Architect and art historian Hadley Arnold knew she was in for some surprises when she began transforming an 1830 Rhode Island church into a second home; but she certainly didn’t expect to discover one of America’s most significant works of…
Pastor’s Wife Barbie
Ladies, don’t take your children to see the new Barbie movie. Take your mom. Take your girlfriends. Take a flask. Take the wife of your pastor. Because if there’s one woman who, more than any other, is still expected to…
America isn’t the only one with a declaration of independence
Over the July 4 weekend, hundreds of museum-goers waited in line several hours to get a glimpse of one of the Western world’s foundational political documents. The fragile sheet, written in an elegant hand, tells the story of a people…
Meet Denise the heaven receptionist
“Hi thanks for waiting. Welcome to heaven. What would you like your ghost outfit to be?” Not the greeting most of us expect to receive in the afterlife; but this is not St. Peter at the Pearly Gates. No, this…
Transvestigation: The new eugenics
Behind a sliding bookcase in the library of a house in Buenos Aires lies a secret room. There, in July 2017, federal police in Argentina discovered the largest cache of Nazi memorabilia in the country’s history. Most of the items…
Pat Robertson’s Gong Show
I grew up in the shadow of the Christian Broadcasting Network. I even met Pat Robertson a few times. In high school, I acted in a commercial for The Family Channel. Some of the money Pat Robertson made from its…
Stone of Destiny: Rising secularism and its influence on Scottish independence
If you blinked, you missed it. There amidst the glitz and glitter of the king’s coronation sat a 335-pound boulder. You’d be forgiven for not noticing it. When compared to a jewel-encrusted crown, a silver sword and a golden orb,…
What’s a Baptist to think of the coronation of Charles III?
There are about 2,600 Baptist churches scattered throughout the United Kingdom. The majority (2,000) are in England, where Baptist forebear Thomas Helwys established the first Baptist church on British soil. Another 300 are in Wales, 200 in Scotland, and the…
How King’s ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail’ parallels the Tennessee Three
It was Holy Week and two young Black men, motivated by the courage of their Christian convictions, took part in a nonviolent demonstration. Colleagues chided them for their participation. It was “untimely” given the circumstances, they complained. Furthermore, the young…