Those of us who grew up in white evangelical schools and churches are used to being coerced into submission under the threat of exile. In what we experienced as a theocracy, these institutions held total control over our lives, including…
How Does the Public Feel About Sex Among Teenagers?
I was poking around a couple government websites the other day and came across a pretty surprising statistic. The National Center for Health Statistics reported that among females aged 15-19 the birth rate was 62/1000 in 1991. The provisional data from 2022…
Southern Baptist megachurch pastor returns to misogyny as a text
Apparently, Josh Howerton must be getting jealous of JD Vance taking all the limelight for sacralized misogyny because he’s back in the news again with a new sermon series called “Fight For Your Family.” Earlier this year, the pastor of Dallas…
The idea of eufeminism — A reel reaction to The Idea of You
A relative texted me about a month ago curious about my reaction to the movie The Idea of You (hereafter TIOY). This request came right in the middle of moving and my youngest child graduating from college, so I never…
Pastor’s wedding night advice to women opens a conversation on harmful evangelical teaching on sex
On your wedding night, “stand where he tells you to stand, wear what he tells you to wear, and do what he tells you to do.” This is the advice Southern Baptist megachurch pastor Josh Howerton gave the women of his…
The church faces a three-dimensional decision
Three cultural-biblical issues intertwine today to hold the Christian church in knots of conflict. Part of that conflict concerns whether the three cords are cut from the same cloth or not. These strands are race, gender and sexuality. From a…
The joy of (preaching about) sex
Liberal ministers in New York do not preach on adultery — unless they start a series on the Ten Commandments without thinking ahead. I did not think ahead. Preachers find it awkward to preach about infidelity, because the church often…
Is it weird that Mike Johnson’s underage son is his porn accountability partner?
The latest theater of conservative evangelicalism’s multiple-front spiritual warfare cosplay is being dubbed the “War on Technology” by Cypress Baptist Church of Benton, La. It began as a gathering in October 2022 that promised to “help families win the technology…
Do complementarian men do better? A response to Nancy Pearcey
There’s no need to debate complementarianism or egalitarianism when it comes to marriage, says Nancy Pearcey, as she promotes her new book The Toxic War on Masculinity. Conservative, churchgoing men do best, she claims — and complementarians do as well…
Another C.S. Lewis knock-off letter shows what evangelicals get wrong about sex
Note: This article includes an explicit discussion of sexuality. Desiring God’s latest installment of cheap Screwtape Letter knockoffs features Greg Morse attempting to mimic C.S. Lewis’ classic novel by writing a letter from a “marriage counselor” demon named Grimrod to his…
I asked 46 college students if they feel shame after having sex, and this is what they said
Gen Z is a post-Purity Movement generation, having barely escaped the doling out of purity rings. However, exemplified by the popularity of “Virginity Rocks” T-shirts and regalia, this does not mean sentiments of purity culture never impacted our cohort of…
Author of controversial book on sex as ‘icon of salvation’ resigns his pastorate
There’s nothing new about a pastor resigning due to controversy over sex, but now a pastor has resigned because he wrote a controversial book about sex. Josh Butler, co-lead pastor at Redemption Church in Tempe, Ariz., is author of the…