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Deconstructing and Leaving? Or Leading?

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How Christian Nationalism is the Result of Deconstruction and Moving Right. For nearly a decade, there has been a cultural shift in Christian spaces that gets labeled “deconstruction.” Generally speaking, this is the process of moving from the faith tradition that one grew up into something else (the destination can be anything). Many people have focused on the fact that people have deconstructed their faith and moved more progressive or liberal. However, it would be just as accurate to say that just as many people moved more conservative. And often, that deconstruction is often triggered by the concerted effort to … Read more

The Myth of Moral Decline: Why we believe we are getting worse and how that can used to make us worse.The Myth of Moral Decline:

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One thing that seems to never change is the idea that we, as a nation or culture, are in a state of moral decline. According to polling done in 2023, 83% of people believe that the US is in a state of moral decline. However, the research on the topic highlights the fact that that is simply untrue. But that doesn’t stop people from believing it even though we are statistically morally progressing over time.  Ultimately, the state of moral values is going to be a subjective outlook on one’s view on the world and our nation. But, if 83% of … Read more

Considering Christ and King

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Can we cultivate constancy in a culture of cooptation? Given by Maki Ashe Van Steenwyk at First Mennonite Church of San Francisco on MLK Sunday.Watch or read below. https://youtu.be/99zA7QbiQbU Jesus of Nazareth and Martin Luther King Jr are prime examples of liberatory leaders who have been coopted into serving empire. How can we learn from them while resisting the forces that seek to coopt our own efforts and longing for collective liberation? Some days, lately most days, it is hard to have hope. Creeping fascism, genocide, growing economic inequality, a growing number of transphobic laws, environmental crises grow.   If there … Read more

When Child Sacrifice Still Remains

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  The story of Abraham almost sacrificing Isaac is a rather popular story for various reasons. Even Emanuel Kant used the story in his understanding of the moral imperative. However, I believe there are hints in the story that indicate more cultural nuances then we usually pick up on.  In fact, I do not believe that Abraham is celebrated for almost sacrificing his son, but is shown that child sacrifice as worship for any deity is wrong. Unfortunately, this is still a message we need today as we continue to be given messages that push us to sacrifice our children … Read more

Countering a Theology of Hate

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     For those who have been reading our social media posts and articles, it may seem like I, Kalie, have always been some kind of radical progressive. The truth is, I spent most of my life on the verge of becoming a radicalized conservative and was relatively close to becoming militaristic in my beliefs. In fact, the turning point for me was realizing that the only logical conclusion for my conservative beliefs was to actively eradicate LGBTQI2A+ people in the world. Luckily, that moment pushed me to leave those beliefs and eventually come to a place where I was … Read more

Deweaponizing the Language of Privilege

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One of the many problems with white supremacy and privileged is that it is impossible to adequately convey the ramifications of actions and words back to those with privilege. In fact, supremacy and privilege rely on the fact that those who benefit from it are sheltered from the consequences that others would face in the same situation. It is why true solidarity requires listening, knowing you won’t fully know other’s experiences, and allowing yourself to understand the disproportionate threats people face. One aspect of this work is the deweaponization of weaponized language. Photo by Ali Choubin on Unsplash For example: … Read more

Pride is the Letter to the Romans Embodied

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Content Warning: Discussion of rape and queerphobia. So far we have made it almost 2 weeks into June, which means many conservative social media personalities are focusing on spreading their gender and sexual ideologies as far as they can. This year in particular, there has been a focus on Romans 1’s apparent “condemnation” of homosexuality. However, much of this comes from a lack of understanding the literary context of the passage, which causes them to completely miss the point. Photo by Mercedes Mehling on Unsplash One thing that often gets missed is the fact that Romans 1 was never meant … Read more

Pride and Intersectionality

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June is a rather interesting month. It is most notably known as Pride Month. However, it also carries Juneteenth and often has a period of major protests like BLM. Many times, we are taught to view these events as independent occurrences that just happen to be at the same time, but that is not actually true. These events are interconnected due to their origins as subversive movements that stand up to white supremacy. Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash One thing that must be recognized is the fact that many cultures have traditions that affirm and celebrate gender-expansive people and … Read more

Our Struggle is with Human Authority

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“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, authority, world leaders of darkness itself, and against [those with] a spirituality of wickedness among the heavenly places.” – Ephesians 6:12 Photo by Koshu Kunii on Unsplash           If you’re like me, you might have grown up being told that Ephesians 6:12 is telling us that our struggle, or wrestling, in this world is against Satan and spiritual evil. In fact, you might have also been told that addressing systemic oppression is against the Bible because it focuses on ingrained evil instead of individual … Read more

When God Can’t, We Must

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What Open and Relational Theology Tells Us About Social Justice Recently, I took part in a virtual conference discussing works in the field of Open and Relational Theology (ORT). When my friend Mason found out that I had been invited, his response was “I didn’t know you were in the ORT world.” It is honestly something I don’t talk about much. I was first introduced to ORT through Dr. Thomas Jay Oord and his book God Can’t, which attempts to explain why there is persistent evil in the world. Ultimately, in his conclusion, it comes down to the fact that God’s love … Read more