We’ve been told over and over that many of those who laugh at Donald Trump’s outrageous behavior and overlook his perpetual lying and callous cruelty do so because they love how angry it makes “liberals” like me. They will do…
How the SBC defended inerrancy but couldn’t face the truth
There is a revealing irony at the heart of the recent Texas Monthly article on the quiet collapse of the Southern Baptist Convention. The movement that rose to power defending “biblical authority” now finds itself haunted by a different question…
A moral clarity on femicide
Four stories. One week. Femicide. In recent days, the news has carried story after story of women killed or missing at the hands of husbands, partners, former partners and other perpetrators of violence. These stories reveal a pattern that is…
When ‘it takes two to tango’ is bad marriage advice
It’s a great visual image often used in sermons and pastoral counseling: If you want to dance the tango, you need two able dancers working together. This is true when applied to spouses working together in love, but there is…
Abuse isnʼt the result of sin; itʼs the result of omnipotence
What if power abuses are ultimately theological? Clergy abuse is so common, it has become a cliche. The new archbishop of Canterbury was accused of colluding with an abusive priest. In December, a federal judge ordered the New Orleans Archdiocese…
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,”…
Duane Rollins’s Life Testified to the Cost of Abuse
Duane Rollins died on Friday, May 23. I never met him, but his story met me when I needed to know I wasn’t crazy and I wasn’t alone.
You won’t believe our story of Medicaid waste, fraud and abuse
Three days before what we thought would be my wife, Ruth Ellen’s, final surgery for stage three breast cancer, my mind was racing as I was trying to finish moving out of our old house while confirming plans for where…
That time I got an angry call from the subject of an article about anger and abuse
Editor’s note: It is BNG’s policy to correct factual errors as soon as possible after learning about those errors. In the case of Rick Pidcock’s earlier piece mentioned here, we have not been informed of any factual errors or asked…
Allegations against Tim Whitaker and The New Evangelicals show how hierarchy transfers to progressive ministries
Spiritual abuse while protecting a theological and institutional hierarchy is a common story in conservative evangelicalism today. But on Sunday night, the script appeared to flip when news broke that Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment had been…
What I learned when I asked women if church is safe for them
Is the church a safe place for women? Well of course it is, right? I would have thought the church was a safe place, too, until the results came in from my research with more than 2,800 women who worked…
Estranged for the holidays? You’re not alone
Although family togetherness characterizes the Christmas season, some of us may find ourselves relationally poorer this New Year. No one has died, and yet gifts are unsent and places are empty at the table. If this sounds familiar, you’ve got…