‘The Armor of Light’, a documentary film by Abigail Disney, follows Evangelical pastor Rob Schenck as he searches for the courage to preach about the ungodly toll of gun violence in the U.S. in circles where the 2nd Amendment is considered holy. He reflects with the help of Lucy McBath, whose unarmed, teenaged black son was murdered by a white man with a gun for playing loud music at a gas station in Florida. Rev. Schenck is a far-right anti-abortion activist who starts... Read more
One of the reasons I started the Femmevangelical blog was to reflect out loud about my own fraught spiritual journey from rule-based fundamentalist evangelical Christianity, to progressive-thinking Christianity and interfaith activism, to an even wider and more inclusive worldview of the cosmic significance of the love and justice Jesus brought to society, and the impact of his life and message on the trajectory of history and the evolution of humanity. Needless to say, my focus tends toward where non-contextual biblical literalism;... Read more
Full confession: I used to be a bully Christian too. I was raised in an environment where people believed their personal, specifically evangelical — and often misguided — interpretation of the Bible should be rule of law, forced upon everyone. We were the only ones who were “RIGHT”, after all. Over time, study, reflection and maturation, I realized that this bullying and discrimination is the antithesis of following Jesus. And furthermore, it’s not the principle our country was founded upon.... Read more
You might be thinking, Bill Maher is a an atheist, lady. But honestly, as a Christian minister, I have to say he’s a model Christian, too. 1. He knows what Jesus actually stood for. And it wasn’t war, violence, misogyny, corruption, bullying, self-centeredness or discrimination. Maher has always seen the irony of a traditional Christianity that behaves antithetically to Jesus. Which means he knows more about Jesus than most Christians. He calls out Christians who promote war and violence... Read more
She may be a brilliant comedian, but she’s just as effective when she’s serious. Schumer is using her considerable influence to talk about the theater shooting in Louisiana during a showing of her movie Trainwreck last month, which injured 11 and killed two young women. Standing by her cousin New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, she said, “We’re here today to say enough is enough… There is a common sense way to stop mass shootings.” Sen. Schumer will introduce legislation “to... Read more
Michael Cohen’s automatic response in defense of Trump — “And, of course, understand that by the very definition, you can’t rape your spouse” — is actually a gift to society. It reminds us that the rape culture — a world in which rape is overlooked, joked about, disbelieved, minimized, and even accepted as normal or inevitable — is alive and well. That disturbing assumptions about a man’s right to a woman’s body still lurk on the tips of the tongues... Read more
Yesterday’s dominating FIFA Women’s World Cup victory by the U.S. Women’s National Team over Japan (5-2) set a television record: It was the most-watched soccer match ever in the U.S. on a single network. Between 21.0 million and 23.5 million viewers tuned in; the 15.2 rating is comparable to Game 7 of the World Series. It beat every game in the most recent record-setting NBA Finals on ABC, with the exception of the deciding Game 6 that pulled a 15.9... Read more
Rachelle Mee-Chapman is a former evangelical minister who now offers coaching and community to women who are are a little bit relig-ish. What does that mean, how did she get there, and what might her upcoming project mean to you? Read along and find out in this online interview. You were an evangelical pastor. For folks who don’t know you, tell us about your journey and where you are now! I spent a lifetime in the evangelical branch of the... Read more
Nine people are dead after 21-year-old suspect Dylann Roof entered the Emanuel AME Church — an historic African Methodist Episcopal church in South Carolina — and sat for an hour before opening fire on gathered churchgoers. The U.S. Department of Justice has begun a hate crime investigation, since surviving witnesses relayed that the gunman said he wanted to kill black people, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced. ABC News quoted Charleston Mayor Joe Riley: “The only reason someone would walk... Read more
Here’s another excerpt from Femmevangelical: The Modern Girl’s Guide to the Good News. This is from the chapter titled “‘In the Beginning’ Gets a New Ending”, which breaks down biblical literalism, describes how the New Testament was canonized, brings forward buried texts, and explores the history and purpose of mythos and logos. Burying the Dead, Resurrecting Our Lives In light of this, I thought back to the Christian devotional books for women I read as a teenager. Stories not... Read more
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