Even Amid Controversy, ‘My Soul Still Sings,’ Says UMC’s First Lesbian Bishop
The first out lesbian bishop consecrated by the United Methodist Church has long known that…
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The Washington Post’s Marriage Counselor
Today the Washington Post published a piece by W. Bradford Wilcox and Robin Fretwell Wilson originally headlined, “One way to…
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An Evangelical Intellectual Takes On Same-Sex Marriage, Grasps at Straw Men
Though Craig is correct that his argument is “simple,” he is wrong to believe that simplicity makes it good. Indeed, the suggestion that terms and concepts are immune to redefinition is simply… false. It demands an unflattering comparison to Rick Santorum, who once stumped around the nation declaring that a “napkin is a napkin.”
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Why Jason Collins’ Faith is Ignored… And Tebow’s Isn’t
The faith of Jason Collins, who recently came out as the first gay athlete in a major American sport, doesn’t fit the model of culture war conflicts the media expects and the religious right demands of its spokespeople.
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A Church Group, a Lawsuit, and a Culture of Abuse
It’s no accident that so many allegations of serious abuse have arisen across Sovereign Grace Ministries. The combination of patriarchal gender roles, purity culture, and authoritarian clergy that characterizes Sovereign Grace’s teachings on parenting, marriage, and sexuality creates an environment where women and children—especially girls—are uniquely vulnerable to abuse.
Read MoreMissouri Pastor Goes Viral on Gawker: ‘Separation of Church and Hate’
“First of all, I’d like to say thank you. Secondly, I’d like to say I’m sorry. I’d like to thank you because of your support and affirmation. And I’d like to say I’m sorry because of the ways that Christianity is far too often used as a tool of exclusion rather than inclusion. I’d also like to say that there are many other pastors and people of faith who share views such as my own. My speech just happened to go viral on the internet, but I have a ton of colleagues doing similar things all across the U.S. on a regular basis. We may not receive as much publicity as the highly-funded voices on the religious right, but I am hardly a lone voice.”
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‘Let It Be Unto Me’: Akin, Rape, and the Early Church
A pair of historians discuss Republican rep. Todd Akin’s remarks on “legitimate rape”: the female body carries a huge burden of representation: her ability to protect the boundaries of her body, and to maintain her purity, reflects the church’s ability to do the same.
Read MoreThe Theological Roots of Akin’s ‘Legitimate Rape’ Comment
The Senate candidate is proud of how his Masters in Divinity shaped his politics.
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The Harlot Shall Be Burned with Fire: Biblical Literalism in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
In The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, religious violence is supposed to be resisted, but it’s also violence that the audience is being asked to look at. Over and over and over again.
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Manhattan Declaration Is The New Old Culture War
The not-so-new ecumenism of the religious right: stoking fears of secularism as the new Nazism.
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