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It isn’t weird to be a Christian who supports abortion rights
You’ve heard the narratives about “what all Christians believe.” And you’ve heard many a high-profile pastor speak for all of Christians. He tells you precisely what we all believe, like we’re 3 billion cultists in the world with an identical worldview. We don’t all believe the same stuff. And yet this view of a singular…
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Bernie Sanders isn’t denying your right to believe in hell
Bernie Sanders doesn’t care what you believe about hell. He does care if your beliefs demonize other people. This is the context in which Christian conservatives fell back to seeing persecutions everywhere. Often looking for persecutions precisely when asked to recognize their bias. At a recent confirmation hearing for Russell Vought who was nominated to become…
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Sight and Belief
When we look at the same picture, do our brains assess the contents of the picture differently? The short answer is yes. But how interesting is the short answer? Especially when the science had essentially been saying no. Easter 2A | John 20:19-31 Dr. Richard Nisbett, a psychologist from the University of Michigan has for…
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Just do the right thing.
If we whittle down our faith, we are left with two base ideas: what we believe and what we do. There is nothing more traditional in Christian faith than arguing over which one is better. Betting on God. Blaise Pascal made my favorite case for belief. Unlike most apologetics, which argue the case for God’s…
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Do I Have To Dig On the Trinity Or Is God Cool With Me Anyway?
I’m not sure you can call yourself a Christian if you haven’t ever had to explain the Trinity to someone. My first attempt was when I was 22 and working at Barnes & Noble. It was a miserable failure. My failure was less about my skill or understanding than it is the material one has…
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Christianity Is More Than Kindness
We aren’t supposed to be kind. We’re not. Jesus didn’t die for us to be kind. He also didn’t die for us to be dicks, either. Or to fight over land. Or call people names. But being kind, being nice, that isn’t it. Being a good person, a kind and generous person is a truly important thing.…
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The World’s Most Secret Theology
So what do we actually believe? Most Christians are taught specific things to believe. We find them in our prayers and creeds. We find them preached on Sunday and revealed in Bible studies on Wednesdays. And when we try to fit into a group, we want to find out what they believe. All that stuff is…
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Optimistic
I have the most optimistic friends. Despite all evidence to the contrary, they believe that so much is possible! It’s inspiring, truly. I’m not sure how. Every time, they just keep believing: cutting taxes will make them wealthier moving will make them happier keeping out refugees will make them safer money can fix their problems…