Gimme that Christian Side Hug. That Christian Side Hug.
posted by billysumday on Nov 23, 2009 - 245 comments

An instructional video on correct worship in the Pentacostal church (SLYT).
posted by Joe in Australia on Nov 3, 2009 - 67 comments

The idea of witchcraft is hardly new, but it has taken on new life recently partly because of a rapid growth in evangelical Christianity. Campaigners against the practice say around 15,000 children have been accused in two of Nigeria's 36 states over the past decade and around 1,000 have been murdered. In the past month alone, three Nigerian children accused of witchcraft were killed and another three were set on fire.

A new subgenre is rising to meet the significant demand for romance novels that won't corrupt the flesh: Amish Romances. The relatively chaste romances, mostly written by non-Amish authors, the books are selling well, with Cindy Woodsnall's Sisters of the Quilt trilogy leading the pack on the New York Times bestseller list, and many new authors jumping into the game.
posted by Miko on Sep 10, 2009 - 34 comments

Stuff Christian Culture Likes - A preacher's daughter marries another preacher's son and offers an insider's perspective about youth leaders, tips and hawks, sexual jewelry, hot wives, drama teams, video games, Jumbotrons, coffee, graphic design, typography and more.
posted by Blazecock Pileon on Aug 31, 2009 - 197 comments

Jesus killed Mohammed: The crusade for a Christian military.
posted by chunking express on May 29, 2009 - 91 comments

"You take the gatekeeper and you confuse his mind. You threaten him and you throw him in the middle of nowhere. Then nobody knows where the gate is. As soon as you lose the whereabouts of the gate, then you have a culture going downhill. What keeps a village together is a handful of "gays and lesbians," as they call them in the modern world. In my village, lesbians are called witches, and gay men are known as the gatekeepers." The Dagara people of Burkina Faso. [more inside]
posted by pinothefrog on Feb 10, 2009 - 49 comments

The Junior Christian Science Bible Lesson Show is easily the most terrifying "children's show" ever broadcast. [more inside]
posted by chuckdarwin on Jan 25, 2009 - 42 comments

The manuscripts of David Kaufmann, Jewish scholar extraordinaire. Wonderful illuminations, inventive typography and even a little bit of naughtiness.
posted by tellurian on Jan 21, 2009 - 8 comments

Paul Anderson was the strongest man in the world.
posted by Joe Beese on Dec 30, 2008 - 16 comments

Gay marriage equals incest and pedophilia. Abortion equals the Holocaust. Or so thinks "America's Pastor Rick "Saddleback" Warren, bestselling author of The Purpose-Driven Life, vocal supporter of Proposition 8, and the spiritual leader chosen by President-elect Obama to give the invocation at his inauguration. But hey -- don't call him a homophobe: He even eats dinner with gays.
posted by digaman on Dec 17, 2008 - 269 comments

Christian Nymphos: Not an exploitation site but an apparently sincere, sex-positive celebration of faithful sex. Reclaiming the word Nympho, no less. (NSFW) [more inside]
posted by msalt on Oct 19, 2008 - 272 comments

Privileges: Gender: 10 things only men can do (Askmen.com), male privilege (wiki), 21 Things Women Can Do That Guys Can't (Cosmo), female privilege (2 3 4 5). Race: white privilege (wiki). Sexual orientation: straight privilege (2) (wiki), cisgendered privilege. Body: able-bodied privilege, non-fat privilege. Money: non-poor privilege (2), class privilege (PDF). Demographics: Christian privilege, American privilege, adult privilege, black male privilege, Muslim male privilege. Combo: gamer privilege, male programmer privilege. Criticism and essays: victim privilege, "Point of Privilege", "We can't be equal while ... ", "Where's My Extra Piece of the Pie?". And, lest this become too serious: pirate privilege and lolcat privilege (the latter via). (Covered in smaller scope previously.)
posted by WCityMike on Aug 15, 2008 - 156 comments

We all know The Rapture is coming soon (although "no one knows the day or hour"), and many of us will want to send out appropriate taunting messages from our heavenly perch to our loser buddies that didn't get chosen. At last, a service provider has arisen to serve this need. At You've Been Left Behind, you can store up to 250 MB of documents to be sent to up to 62 separate emails addresses in the event of the Rapture. Rapture is determined to have occurred when 3 of the 5 team members fail to log in to the site over a 3 day period.
posted by jonson on Jun 3, 2008 - 146 comments

The Christian with Four Aces. Bill Sizemore writes about the infamous televangelist Pat Robertson.
posted by chunking express on Apr 2, 2008 - 52 comments

Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas becomes the first university in the US to give out iPhones to incoming freshmen. Concept videos describing how they will be used here (social), here (academic) and here (overview).
posted by Pater Aletheias on Mar 5, 2008 - 26 comments

"I feel like a prize in a box of cracker jacks with God's hand reaching down to pick me up." Larry Norman, "father of Christian rock," dead at 60. YouTubery: 1, 2, 3.
posted by The Deej on Feb 26, 2008 - 35 comments

Mea maxima culpa
posted by ardgedee on Jan 1, 2008 - 98 comments

Ladies, submit and enjoy! What does the 21st century biblical model for an adult daughter look like? Have you ever wondered about the damage feminism has visited upon our civilization? Prepare to be enlightened...
posted by zany pita on Nov 28, 2007 - 77 comments

Move over, Jack Chick. Zondervan's gone manga.
posted by Horace Rumpole on Oct 11, 2007 - 38 comments

Texan Larry Kilgore is running for a seat in the US Senate. Agree or disagree with the man, he certainly has the courage of his convictions.
posted by dersins on Oct 10, 2007 - 45 comments

How a Gay Rights Leader became straight is a column by Michael Glatze, one-time editor of Young Gay America magazine. In the column, Glatze explains how be became gay ("I was already weak") and his eventual redemption ("Every time I was tempted to lust, I noticed it, caught it, dealt with it"). When he was still gay, Glatze seemed pretty in touch with gay youth. When interviewed for a Time cover story, he discussed gay teens' alienation saying that today's queer youth just want to be "normal kids." Apparently Glatze wanted to be a normal kid, too! Gay City News had its own take on the Glatze fiasco, quoting him as suggesting America "'examine whether homosexuality should be legal' or if gay sex should instead be punished by 'imprisonment.'" YGAmag responded to Glatze with an open letter. More archived Young Gay America issues here.
posted by sneakin on Sep 10, 2007 - 83 comments

We've discussed David L. Cunningham before, especially the controversial 9/11 docudrama he made. But there's more to the man who's the son of Christian reconstructionist and University of the Nations founder Loren Cunningham. There are a lot of movies he claims to have directed on his IMDB page that don't have any external verification outside of self-published websites, which seems to contradict IMDB policy. Then there's the fear from both pagans and various political bloggers and fans of the books that his upcoming adaptation of the The Dark is Rising fantasy books is going to completely butcher the source material. The movie is produced by Walden Media, the production company owned by conservative christian billionaire Philip Anschutz, who's trying to "clean up Hollywood", in association with 20th Century Fox.
posted by Joakim Ziegler on Aug 14, 2007 - 9 comments

Big-eyed kitsch art, paintings of waifs and sad eyes, pity kitty and pity puppy. Among this group of painters, Margaret Keane's story is quite interesting. For many years her ex-husband stole the credit for her paintings, she sued and won. Contemporary artists who include the big-eyed theme in their work: the amazing Mark Ryden. The hilarious [nsfw] and dark work of Colin and Sas Christian; Megan Besmirched and her Big Eyed Art Bonanza.
posted by nickyskye on Jul 28, 2007 - 21 comments

Senate disrupted by jerks. Three members of anti-abortion Operation Save America disrupted the daily opening prayers of the Senate yesterday morning, which were being lead that day Rajan Zed, a Hindu priest. This was the first time a Hindu priest lead the opening prayer. Operation Save America has a small press release. Youtube link.
posted by Snyder on Jul 13, 2007 - 81 comments

How do you do: since 1950, Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago, Illinois has produced dramatized salvation stories which are now syndicated around the world. 2,950 weekly one hour stories have been produced so far, and the variety of wayward paths these poor sinners have taken is astonishing, running the gamut from "Gambling, Lying, Fear", to "Country Music, Bigamy, Pride" to "Jewish, Seeking, Piano(part 2)." Whatever their false beliefs, all these fortunate folks have one thing in common (well, besides being voiced by the same few people): their hearts and minds and lives have all been UNSHACKLED! With impressive production values and sound effects created onstage during the live taping, it may be the last true radio drama. Sadly, PGM does not evangelize open audio formats; Real or WMP only.
posted by contraption on Jul 12, 2007 - 11 comments

"Give your children a program that Jesus could join. Why not step beyond a politically correct scouting program in which a Christian might not feel completely comfortable at activities, or with the materials furnished by a central committee? Are you tired of pretending to be neutral?" Keepers at Home and Contenders for the Faith are Bible-based alterntives to traditional youth scouting groups. Keepers at Home features lessons to prepare girls for their future roles as help meets, mothers, and keepers at home," while Contenders for the Faith learn "everything a Christian boy needs to learn to prepare him to be a man." Just like traditional scouting, Keepers offers uniforms, badges, and handbooks. girls. Keepers is just one of many Christian approaches to scouting; others include American Heritage Girls, Awana, and Mpact.
posted by Miko on Jul 9, 2007 - 141 comments

It's been there since 2001. The debate continues: is netauthority.org legitimate or a hoax? If it's a hoax, it's one of the most successful web hoaxes of all time. People are still falling for it. (previously)
posted by metasonix on Jul 4, 2007 - 20 comments

Christian Domestic Discipline: "[W]hen you cook a steak, and use high heat to seer the top, and then try to eat it you will find the steak cold and unsatisfying, just like a woman might feel after a very brief but hard spanking, yes she cried but only out of pain and learned only pain from the spanking. But slowly warming her bottom up, you will be able to spank her longer." Be sure not to miss the Crotchless Pantaloons!
posted by Secret Life of Gravy on May 20, 2007 - 110 comments

Does God Exist? The Nightline Face-Off
Former child star Kirk Cameron and his evangelist colleague Ray Comfort (infamous for their banana argument) take on atheists in a debate over the existence of God. Per usual, you can expect calm, cool, collected temperaments and absolute respect for a difference of opinion. Especially since both parties have been previously featured on Nightline, the former taking to the streets to challenge atheists and the latter proposing a God-rejecting blasphemy challenge. You know you're rubbing your hands in anticipation of the fireworks, but you better let Bill O'Reilly weigh in first. For more youtube goodness, parts 1 and 2 of the Nightline piece (the full debate is available in the first link).
posted by Mach3avelli on May 11, 2007 - 299 comments

There's Good In Evel. 70's icon (and my own personal role model at the time) "Evel" Knievel spoke on Palm Sunday at the Crystal Cathedral about his miraculous conversion to Christianity during Daytona Bike Week. Immediately, between 500 and 800 people committed or rededicated their lives to God. Found via J-Walk.
posted by ba on Apr 25, 2007 - 51 comments

Half-handed Cloud upends the common conception of what Christian music should sound like. Part of a constellation of artists that include Brother Danielson and Sufjan Stevens, John Ringhofer crafts quirky, ramshackle indie pop songs with explicit Christian themes. Interviews: 1, 2, 3, 4. Reviews: 1, 2, 3. Videos: 1, 2, 3, 4.
posted by Falconetti on Apr 23, 2007 - 65 comments

XXXChurch.com At 8 o'clock on a recent Saturday morning, more than 250 men gathered at New Life Christian Church in Morton, Illinois, for a breakfast of porn and pancakes.
posted by theemperorhasnoclotheson on Apr 5, 2007 - 57 comments

Gwen Shamblin's faith-based weight loss program, The Weigh Down Workshop, has been so successful that in 1999 she spun off her own Evangelical church, now found in over 100 cities worldwide. Her weight loss methods are not without controversy, and her church has recently been in the news.
posted by Chinese Jet Pilot on Mar 27, 2007 - 24 comments

Soulforce Equality Ride! Soulforce, a nationwide organization working to end religious discrimination of gays and lesbians are in the middle of their second annual Equality Ride to raise awareness of Christian colleges and universities that discriminate against queer students. GLBTQ students are discriminated against everywhere. The Riders have been met with both open arms and anger. The Reverend Mel White, who runs Soul Force, ghost wrote Billy Graham's and Jerry Falwell's autobiographies and worships at Falwell's church in Lynchburg, VA in silent protest. Previously.
posted by parmanparman on Mar 23, 2007 - 51 comments

How MySpace creates born-again Christians. The link between MySpace, nacissism and religious fundamentalism.
posted by bobbyelliott on Mar 20, 2007 - 109 comments

Got a spiritual question? Ask an Islamic scholar. Or ask a Trappist monk. Or ask a Catholic priest. Or a Lutheran pastor. Jewish? Ask a Rabbi. Jewish and like firearms? Ask a rabbi with a gun.
posted by escabeche on Mar 14, 2007 - 25 comments

Is Your Baby Gay? Southern Baptist theologian Albert Mohler has come out to support stem cell research: If a biological basis [for homosexuality] is found, and if a prenatal test is then developed, and if a successful treatment to reverse the sexual orientation to heterosexual is ever developed, we would support its use as we should unapologetically support the use of any appropriate means to avoid sexual temptation and the inevitable effects of sin.
posted by parmanparman on Mar 8, 2007 - 121 comments

Based on research (from the Barna Group) that shows Christians act no better than non-Christians the Community Christian Church have made a series of Mac vs PC parodies (1,2,3,4) that criticize a certain type of Christian. The pastor of the CCC goes even further by saying the last thing the world needs is more Christians. Interesting discussion about the parody clips from Christian/Christ followers can be found here.
posted by meech on Mar 6, 2007 - 63 comments

Baby Got Bible , Christian Camp Slingshot, How Old is the Earth?, Christian Clown Training, A Banana, Time Travel, and more at God Tube.
posted by Stynxno on Mar 5, 2007 - 80 comments

Wake County, NC: Solomon Kamil invited to speak at a public school in Raleigh tells the students to shun Muslims "You may be excited that you found the 'tall, dark, and handsome man' you have been looking for. His sweet words and attention may blind you regarding the power, importance, and influence of his culture and Islamic faith."
posted by Secret Life of Gravy on Feb 22, 2007 - 79 comments

Drew Marshall hosts Canada's "most listened to" spiritual radio program. As a former pastor who is fed up with phony church culture, he does an interesting job of critiquing North American Christianity from the inside. This fair-minded interview with Richard James, the high priest of the Wiccan Church of Canada, is worth a listen, as is the longest interview ever recorded with the late James Brown. Those unfamiliar with Marshall can get a feel for his style by watching his interview on 100 Huntley Street, a Canadian Christian talk show. It aired only once and was then pulled due to the ensuing controversy.
posted by Pater Aletheias on Feb 20, 2007 - 23 comments

The Radical Christian Right Is Built on Suburban Despair by the ubiquitous Chris Hedges. Previously.
posted by HerArchitectLover on Jan 26, 2007 - 109 comments

Through a Glass, Darkly How the Christian right is reimagining U.S. history--from Harpers. ...producing a flood of educational texts with which to wash away the stains of secular history. ...
posted by amberglow on Jan 12, 2007 - 111 comments

"A Christian man is weak compared to a Muslim man." Violence and war between Christians, Muslims, and Jews is a long-standing fact of life. Even St. Francis joining the Fifth Crusade as a peacemaker, would not change the course of history. "He was repulsed by the sacrilegious brutality of the Crusaders." Stories of personal persecution abound. However, there are also some small glimmers of hope and understanding that don't get much notice. Although such efforts are just specks in a sandstorm, maybe they are a start.
posted by The Deej on Jan 2, 2007 - 61 comments

Write letters to your unsaved friends. When the rapture comes, this guy will mail them.
posted by Sfving on Dec 26, 2006 - 80 comments

Gift to the World (youtube) Tongue firmly in cheek is the modus operandi of the Sin Destroyers (on mefi previously here) a band best summed up in this press quote, “If Iron Maiden had attended Catholic school, this would be their garage band”. I’m not sure what series of decisions led to the formation of a parody Christian rock band, but the results are pretty damn funny (and rockin’). Dig on their holiday offering, Gift to the World. If you’re feeling particularly pious today, you might skip this one. (via)
posted by pelican on Dec 21, 2006 - 10 comments

GODMEN. "It's the wuss-ification of America that's getting us!" screeches Stine, 46. A moment later he adds a fervent: "Thank you, Lord, for our testosterone!"
posted by Sticherbeast on Dec 7, 2006 - 134 comments

A concession e-mail to returning House Rep Satveer Chaudhary from loser Rae Hart Anderson. [via]
posted by bardic on Nov 18, 2006 - 187 comments

P2P is a sin [bugmenot]
posted by PenguinBukkake on Oct 10, 2006 - 35 comments