christianity
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'Slave Bible' Converted Slaves to Christianity by Omitting Parts That Could Lead to Uprising
A new exhibit at a Washington, D.C., museum featuring an abridged version of the Bible sheds light on how Christian missionaries converted enslaved Africans to Christianity by teaching them the Gospel… except the parts about freedom, equality and resistance. According to NPR, Parts of the Holy Bible, Selected For the Use of the Negro Slaves,…
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White Evangelical Support of Trump Proves They’re More ‘White’ Than ‘Evangelical’
Although I attended a black church my entire life, I was ordained into the Southern Baptist Convention, an organization complicit in the rise of the alt-right and whose troubling racial history and contemporaneous actions revealed a deep commitment to ignoring the influence of white supremacy. Last year, I wrote a piece for the New York…
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Attorney General Jeff Sessions Just Launched an *Insert Racist Dog Whistle* Christian Task Force
On Monday, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the biggest elf to ever do it, just created a “religious liberty task force,” which sounds like a villainous superhero group that gets real close to you and asks if you know Jesus. Seriously, though, the task force sounds great if it were put in place to stop…
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US Cabinet Members, America’s Least Christian White People, Have a Regular Bible-Study Group
I grew up in a Christian household. Both of my parents were raised Baptist, and they raised me as one, but I wouldn’t quite say that we were practicing. We didn’t go to church very often, and we mostly just prayed before eating and while hoping that the Pirates would win the pennant. And while…
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Pastors With Bentleys and the Messy Psychology of Money
Black Pittsburgh Facebook was on fire yesterday because the pastor of a popular church here, Mount Ararat, seems to have recently purchased a Bentley Bentayga. A photo of the truck parked outside the church has gone Pittsburgh viral, with hundreds of people offering their thoughts on the pastor’s purchase. Here are some of mine. 1.…
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Red Lip Theology: Yes, Progressive Church Girls Do Exist
Currently, I am navigating a depressive episode. While I have access to the resources (therapy, medicine, communal support) to ensure my wellness, living with depression can be difficult. The triggers come fast, and when it hits, all you can do is ride the wave. But while I was talking to one of my best friends…
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I Just Celebrated Christmas for the 1st Time in My Whole Entire Life, and I Lived to Tell the Tale
Just a few weeks ago, I celebrated Christmas for the first time. Ever. All my life, there were no stockings hung by the chimney with care. (And I grew up in a house with a real, live working chimney!) No carefully wrapped gifts. No smell of pine needles and gingerbread houses. No carefully decorated Christmas…
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‘Radical Christian Terrorism’: Doesn’t Sound Nice, Does It?
Radical Islamic terror. Islamic. Terror. When you separate those words, they can’t be any more diametrically opposed. The dictionary defines terrorism as “the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion,” or as “the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in pursuit of political, religious or ideological aims.” Islam—the religion…
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Donald Trump, White America’s Favorite Christian
There is no point in debating whether or not President Donald Trump is a “real Christian.” At this point it really doesn’t matter. He is America’s religious darling and is the single most important political figure in mainstream Christian politics. Delving into the minutiae of Scripture and its meaning is inconsequential because none of that…