During my brief time in office, a fringe group of radical Islamic extremists pushed for various state legislatures to enact bills that would enforce Sharia Law. I signed a petition against it. Today, a fringe group of radical Christian extremists…
How ‘Twin Flames Universe’ leader pretends to be Jesus to create an abusive multi-level marketing scheme
“If you really had the fire of Christ in you, you would do everything in your power to share this.” Such language is common in evangelical churches, with the “this” referring to the hope of salvation through Jesus Christ. But…
Why we must go there
“The first part of the book was great, but then why did you have to go there?” I was talking to my brother-in-law’s book club, a group of Lutherans who call themselves the Churchies. (I don’t think they’ve registered that…
Kenya’s latest cult tragedy highlights a deeper problem with religious worship in Africa
At last count, more than 400 corpses of people linked to a cult in Kenya called Good News International Church have been exhumed from where they were buried in the Shakahola forest of Kilifi County. The human remains were exhumed…
Reading BNG’s news this year made me think of the Antichrist
Many of us who read the outstanding articles that are published on the BNG website are perplexed by some of the newsworthy events of the past several years. Some events serve as sources of encouragement and comfort. However, too many…
‘How can I talk to my parent who has been consumed by Trumpism and QAnon?’
Last Sunday I was the guest teacher for a Bible study group made up of individuals and couples in their 40s and early 50s. As we talked about a biblical response to racism, a common question emerged from class members:…
Why can’t Christians so concerned about cults see that they’ve joined one?
My conservative evangelical upbringing taught me all the tenets of “true” Christian faith — the inerrancy of Scripture, that the rapture will happen any day, and that teenage hormones are sinful (even though they are also a gift from God)….
Therapist guides clients through loneliness, trauma created by spiritual abuse
“They think they are horrible people because that’s tied to the theology. You’ll find that in churches that place super focus on language like ‘I’m a sinner’ and ‘I’m a wretch.’”