Last week mainstream evangelical magazine Christianity Today published a jaw-dropping article on their website detailing the egregious negligence of famed pastor & author John MacArthur. According to the article—which was sourced from dozens of survivors and chiefly one former elder and officer of the board at Grace Community Church where MacArthur is senior pastor—the church … Continue reading Let’s Talk About Sin
Christianity
Identity is (Not) a Sin
Here we are together at the end of this long journey back in time, processing a set of teachings that has left a visible scar across the landscape of millennials and beyond. If you’ve been reading every week since this began, I hope you’ve found comfort and solidarity knowing you’re not alone. If you’ve just … Continue reading Identity is (Not) a Sin
Honey, I’m (Not) Home
Purity Culture Part IV: Gender roles within purity culture and beyond. Heteronormative: “of, relating to, or based on the attitude that heterosexuality is the only natural expression of sexuality.” This term will be used ad nauseam over the last two parts of this series. Mostly due to the fact that evangelicals have built their entire … Continue reading Honey, I’m (Not) Home
Are You (Not) the One?
Purity Culture Part III: Shame and Sexuality in Relationships We’ve made it to Part III in this five-part series on purity culture and how it impacted a generation. With every week that passes I think I’ve already read the most damaging tactic, the most tragic story, the most heartbreaking statistic, until I realize I have … Continue reading Are You (Not) the One?
Modest is (Not) Hottest
Purity Culture Part II: Modesty & Rape Culture If you’re just now joining me for this series on purity culture, welcome. This is part 2 of a 5 part series. Part 1 provided a working definition of purity culture, and an overview of its impact on an entire generation. This week we’re exploring modesty and … Continue reading Modest is (Not) Hottest
(Not)That Kind of Girl
Part I: A purity culture prologue. First of all, I want to thank you, dear reader, for coming on this journey with me. When I first announced on Twitter and Instagram that I was starting this series, so many of you responded with your stories and solidarity. If I’m being real with myself, I’ve been … Continue reading (Not)That Kind of Girl
White Christians vs White Atheists: Two Sides of the Same Coin?
If you’ve followed me for any amount of time on Twitter, you probably know by now I have strong feelings about atheists who pick on Christians. I’m just as critical of elitist atheists as I am of toxic Christian theology and abusive doctrine. But one of the particular behaviors that sets me off is when … Continue reading White Christians vs White Atheists: Two Sides of the Same Coin?
A Seat at the Table
Could one famous pastor use his power for change? This past week’s discourse between ex-evangelicals and Presbyterian pastor & author Tim Keller has left me raw, emotional and resolute. It’s a mixed bag of emotions really. Memories from my past, conversations with pastors or bits of sermons have been floating through my brain as I … Continue reading A Seat at the Table
Why Power Dynamics Matter in Evangelical Spaces
There has been some interesting pushback on some of the responses to Beth Moore’s slow awakening, as it were. And I wanted to take a deeper dive into why this isn’t just a story of a woman in the patriarchy seeing the light for the first time. Beth is not an ordinary white evangelical woman. … Continue reading Why Power Dynamics Matter in Evangelical Spaces
One White Pastor vs A Generation of Leavers
It's the battle of the century, and no one is waving a white flag anytime soon. This series of tweets last week came as a barrage of sex-negative, heteronormative word salad from none other than Timothy Keller himself. Pastor, author, theologian, who in the past has not been quite so controversial in the Twitter-verse. He's … Continue reading One White Pastor vs A Generation of Leavers