I spent 20 years in the United Pentecostal Church cult, and the right-wing of the Republican Party. What that was like, how I got out, and my take on what’s going on with the Christian Right today.
Yes, White Supremacists ARE Christians
If something has been part of your movement for hundreds of years, how can you claim it doesn’t belong? That’s what a group of Christian faith leaders is trying to do with the white supremacists who, for example, were part of the attempted insurrection at the Capitol in January. According to an article in USA […]
Review: Mrs. America, Phyllis Schlafly and the ERA
In 1977, the United States was poised to pass the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution, guaranteeing legal rights to all Americans regardless of sex. It had been passed by the House and Senate, had bipartisan support (including Presidents Nixon, Ford and Carter) and had been ratified by 35 of the 38 states required to […]
Coronavirus: Covid-19 vs Easter Services
Back in my days in the UPC, Easter was a Really Big Deal. Not for the reasons you might think – yeah we were jazzed about the “empty tomb” and all. But above all, Easter was our One Yearly Shot at “unsaved” family members and other random strangers who only attend church once or twice […]
Covid 19 Vaccine Talk Triggers My Old Christian Anxiety
I dunno… maybe it’s just the generally apocolyptic feeling of the time we’re living through. Maybe it’s just ripples of the last big thing my “parents” did to me. (Will write about that soon, it’s a doozy…) But this morning I was scrolling facebook and saw that Bill Gates has an op-ed in the Washinton […]
Review: “Active Measures” – 30 Years of Trump – Russia Connections
In 1984, a man named David Bogatin – who had no income on record – made an agreement with Donald Trump to purchase 5 condos in Trump Tower. The NY State Attorney General ruled the purchase was money laundering. David Bogatin was a member of the Russian mafia. So begins the history presented in Active […]
Bill Hybels, Willow Creek, and Defenders of the #MeToo Accused
The email subject line read, “What to do when #MeToo comes for you, too.” The email itself was from one of the original internet marketing gurus, someone who started in the ’90s teaching the ins and outs of Google advertising and who now lives very comfortably in a high end Chicago suburb. “Louis CK, Bill […]
Trauma Is Coming – How Will You Cope?
My ancestors have been speaking to me this week. Yesterday, John Beckett wrote a blog about the current situation here in America. Mr. Beckett has been saying for a while now that his Gods (especially The Morrigan, whom we both have a relationship with) were saying a storm was coming, and more recently that the […]
Religious Trauma & Evangelical Abuses: Real, Common, Systemic
Tell a story of religious trauma and you are bound to get at least one person who says that you were just doing it wrong, in a bad church, or “following man instead of God.” I’ve gotten dozens of such comments on this very blog. My most recent was yesterday on Twitter, where I got this: […]
“Mom, am I a bad person?”
My younger son asked me that question just a bit ago. If you don’t know, he’s 17, but is on the Autism Spectrum, bipolar, and a few other things that cause him to be less mature than his age, overly tender-hearted and generally anxious as fuck. I asked why on earth he thought he was […]
Ireland’s 8th Amendment
Every signpost in Ireland is currently blanketed with posters regarding an upcoming referendum. On May 25, Irish voters will go to the polls to decide the future of their 8th Amendment, which outlaws abortion in pretty much every circumstance. What Outlawing Abortion Really Means I’ve mentioned before that I’ve always leaned pro-life due to the […]