Ever since Joe Rigney released his book about empathy being a sin, the TheoBros of conservative evangelicalism have been piling into his bus, demonizing empathy for those they run over as “the greatest rhetorical tool of manipulation in the 21st…
Kid Rock and evangelicals’ obsession with celebrity
In a world where everyone cycles through being an expert, the week after the Super Bowl typically turns into everyone posing as professional semioticians, offering their artistic analysis of the Super Bowl halftime show and the game. Most often, this…
Josh Howerton redefines following Jesus as becoming empire
Josh Howerton is an authoritarian theocrat who thinks his penis, pulpit and piety give him the right to rule the world. In a recent episode of his “Live Free” podcast, Howerton accuses YouTuber Rhett McLaughlin of gaslighting Christians. And in doing so,…
Alex Pretti’s murder lays bare the lie of patriarchy
Tragic acts of violence often lay bare the gap between what a system claims to be and what it actually enables. In the story of Alex Pretti’s murder, we come face to face with whether patriarchy — long sacralized as…
The TheoBros are getting the war they want in Minnesota
John Piper’s Minnesota minions are apparently rejoicing in answered prayers tonight as yet another one of their neighbors has been shot dead by ICE. Two weeks ago, Andy Naselli, pastor of Christ the King Church in Stillwater, Minn., and professor of…
Let’s talk about how Cities Church treats women
“David Easterwood is a pastor here. He is also the director of the Field Office for ICE in St. Paul. So someone who claims to worship God, teaching people in this church about God, is out there overseeing ICE agents,”…
Calvinist pastor prays for God to smite the people of Minneapolis
A professor at John Piper’s Bethlehem Seminary prayed on Sunday not for God to protect the terrified people of Minneapolis, but for God to protect ICE from the violent people of Minneapolis. “I’m a pastor in Minnesota. Here’s how I…
There’s a reason more women seek help from therapists than pastors
The Gospel Coalition’s New Year’s resolution apparently is shoring up pastoral power by shaming conservative evangelical women for seeking therapy. “In my role as a women’s ministry director over the past 15 years, I’ve observed an increase in church women…
Minneapolis clergy rally for justice after ICE shooting
It was a time set aside for mourning, remembrance and moral clarity as hundreds of pastors gathered in Minneapolis Jan. 8 for a clergy press conference one day after an ICE agent shot and killed a woman protesting their actions. “It…
Of course, evangelicals are complaining about Stranger Things
“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…
When what’s ‘good for Christianity’ isn’t good for your neighbor
One of the most impactful storylines of 2025 was the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10 and the subsequent response on the Right. As you’ll probably notice this week, a number of BNG’s most-read articles…
‘When the wicked are in power …’
“Advent is the season that, when properly understood, does not flinch from the darkness that stalks us all in this world,” Fleming Rutledge says in Advent: The Once and Future Coming of Jesus Christ. In these final days of Advent, we…