Unfortunately, this news represents part of a widespread and growing trend in that end of Christianity. Today, let me show you what that trend is, and what it means for evangelicals as a group.
Posted inReligion
The Jezebel Spirit Manifests in ‘This Present Darkness’ (LSP #111, Ch. 8)
Reading Time: 8 minutes If you couldn’t tell, this book just fascinates me–not because of its writing or story, but because it lets readers peek at the seeds of some very ugly traits in evangelicalism. One of the worst of those traits is their deep hatred of uppity women. They call that uppity-ness a Jezebel spirit. So today, Lord Snow Presides over the Jezebels destroying humanity in This Present Darkness.
Posted inReligion
Respect: The Song And Dance That Makes Complementarians Content
Reading Time: 9 minutes Respect is such an important concept to understand when one discusses this ultra-authoritarian, misogynistic flavor of Christianity. Hop aboard! Today, we ride the Respect Train right past these control-freaky zealots.
Posted inCulture, General, Myth & Folklore, Sex & Gender
Two Reasons for Men to Hate Women
Reading Time: 4 minutes While I’m thrilled that we’re finally having an extended conversation about violence against women on a larger cultural scale, I also want to talk about the reasons behind said violence, focusing on two major reasons for men to hate women.
Posted inReligion
About That “Dear Facebook Friend” Image Going Around Lately
Reading Time: 15 minutes I’m not a fan of the open-letter format of social media posting or blog post. I know they’re popular–and I used to like them. But they just have so much fail built into them that I can’t often get into them or enjoy them these days. Today we look at a self-congratulatory open letter that […]
Posted inCulture, General, Sex & Gender
Why I’m Cool with Pair-Bonding But Not Enforced Monogamy
Reading Time: 5 minutes Speaking out against enforced monogamy doesn’t mean you’re anti-monogamy; it’s entirely possible that many people benefit from monogamy, because a lot of humans are driven to pair-bond. However, making the conversation about reducing violence raises problems and often misses nuances.