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Progressive Christian

2016-10-03T11:24:59-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Notes from a retired pastor: musing from the cruising

Last updated on: October 3, 2016 at 11:24 am By Christy Thomas

My life has not turned out in any way that I expected when I decided to take early retirement. I had sensed strongly (and with significant pain for a lot of reasons) that God’s call upon my life had shifted its emphasis. I’ve always known there was a dual call: both to the pastorate and to the writing life. The time had come to concentrate on that writing life. I’ve always known there was a dual call: both to the... Read more

2016-09-29T10:23:46-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The strong woman problem for Evangelicals and Republicans

Last updated on: September 29, 2016 at 10:23 am By Christy Thomas

How do leading republicans feel about women? Try this one on for size: During the debate, GOP pollster Frank Luntz shared a text that he said he’d received from a Republican member of Congress saying Clinton “just comes across as my [b—–] wife/mother.” Totally aside from the fact that defining Clinton’s collected, occasionally funny, performance in a debate where she was constantly interrupted and lied about as shrill or unpleasant suggests that there is literally nothing a woman can do that won’t... Read more

Evangelical support of Trump

white male leadership

2016-09-29T06:54:23-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Post debate musings of a policially-mixed couple

Last updated on: September 29, 2016 at 6:54 am By Christy Thomas

First, this article sums it all up: The world is still almost irredeemably sexist. Anything Hillary has done, or even has been accused of doing, would have been celebrated or ignored if she had been male. It’s time to stop pretending that this is about substance. This is about an eagerness to believe that a woman who seeks power will say or do anything to get it. This is about a Lady MacBeth stereotype that, frankly, should never have existed in... Read more

2024-08-13T19:16:57-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Ask the Thoughtful Pastor: Social media took over our minds!

Last updated on: August 13, 2024 at 7:16 pm By Christy Thomas

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We let social media take over our brains because we humans are, at our core, essentially lazy, both in mind and body. These constant distractions feed laziness while giving the illusion that we are engaged and doing something useful. Read more

General Christian

Technology and Religion

2016-09-25T14:09:47-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The penchant for purity will kill the church

Last updated on: September 25, 2016 at 2:09 pm By Christy Thomas

I am watching from a distance as I see The United Methodist Church slowly disintegrate into irreconcilable factions led, kind of, by a group of paralyzed Bishops. At this point, they appear to be unable to even come to a consensus on who to put on a committee to address the issues nibbling away and destroying our connection. The drive for purity, whether it be doctrinal purity or purity of total inclusiveness, is the core of the problem. I observed with some... Read more

united methodist reporter

2016-09-26T16:05:15-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Debate Version of When an “anyone but Hillary” is married to an “anyone but Donald

Last updated on: September 26, 2016 at 4:05 pm By Christy Thomas

Separate rooms, separate TV’s. For the first time in our married life, we will not watch TV together. It’s been one of our things: if we are going to watch TV, we need to do it together. We’ve done this from the beginning and will continue to do so. But not tonight. We talked about it yesterday. Both of us have as the baseline consideration that we want to stay in love with each other. We do not want to argue... Read more

2016-09-24T13:28:27-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

When an “anyone but Donald” is married to an “anyone but Hillary” part seven

Last updated on: September 24, 2016 at 1:28 pm By Christy Thomas

This is a series of the ongoing saga of a newly married couple with radically different political views. Part one is here. Part two is here. Part three is here. Part four is here. Part five is here. Part six is here. I honestly do keep trying to convince myself that all will somehow be OK even if Donald’s bid to be king of the world and have everyone bow down to him does prevail. All of us who have opposed him... Read more

2016-09-21T12:17:16-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

STORKS: just plain good family fun

Last updated on: September 21, 2016 at 12:17 pm By Christy Thomas

I was invited to review STORKS last night. It opens in wide release this weekend. After settling in the seats reserved for the press, I noticed that there were a lot of young children present for the preview. Lots of restlessness in the theater and I picked up on curt corrections of some harried parents. I thought, “This is going to be an uncomfortable movie experience.” Boy, was I ever wrong! From the first moments, the children (and these two... Read more

2024-08-13T20:10:21-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Ask the Thoughtful Pastor: escape right-wing religious past

Last updated on: August 13, 2024 at 8:10 pm By Christy Thomas

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I stopped trying to make the Bible do something that it most definitely is not: a science textbook or a handbook on “family values.” I simply let it be what it is and the beauty of those ancient writings emerged yet once more for me. Read more

Evangelical

Education and Religion

Relationships and Religion

Right-wing religious world

UMC

2024-08-13T21:07:28-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Ask the Thoughtful Pastor: birth control and God’s curse

Last updated on: August 13, 2024 at 9:07 pm By Christy Thomas

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So is birth control selfish and evil or just a matter of practicality? Well, you can decide, but my vote is on practicality. If you live on a farm without labor saving devices, don’t plan to educate your kids, don’t have access to modern medical care and expect most of your offspring to die before age five, pop ‘em out as fast as you can. Read more

General Christian

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