This is an open response from the staff of Global Community Communications Alliance to my weblog posts about Gabriel of Sedona and my decision to host an old NBC Dateline video expose about his group in Arizona. They originally sent this to me as an email, and I updated my posts accordingly at the time.
Evangelical purity culture and its attendant cult of “modesty” enthrones male lust, inverting what Jesus taught us. “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away,” Jesus said. But purity culture says male eyes are inviolable, so if a man’s eye causes him to sin, then women’s bodies must be torn out and thrown away — or at least covered up and shut away. Modesty somehow always means women in burkas,* never men in blindfolds.
By Andy Alexis-Baker of JesusRadicals.com. This paper is relevant to Christians beyond Anabaptists, and to people beyond Christians.
This anti-religious fashion police stuff is stupid authoritarianism dressed up as enlightened thinking.
This site aggregates some good religious content.
Mormon channel: http://www.patheos.com/Mormon.html
Atheist channel: http://www.patheos.com/Atheist.html
An interview with Justin Lee, the director of The Gay Christian Network. Some good questions and answers.
“Candy canes occupy an awkward place in the candy taxonomy.” I don’t quite understand the urge to invent history in an attempt at authenticating an idea. Whether it’s Joseph Smith and his Native American wars, so many gurus and their past lives (usually as famous historical figures), or “a candymaker in Indiana.” It doesn’t help.
After I posted three links to a video of a Dateline episode featuring a small Arizona religious group, two of the three hosts received DMCA take-down notices from the group’s lawyer and took down the video. So I pulled out my stenotype keyboard and made this quick transcript of the 40-minute program. Corrections welcome.
Nate Phelps, who left the Westboro Baptist Church when he was 18, answers redditors' questions
One of the Pussy Riot defenders, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, said at the trial yesterday, “We are freer than those who are prosecuting us. We can say everything we want, and they have their mouths shut and are puppets.” Every Christian in the world should be cheering her on.
User-submitted links to information on various religious groups.
Fred Clark on why some church people like to believe silly things.
When atheists sound like fundamentalist Christians.
A fairly concise introduction to Christian anarchism by one of the most active academics researching the topic.
A satire of the entertainment industry’s rent-seeking, set in the first century near the Sea of Galilee.
An article arguing that “Democratic socialism is the very essence of Mormon theology and scripture.” See also my list of Mormon anarchism links: http://americancynic.net/log/2011/4/18/mormon_anarchism_/_some_links.html
Transcript of the Mormon South Park episode.