Of course, evangelicals are complaining about Stranger Things
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on January 5 2025. “Being gay is not a superpower,” one person wrote on social media. Immediately, my heart sank. Although I was still catching up on Stranger Things episodes, my gut told me we were on the precipice of yet another conservative panic attack over the existence of gay […]
Here’s what we’ve been talking about on ‘Highest Power’
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on April 1, 2025. It’s been one month since the launch of my new podcast with BNG, Highest Power: Church + State, which is currently ranking within the top 20% of all podcasts nationally. “I’m thrilled with the podcast and what you’re doing here,” BNG Executive Director Mark Wingfield […]
Remember that time the pastor reenacted a scene from Die Hard?
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on December 17, 2024. “Christmas at the movies!” the pleasant, feminine voice sings as the smiley-faced popcorn, coffee, candy bar and soda cartoon characters come waltzing into the auditorium before getting interrupted with an explosion, heavy metal music, and a man yelling, “Don’t need that ring-a-ling, ding-a-dong, ding-a-ding […]
Unsurprisingly, The Gospel Coalition loathes the Wicked movie
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on December 5, 2024. One of the most noteworthy theological trends in 21st-century pop Calvinism has been the rehabilitation of the patriarchy. From Josh Howerton to Mark Driscoll to John MacArthur and more, iconic pastors are now routinely given platforms and sympathetic backstories that attempt to complicate categories of good and evil. This has dovetailed […]
A controversial horror film embodies the real-life horrors of church abuse
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on May 22, 2024. There’s a thin line between reading a memoir written by somebody who grew up in conservative Christianity and watching a horror movie. As Christa Brown, a frequent contributor to Baptist News Global, releases her new memoir Baptistland: A Memoir of Abuse, Betrayal, and Transformation, it’s […]
The horror of Let Us Prey may not be as far from home as you think
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on November 30, 2023. “Every IFB church is a powder keg ready to explode,” says Eric Skwarczynski on Let Us Prey: A Ministry of Scandals, which released last weekend on HBO Max and Investigation Discovery. The four-part docuseries follows the stories of sexual abuse survivors within the Independent Fundamental […]
Religion’s Power: What Makes It Work (Review)
This article originally appeared at ‘Reading Religion,’ a publication of the American Academy of Religion. In Religion’s Power: What Makes It Work, Robert Wuthnow investigates the power dynamics of religion by studying the mechanisms by which it is practiced. Drawing on his ethnographic and historical experience in sociology and religion, he proposes that religion’s power to […]
Why the patriarchy is hyperventilating over Barbie
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on July 28, 2023. I wasn’t allowed to watch Toy Story 2 when I was 21 years old because the trailer depicted a group of Barbies in bikinis led by Tour Guide Barbie. So when I found out some influential conservatives were having a conniption fit over the Warner Bros new Barbie movie, […]
How to connect the dots while watching Shiny Happy People
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on June 7, 2023. Collectively watching Amazon Prime’s Shiny Happy People docuseries is foolish if we’re not willing to deconstruct the entire conservative evangelical tower of Babel it reveals. Of course, individuals watching the series may have deeply sensitive trauma they’re reminded of and still processing. Rebekah Drumsta, a survivor […]
Josh Butler isn’t done talking about God and sex yet
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on April 20, 2023. When The Gospel Coalition and The Keller Center scapegoated Josh Butler due to his article about sex and the church — an excerpt taken from his Beautiful Union book they previously hailed as “the Protestant magnum opus on sexual ethics we’ve been waiting for” — many people wondered […]
Now, Pastor Greg Locke is a demon slayer
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on March 14, 2023. Nashville pastor Greg Locke gained national notoriety for his rebellion against COVID precautions, his denial of the pandemic itself and his enthusiastic support for Donald Trump. Now he’s found new life as a demon slayer. “It was never about the controversy. It was never […]
Sex, Tech, and Faith: Sexual Ethics for a Digital Age (Review)
This past year, I connected with the American Academy of Religion to write academic reviews of books about religion. For my first review, I discuss Sex, Tech, and Faith: Sexual Ethics for a Digital Age by Kate Ott. You can read my entire review of her book here.
BioLogos Integrate helps us make all things new while beginning where we’re at
This piece was paid for by BioLogos Integrate. However, the opinions expressed within are my own and include my thoughts about the strengths and weaknesses of the curriculum. At the heart of Christian theology is the story of a God who meets humanity where we are at by entering into our world, wearing our skin, […]
del Toro’s Pinocchio is a tale of faith that is not wooden
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on January 31, 2023. Little did Pinocchio know as he stood amidst the congregation, playfully mimicking the crucifix with outstretched arms and joined feet, that he would soon be hung on a cross as well. In Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, now streaming on Netflix, del Toro has much to […]
How our view of creation and incarnation shape our view of intersex people
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on January 18, 2023. Every disconnection from communal wholeness goes back to a disconnection within the self, which is fundamentally experienced in bodies. So the way Christians talk about Jesus being born as a human body has the potential to shape either wholeness or disconnection from self and […]
Ten things I learned as a religion writer in 2022
As 2022 draws to a close, I wanted to reflect back on what I’ve learned this year as a religion writer. The vast majority of my articles are published by Baptist News Global, which is a reader-supported, independent news organization that covers “the people, events and ideas that are shaping American religion and culture.” They […]
Russell Moore and Mike Cosper almost get there: A conversation on theology and anger
This article originally appeared on December 30, 2022 at Baptist News Global. At the turning of the year, religion writers and pundits reflect on the stories and conversations that shaped us and look forward to the conversations ahead. So far, Baptist News Global has shared a piece about how content creators shaped these conversations across a variety of platforms, as […]
On Halloween, thoughts about passing from darkness into light
This article originally appeared on October 31, 2022 at Baptist News Global. Oct. 31 marks a holiday where many religious homes clash over how to view the relationship between material and spiritual reality. As a young child in a church affiliated with the General Association of Regular Baptists, I experienced Oct. 31 through the innocent presence […]
Our obsession with true crime dramas and what ‘Dahmer’ teaches us about heaven and hell
This article originally appeared on October 27, 2022 at Baptist News Global. One of the biggest trends in entertainment today is true crime dramas about serial killers. Forbes reported in 2020 that it was a “great year for fictional serial killers.” And now, two years later, our fascination with mass murder is continuing, but with a focus on true […]
What I learned listening to others who have left the faith
This article originally appeared on May 25, 2022 at Baptist News Global. In the wake of the Guidepost report that Southern Baptist Convention executive leaders covered up knowledge of sexual abuse for decades, we are reminded once again of how religious abuse has deeply traumatized millions of our neighbors. One of the ways evangelicals have processed a […]
Exiles in Babylon conference gets so much right but can’t apply its logic about race to sexuality
This article originally appeared on April 6, 2022 at Baptist News Global. While many conservative evangelicals focus on fighting culture wars in an attempt to save the United States from progressive ideologies, New York Times bestselling author Preston Sprinkle seems to have accepted that Christians should reimagine their identity as exiles rather than as culture warriors. As host […]
How the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy became a litmus test
This article originally appeared on March 14, 2022 at Baptist News Global. “Do you affirm the doctrine of inerrancy as articulated in the Chicago Statement?” demands Denny Burk, professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, tweeting his line in the sand to defend what he thinks are attacks against historic orthodoxy by the ever-so-dangerous Beth Allison Barr. Bringing up […]
The Way Down is about the weight of power being wielded by a hierarchical God
This article originally appeared on November 18, 2021 at Baptist News Global. It was an overcast morning near Smyrna, Tenn., as a small Cessna private jet abruptly descended toward the earth. Seven people on board, who had been looking forward to a trip to Palm Beach, Fla., were now taking their final breaths. And as the […]
Book Review: “Why Is There Suffering?” by Bethany Sollereder
During my time at Northern Seminary, two of the most impactful theological insights for me had to do with learning to recognize my theological assumptions and examining the consequences of my beliefs. In her new book, Why Is There Suffering: Pick Your Own Theological Expedition, Bethany Sollereder provides a brilliant path for exploring how our theological […]
How did an openly queer artist climb to No. 1 on the Christian music charts?
This article originally appeared on September 27, 2021 at Baptist News Global. The openly queer Christian artist Semler was elated to report the breaking news that the parking attendant at a Switchfoot concert supports gay rights. And that wouldn’t be the only surprise of the night. As they drove to their parking space, Semler joked about how huge […]
Postcards from Babylon-A Review by Rick Pidcock
This article originally appeared on January 17, 2021 at Patheos. The new Postcards from Babylon documentary comes out on January 21. And I had the opportunity to screen it for a review. But I wanted to share some additional reflections from a section later in the documentary where a number of soldiers begin to process […]
‘Postcards from Babylon’ documentary tells a better story
This article originally appeared on January 14, 2021 at Baptist News Global. White conservative evangelicalism had just survived its perceived nightmare of the Obama presidency. They were certain that contraception mandates, cake-baking mandates, transgender people being free to use the restroom for their gender identity, and ultimately the legalization of same-sex-marriage were threats to their religious […]
American Gospel: Christ Crucified is stuck in a time warp
This article originally appeared on December 28, 2020 at Baptist News Global. Based on the heated responses I’ve received to my review of the first American Gospel: Christ Alone documentary, I began to realize I should review producer Brandon Kimber’s second film, American Gospel: Christ Crucified. Kimber had read my first review and reached out to me, and despite […]
Six ways ‘American Gospel’ is small-minded and abusive
This article originally appeared on August 14, 2020 at Baptist News Global. I grew up so terrified of God’s wrath that I drove through a stoplight while staring at my speedometer, afraid I’d lose my salvation for breaking God’s law in Romans 13 by going 36 mph in a 35-mph zone. When my grandfather died, I […]