“Every time you masturbate, God kills a kitten.” Ah yes, the threat of divine felicide, God’s one weapon in the fight against sexual deviancy. Unfamiliar with God’s displeasure at self-pleasure? You must not have grown up evangelical in the ’90s…
From purity pledges to the Equality Act: How evangelical concern about sex has shifted and what it has to do with creation
When more than 200,000 evangelical purity pledges were being planted at the National Mall in 1994 at the height of the True Love Waits movement, nobody would have imagined that the next 25 years would bring about a total revolution…
They grew up in purity culture, then taught it and now want to help others recover from it
Ryan Clark and Nathan Novero grew up in evangelical purity culture and even preached it as youth ministers. Now they are trying to address the sexual dysfunction and trauma inflicted on themselves and others by what seemed at the time…
Are you sure the Bible actually says that?
“The Bible says …” These may be the most dangerous words in the world, because people say this all the time — and sometimes have no idea what they are talking about. As a pastor (you know, I’m supposed to…
The link between the Atlanta shootings and purity culture
The shootings that happened in Atlanta on March 16 were a needless tragedy — the loss of innocent lives at the hands of yet another gunman, where women of color once again were the victims. While lack of gun control…
The ongoing epidemic of pornography in the church
My first experience with porn was vacuuming cars in my dad’s service station. I was about 10 at the time, and I found magazines under some of the customer’s company cars which had naked women on almost every page. My…
SBC leader sparks Twitterstorm by equating ‘being human’ with procreation
Albert Mohler, a Southern Baptist Convention leader often described as one of America’s top evangelical thinkers, angered singles and childless couples with a recent tweet claiming “to be human is to be a parent.”
Is all sex, except sex within a traditional marriage, exempt from the blessing of God?
While upholding the goodness of marriage, maybe it’s time the Church dismissed the legalism of “marriage only” in favor of true, loving relationships that are consummated, not in following the letter of the law, but with the spirit of living principles – commitment, communication, trust, respect and a deep and true spirituality.
Religion Notes: One Baptist group urges end to Holy Land violence while another talks sex
An occasional compilation of events from around the religious world. To suggest items for inclusion, email assistant editor Jeff Brumley at [email protected]