A vice is a vice until it’s not. How did gambling, once called by Walter Rauschenbusch “the vice of the savage,” become a glittering virtue of the American dream? Gambling, particularly for Baptists, has long been condemned. From Billy Sunday…
Rethinking Rufus
Four and a half years of living in Fort Worth was long enough for me to gain a greater appreciation of how much the Burleson family name is revered in Texas. I already knew this to be true in North…
What we should learn from Deion Sanders and Nebraska women’s volleyball
With week one of the college football season kicking off last weekend, fans across the country began dreaming once again about the gridiron glories of violence and victory. And for the parts of American culture shaped by white evangelicals, these…
Sensationalized child abuse: Ruby Franke’s arrest, the LDS church and social media
Last Wednesday, social media influencers Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt were arrested after two children were found suffering from malnutrition and evidence of restraint lacerations on their bodies. Authorities were called after Franke’s 12-year-old son escaped from Hildebrant’s home, fleeing…
What Ron DeSantis and the TheoBros share in common
The headline in The Atlantic declared: “The Cost of Ron DeSantis’ Ideological Purity.” That got my attention, because “ideological purity” is big theme among religious conservatives these days — especially among that group we sometimes call the TheoBros. Those are…
BGCT nominates first Hispanic to lead convention as executive director
The current president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas has been nominated to serve as its executive director, ending a 14-month search process. Julio Guarneri, lead pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in McAllen, Texas, is the first Hispanic ever…
NAMB’s lies are worse than McLaurin’s, Will McRaney charges
A former Baptist executive who claims he was defamed by the leaders of a Southern Baptist Convention agency now says Baptists concerned about the fraudulent resume of Willie McLaurin should be more concerned about false witness offered under oath by…
Drag is not what’s feared; it’s the people underneath the makeup whom we fear
From drag show bans to outcries over public schools and libraries hosting queens for reading programs and allegations of grooming, drag is in the conservative bullseye. Last month, drag queen Flamy Grant’s meteoric rise to the apex of the Christian…
The logic of love or the logic of perfection? It can’t be both
In 2018, Kaitlin Flanagan wrote an article for The Atlantic that referred to Donald Trump as “the porn president.” Flanagan featured Anderson Cooper’s interview with former Playboy model Karen McDougal. Cooper asked his guest about the time back in 2006…