Dispatches: Deconstructing Santa Claus

This exvangelical deconstruction of Santa Claus comes courtesy of Baptist Accountabilty co-founder Megan South Benninger (read her story here). This fascinating exploration reminds me of the "deconstruction" essays I wrote for grad school in which I searched for the historical roots of Dracula and Frankenstein. Really fascinating stuff, to find the kernel of truth in …

Continue reading Dispatches: Deconstructing Santa Claus

Dispatches: Making the Safe Place by Royce Snyder

I met Royce when I was a college student at the University of Alaska, during the waning days of my evangelical journey. We had a few classes together, and his perceptive and uncouth contributions to our class discussions impressed me and made me chuckle in about equal proportion. For my undergrad thesis in 2006, I …

Continue reading Dispatches: Making the Safe Place by Royce Snyder

Dispatches: “Religious Trauma is Trauma” by Andrew Pledger

It is my pleasure to present a new voice in our Dispatches column.  Self-proclaimed "ex-fundie" Andrew Pledger reached out to me this week to see if I was interested in sharing his story at Surviving the Spirit; after reading his "testimony" (maybe it's time for exvangelicals to take that term back), I was deeply moved and knew …

Continue reading Dispatches: “Religious Trauma is Trauma” by Andrew Pledger

Dispatches: Cognitive Dissonance in Cattle Country

Our courageous exvangelical warrior on the ground in Texas, Shana Nielsen, has graciously provided us an update about how life has been down there since signing their anti-trans bill into law. As I've stated before: This is the theocracy that the Moral Majority wants, and it is only going to continue to escalate as they …

Continue reading Dispatches: Cognitive Dissonance in Cattle Country