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May 2020

May 16, 2020

The FTC Just Spooked A Bunch of MLMs Into Behaving (Somewhat Better)

Today, let me show you how the FTC's been spending Americans' tax dollars lately.

May 08, 2020

Promise and Peril: Lyman Stone’s Galaxy-Brained Solutions to Decline

Yesterday, we examined a big report by conservative culture warrior Lyman Stone on behalf of...

May 06, 2020

Why Science- and History-Based Apologetics Fails So Dramatically

Apologists -- especially in evangelicalism -- love to lean hard on arguments based on science...

April 2020

April 16, 2020

Examining Claims of MLM Success Amid the Pandemic

Lately, we've been talking about some recent developments in the world of multi-level marketing schemes...

April 09, 2020

Evangelistic Success in China Amid the Pandemic

Lately, I've noticed a distinct narrative developing in fundagelicalism. It involves claims of wild evangelism...

April 08, 2020

Teen Baptisms Are Down (Still!) in the SBC

The SBC tracks baptisms-by-age-group -- and they're alarmed about just how far teenage baptisms have...

September 2019

September 24, 2019

The Scariest Question Christians Never Ask Themselves

About a year ago, one of our dear and recently-departed commentariat members, Brad Feaker, asked...

July 2019

July 06, 2019

Thom Rainer’s New Gig (Won’t Help His Religion)

Thom Rainer just retired from LifeWay. Immediately afterward, he plunged full-time into his new old...

May 2019

May 14, 2019

The Biggest Broken Promise Christians Make

Call it a sterling example of the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon if you like, and to be...

April 2019

April 25, 2019

More (Terrible) Reasons to Believe in Christianity’s God

Truly, there is nothing new under the sun! Recently, I showed you Billy Graham's big...

March 2019

March 28, 2019

Why People Rightly Distrust Evangelical Research

In fact, this study demonstrates exactly why we should not trust any studies designed, led, or...

March 07, 2019

Keeping Up Appearances in the Cult of Family

Lately, we've been talking about authoritarian Christians' new marketing push: the Cult of Family. Only these...

February 2019

February 19, 2019

Before the Cult of “Before” Stories: Tricking Authoritarians

I came face-to-face with two completely untrue beliefs I held: that my god transformed people...

January 2019

January 14, 2019

52 Reasons to Dread Invitations to Church (LSP #77)

This awful list shows us some important things about the people who made the list,...

December 2018

December 20, 2018

Meet the Christians Who Are Curious About the God We Don’t Believe In

But one evangelism technique comes to us from both progressive and evangelical Christians. Today, let...

December 15, 2018

When Evangelists Play Deceptive Games

Last time we met up, we covered a book about evangelism called Soul-Winning Made Easy, by...

December 13, 2018

I Bet You Had No Idea Soulwinning Was This Easy

A couple of months ago, I came into two books by a minister that tickled...

November 2018

November 13, 2018

Cold Reading, and the Christians Who Told Me All the Things I NEVER Did

We've been talking lately about how Christians treat the people they're trying to recruit. Sales-minded...

November 08, 2018

THROWDOWN: Ex-Atheist Testimonies vs. Ex-Satanist Testimonies

Today, I'll show you the shared features of these two popular testimony styles, and which...

October 2018

October 27, 2018

Can Christians Restart the Satanic Panic?

Last time, we looked at the dishonest testimony of a totally-for-realsies ex-Satanist turned evangelist, John...

October 25, 2018

John Ramirez Is Trying SO HARD to Bring Back the Satanic Panic

The other day, I ran across a mention of John Ramirez. He's trying his very...

June 2018

June 28, 2018

Trendy Testimonies: Why Christians Keep Saying They’re Ex-Atheists

Christians might want to help ease or (in their wildest dreams) reverse their decade-long decline,...

May 2018

May 12, 2018

The Cult of “Before” Stories Welcomes Benedict Atkins!

A line's determined by two points, so I reckon we've found a new trend. His...

April 2018

April 06, 2018

Miracle Maxin’: The Ongoing Problems With Miracles

Today, almost five years after Miracle Maxin' debuted, we look back at why miracles are...

March 2018

March 06, 2018

False Persecution and Dogwhistles: Mike Huckabee Gives Away the Game

Mike Huckabee's latest attempt was a few days ago, when he was appointed to--and then...

March 04, 2018

The Cult of Before Stories: Glenn Hobbs, Totally An Ex-Satanist

I want to show you today how Glenn Hobbs' claims line up with our checklist...

January 2018

January 17, 2018

The Cult of “Before” Stories: A Mega-Review of Zachary King’s Testimony

Zachary King gave an extensive XM radio interview a couple of years just after becoming...

January 14, 2018

The Satanic Panic Meets the Anti-Abortion Crusade.

The Satanic Panic trickled to an undignified end years ago. But not long ago we...

January 07, 2018

How to Become a Volunteer for a Fake Abortion Clinic

One of the biggest lies told by fake abortion clinics is that they are actually...

January 05, 2018

Live in the Wild: An Introduction to Fake Abortion Clinics

The CPC is one of the most slickly-packaged of all of the fake women's clinics,...