Let’s ask Bible scholars? — Sometimes I listen to Christian pastors going on and on about their god hell-bent on punishing people, as I wonder: “Which Jesus is this?” It’s not the one found in the gospels of the New Testament. Let’s consult some Bible scholars for a look at a deity who might surprise you. 1. Jesus is funny The gospels depict a Jesus who is “full of joy,” as in Luke 10:21. It’s a story about a spirit being who experiences…

After decades of hiding, Michael Voris is out at Church Militant — He’s been the face of Catholic traditionalism. Michael Voris is the founder and star of the Church Militant media empire—the flamboyant showman who willed a new religious brand into being. I’m following the breaking news story that he’s been fired, with Church Militant making a curiously vague statement about his “breaching” a “morality clause.”

Karen Swallow Prior gives up on her long effort to change the unchanging — Not many women get to be famous Evangelical Christian scholars. This is the religion that says women aren’t supposed to speak in church. But Karen Swallow Prior carved out a niche for herself. She was the religion’s English teacher. Now she’s sent the religion a break-up letter. In a viral article at Religion News, she writes:

L.M. Montgomery’s children’s series packs surprises — It’s an epic about sexual misfits—starting with a brother and sister who live together. Matthew and Marilla, we’re told, “are both a little odd…” Not having any kids, they’d requested an orphan boy be sent to them to work as a farm hand. By mistake, the orphanage sends a very strange girl who has some quirkly ideas about how she wants to live.

A follow-up to a 2021 post — For Christians, Jesus isn’t having much fun. He’s a divine victim or a punishing overlord. But the gospels actually present the deity as humorous, flirty, and sexy. I’ve discussed this in a range of posts, including one of October 16, 2021, “Jesus was a male stripper.” It was a survey of Christian art in which images of him were clearly intended to be erotically suggestive.

Let’s deal with a Christian fiction — If you listen to many Christian commentators, “God” is little more than compliance with their ideas of gender. And cross-dressing is nearly their worst “sin.” What they would not to tell you, however, is facts—like cross-dressing often being found in the Bible! It’s also seen throughout Christian history as a mark of divinity. Let’s take a look. Jesus didn’t seem too concerned about clothes.

Shock allegations against Evangelical star Mike Bickle prompt hard questions — On October 28th, news from a famous church in Kansas City put the Evangelical world on red alert. Pastor and “prophet” Mike Bickle was accused of having sex with many women in the church over decades. Three former staff members at the International House of Prayer (known as ‘IHOP’) wrote that they’d learned of women being lured into sexual engagements with Bickle. If the women spoke up, he would “isolate and discredit them.” The staff members spoke up, and were out.

I write posts about key figures in Christianity having a lot of sex secrets. I wonder: why does the religion have so many of these concealed stories? I think about it. Everyone is complex. Maybe it’s just a reflection of basic reality. But it can seem that people with lots of sexual complications are drawn to the religion. Maybe they’re trying to get “better”? Or could people with complex sexualities be more spiritual? The religion would then…

A right-wing leak is mostly just sad — On March 27, 2023, the 28-year-old Aiden Hale walked into a Christian school in Nashville and started shooting. Afterward, there was talk of a “manifesto.” It was widely speculated in right-wing circles to be a “woke” call-to-arms. Today, three pages from notebooks Aiden kept were leaked, as right-wing commentators are saying it’s exactly what they feared. Is that so? Let’s take a look.