When it comes to religion, question everything
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on April 24, 2026. Surrounded by FBI agents attempting to coax them into their vehicles, five of Samuel Bateman’s underaged wives huddled tightly. With trembling arms around one another, they sang, “And he will come again, and one by one we’ll rise, to praise his holy name.” Then […]
Why was the AI image of Trump as Jesus the last straw?
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on April 15, 2026. The AI image President Donald Trump posted of himself as Jesus is a sobering reminder not of how much Trump is obsessed with himself, but of how white evangelicals serve a higher power than Trump, and what that higher power may be like. We […]
The GOP has a transgender fixation, and Democrats aren’t helping
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on April 10, 2026. While the man in charge of the most powerful military in world history threatened to blow an entire civilization into oblivion, “never to be brought back again,” many of us wondered how his Christian followers would respond. Back in 2016, when white evangelicals refused […]
What happens when fools are elevated into highest power?
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on April 1, 2026. April Fools’ Day is a time for jokes and pranks and hoping your kids, partners or coworkers don’t take things too far. The goal is to have a few laughs while making it through the day relatively unscathed. There are multiple theories about the […]
Sometimes reading the Bible isn’t as wholesome as it sounds
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on March 26, 2026. In the latest example of a failed Republican candidate for Congress turned worship warrior, Bunni Pounds is heeding the Trump administration’s call to celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary by pretending we’re a theocracy. After graduating from Dallas Baptist University with a degree in political […]
One thing complementarian ministries share with Epstein Files
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on March 20, 2026. One of the most disturbing revelations of the Epstein Files is how similar the power dynamics of the men at Epstein’s Little Saint James Island were to the men in mainstream complementarian ministries. Of course, most pastors aren’t actively assaulting children. So conservative evangelicals […]
Why are evangelicals freaking out over James Talarico?
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on March 12, 2026. He’s being called “Pastor Pornhub” and “the living embodiment of Satan on earth” by Christians on the religious and political right. So who is this terrifying figure? Is he a Dallas megachurch pastor who had to step aside for a “restoration process” after some […]
SBC influencer William Wolfe wants an America of white people
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on March 10, 2026. “My boys all look like me. And I want my children to grow up in a country where they’re not minorities,” William Wolfe said out loud in a video now posted online. “I want my boys to grow up in a country where they don’t look […]
Are US military commanders really talking about Armageddon?
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on March 6, 2026. Are U.S. military commanders really telling the soldiers fighting in Iran that President Donald Trump has been “anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth”? In a piece published Monday on Substack, independent journalist […]
‘And lead us into laughter … ‘
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on February 26, 2026. “I’ll get real big hair, marry a man, let him lead, write a book called, ’Submissive Wife, Submissive Life,’ adopt a Southern accent out of nowhere,” comedian Taylor Tomlinson joked while imagining what it might look like for her to repent and return to […]
Forget empathy, the new war is on lament
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on February 18, 2026. Ever since Joe Rigney released his book about empathy being a sin, the TheoBros of conservative evangelicalism have been piling into his bus, demonizing empathy for those they run over as “the greatest rhetorical tool of manipulation in the 21st century,” and as “the […]
Kid Rock and evangelicals’ obsession with celebrity
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on February 12, 2026. In a world where everyone cycles through being an expert, the week after the Super Bowl typically turns into everyone posing as professional semioticians, offering their artistic analysis of the Super Bowl halftime show and the game. Most often, this devolves into conservatives fussing […]
Josh Howerton redefines following Jesus as becoming empire
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on February 5, 2026. Josh Howerton is an authoritarian theocrat who thinks his penis, pulpit and piety give him the right to rule the world. In a recent episode of his “Live Free” podcast, Howerton accuses YouTuber Rhett McLaughlin of gaslighting Christians. And in doing so, Howerton demonstrates how white […]
Alex Pretti’s murder lays bare the lie of patriarchy
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on February 1, 2026. Tragic acts of violence often lay bare the gap between what a system claims to be and what it actually enables. In the story of Alex Pretti’s murder, we come face to face with whether patriarchy — long sacralized as a system of safety […]
The TheoBros are getting the war they want in Minnesota
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on January 24, 2026. John Piper’s Minnesota minions are apparently rejoicing in answered prayers tonight as yet another one of their neighbors has been shot dead by ICE. Two weeks ago, Andy Naselli, pastor of Christ the King Church in Stillwater, Minn., and professor of systematic theology and New […]
Let’s talk about how Cities Church treats women
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on January 21, 2026. “David Easterwood is a pastor here. He is also the director of the Field Office for ICE in St. Paul. So someone who claims to worship God, teaching people in this church about God, is out there overseeing ICE agents,” civil rights lawyer Levy […]
Calvinist pastor prays for God to smite the people of Minneapolis
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on January 13, 2026. A professor at John Piper’s Bethlehem Seminary prayed on Sunday not for God to protect the terrified people of Minneapolis, but for God to protect ICE from the violent people of Minneapolis. “I’m a pastor in Minnesota. Here’s how I prayed for ICE yesterday,” […]
There’s a reason more women seek help from therapists than pastors
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on January 9, 2025. The Gospel Coalition’s New Year’s resolution apparently is shoring up pastoral power by shaming conservative evangelical women for seeking therapy. “In my role as a women’s ministry director over the past 15 years, I’ve observed an increase in church women struggling with emotional and […]
Minneapolis clergy rally for justice after ICE shooting
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on January 8, 2025. It was a time set aside for mourning, remembrance and moral clarity as hundreds of pastors gathered in Minneapolis Jan. 8 for a clergy press conference one day after an ICE agent shot and killed a woman protesting their actions. “It is a day where Minnesotans […]
Of course, evangelicals are complaining about Stranger Things
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on January 5 2025. “Being gay is not a superpower,” one person wrote on social media. Immediately, my heart sank. Although I was still catching up on Stranger Things episodes, my gut told me we were on the precipice of yet another conservative panic attack over the existence of gay […]
When what’s ‘good for Christianity’ isn’t good for your neighbor
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on December 30, 2025. One of the most impactful storylines of 2025 was the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10 and the subsequent response on the Right. As you’ll probably notice this week, a number of BNG’s most-read articles of the year were […]
‘When the wicked are in power …’
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on December 23, 2025. “Advent is the season that, when properly understood, does not flinch from the darkness that stalks us all in this world,” Fleming Rutledge says in Advent: The Once and Future Coming of Jesus Christ. In these final days of Advent, we are indeed living in […]
Hegseth plans ‘cultural shift’ for military chaplains
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on December 18, 2025. “I’m here to tell you about a real problem facing our nation’s military,” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth began in a video with a Christmas tree and a Department of War flag behind him. “It’s one you’re probably not aware of. But it’s a […]
Heads spin as Kirk Cameron gives up eternal conscious torment
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on December 11, 2025. “It’s one of the doctrines of the Bible that atheists love to point out as one of the reasons why they could never believe in the God of the Bible,” Kirk Cameron said on his podcast last week. “It’s the God who creates the eternal barbecue […]
Now AI Trump reads Bible stories for children
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on December 9, 2025. ’Tis the season when Christians flock to theaters or streaming services to watch the latest children’s cartoon movie about the birth of Jesus. But in the world of Christian nationalists, 2025 has been the year of utilizing AI. After Charlie Kirk was murdered, white […]
These ‘regular people’ promote a dangerous view of marriage and gender
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on December 4, 2025. “I’m just a regular guy,” Speaker of the House Mike Johnson told Katie Miller with his wife, Kelly, sitting next to him for the Katie Miller Podcast. “We’re simple people,” Johnson later added as the couple discussed everything from how Mike doesn’t like mayonnaise, […]
Do you hear what I hear?
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on November 25, 2025. As Thanksgiving dinner dishes clink and clatter this Thursday afternoon, millions of Americans will open their phones and begin playing Christmas music. One of the EP’s they’ll likely see is “A Soulful Christmas,” which contains four songs by a new artist named Solomon Ray. […]
Meet the ‘transvestigators’
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on November 20, 2025. Erika Kirk has been no stranger to online scrutiny in the months since her husband, Charlie, was murdered. When she appeared on “The Charlie Kirk Show” just five days after his memorial service, many people were surprised at how bright and bubbly she seemed. […]
All are welcome — except those we don’t like
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on November 12, 2025. While white evangelicals like to brand their churches to their neighbors as cool and kind, their behavior toward their neighbors often is cruel. I recently came across a perfect example of this through the social media posts of Nate Schlomann, executive pastor of Village […]
Sex, porn, bikinis, health care, hunger and Great Gatsby depravity
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on November 7, 2025. 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 what we did in […]
Women are the problem, Carlson and Fuentes declare
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on October 30, 2025. “It’s the women,” conservative white nationalist influencer Nick Fuentes smugly declared on the Tucker Carlson show in response to Carlson asking why young people aren’t getting married these days. “The men are extremely conservative, increasingly,” he intoned. “The women are extremely liberal.” While it […]
Yes, I’m in favor of white evangelicals being honest
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on October 24, 2025. “Can I be honest?” This is the question being asked by one of the most popular songs on Christian radio today — Leanna Crawford’s “Honest.” “Did I lose my faith? God, do I still trust you?” the lyrics ask. “Is it the heavy of […]
Now Christian nationalists claim we’re having a revival
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on October 16, 2025. As the Christian church loses credibility worldwide due to egregious politicking, Christian supremacists across the nation are tripping over themselves with excitement about a more positive story line they see: Revival. Although every other metric shows the church in America in numerical decline, these […]
Dear white evangelicals, I was wrong
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on October 8, 2025. I need to offer a full apology to white evangelicals. I was wrong. You were right. I make no excuses and offer no explanations or caveats. I wish I would have listened to you and taken your warnings seriously. The other day, I saw […]
What is ‘the church’ and what is ‘Communion’?
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on October 6, 2025. Much ink has been spilled over the last decade revealing the ways white evangelical Republicans have descended into the abyss of authoritarianism. But while they claim to be the most committed to Christ and the church, their empathy-starved embrace of empire actually has led […]
Evangelical worship is the sugar that helps the poison of power go down
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on September 25, 2025. In today’s world of white supremacist politics, white evangelical worship is the sugar that helps the poison of power go down. And perhaps no event has put this more clearly on display than the Charlie Kirk memorial service. When many Christians think about Christian […]
‘This is not an idol. This is a sculpture’
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on September 19, 2025. In just four years, we’ve gone from Trump supporters erecting a gallows in front of the U.S. Capitol building to a 12-foot-tall golden Trump statue holding out a Bitcoin. The official story is that this golden Trump statue was built by a group of cryptocurrency […]
Two AI videos depict Charlie Kirk in heaven as a martyr
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on September 16, 2025. Charlie Kirk’s death has sparked a national conversation about his words. As evangelicals hail him as a martyr, others point to the harm he caused through the racist, sexist, homophobic, violence-celebrating remarks he made during his life. Pastor Howard John Wesley of Alfred Street […]
These are the helpful conversations about religion we need
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on September 15, 2025. The assassination of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University is undoubtedly going to lead to a lot of conversation about our identity as a nation, the nature of our problems and how we pursue justice. One of the contexts for these conversations is college […]
Here’s another reason Calvinism is morally bankrupt
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on September 4, 2025. Note: This article includes detailed discussion of child sexual abuse in the context of why God allows suffering in the world. Now the TheoBros are using the gospel to spread indifference about the rape and murder of 10-year-old girls. This week’s example of […]
In fight against patriarchy, women ‘are not listened to’
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on August 26, 2025. As armed National Guardsmen begin patrolling the streets of our cities at the command of President Donald Trump, many Americans are waking up to the deadly dangers of toxic white male domination bent on violent authority. But there is one seemingly invisible group of […]
MAGA has a meltdown over male cheerleaders
“The next generation of cheer has arrived!” the Minnesota Vikings announced as they revealed their 2025 cheerleading squad. And just like that, MAGA had a meltdown. The video opens with one Vikings cheerleader doing a backflip. Then the camera pans back and reveals the full squad dancing in dark uniforms with Vikings logos across the front and white […]
How Trump’s dehumanizing language promotes white supremacy
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on August 15, 2025. “I’m announcing a historic action to rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse,” President Donald Trump declared this week while surrounded by six members of his administration. “This is Liberation Day in D.C., and we’re gonna take our capital […]
Here’s why authoritarians go after historians and journalists
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on August 8, 2025. “Those that don’t know any history think everything is an overreaction right now. Those that do know history think everything is an underreaction right now.” These were the words posted recently on Threads by medical physicist and musician Benito Thompson. To which Jemar Tisby replied, “As […]
Licensing agency finds religious trauma coach in violation of Code of Ethics
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on July 28, 2025. One of the best-known therapists and coaches working with people suffering religious trauma has been sanctioned by the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists for violating the group’s Code of Ethics on boundaries. In a letter dated July 25, Laura Anderson was informed […]
10 Bible verses Christian nationalists take out of context to seize power
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on July 20, 2025. Christian nationalists are world-class experts in seizing power by taking Bible verses out of context. Growing up, my independent Baptist high school constantly used Philippians 4:13 as proof we could win the state championship, Jeremiah 29:11 as proof God would let us get married […]
John MacArthur met his own definition of a false prophet
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on July 14, 2025. How should we respond when someone who uses theology to promote ignorant, misogynistic, racist, power mongering authoritarianism dies? To use biblical language, we might call these people false prophets, ravenous wolves, deceivers, anti-Christs, evil men, seducers, lovers of self, foolish and unlearned men, just […]
Prestonwood celebrates Trump and Supreme Court in morning worship
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on July 2, 2025. “This is a time for us to celebrate America,” Prestonwood Baptist Church Pastor Jack Graham declared in his all-white suit in a scene reminiscent of a Jesse Gemstone sermon in HBO Max’s The Righteous Gemstones. “Just because you love America doesn’t mean you don’t love […]
From Hamilton to subversive justice
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on June 27, 2025. When Baptist News Global Executive Director Mark Wingfield asked me five years ago if he could publish my piece comparing King George in Hamilton to Calvinism’s God, I had no idea the opportunities his invitation would bring me. One of my favorite opportunities has been attending the Cooperative […]
Evangelicals are mean to kids, beginning at home
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on June 13, 2025. Every Father’s Day weekend, complementarian women post on social media about how thankful they are for their husbands’ loving leadership. Photos of confidently smiling men who think the gospel requires them to be the heads of their households grace our newsfeeds. While many of […]