by Charles S. Oaxpatu
I really appreciate all of the people who visit and read here at the Flee from Christian Fundamentalism blog. It occurred to me that you kind folks might like to visit some of my favorite blogs devoted to Christianity and American religion. These are the blogs that have had the most influence on me and my journey in the Christian faith over the past five years. l love the people who operate these blogs and the very deep and thoughtful things they have to say about the Christian faith (both positive and negative). However, this great love that I have for them and what they write does not necessarily mean that they fully endorse the content of the Flee from Christian Fundamentalism blog or that I fully endorse the content of their blogs. A chat among people in any American living room will exhibit a wide range of differing thoughts on a variety of subjects, and this is to be expected. However, speaking only for myself, I tend to agree with many of their writings—more often than not. The following items in blue are the links to these blogs and a brief description of each blog.
Revolutionary Faith: Taking back Christianity
This blog is operated by April Kelsey. April is a professional editor and writer who was raised in conservative evangelical churches down South. Her knowledge of the Holy Bible is deep. She thinks very deeply about assorted issues in the Christian faith, and she expresses these deep thoughts with amazing precision and clarity. One word best describes the content of her blog, and that word is unique. If you feel that you have been screwed by the Christian faith or you have experienced any sort of abuse along the Christian path, this is the blog for you.
John Pavlovitz: Stuff That Needs to Be Said
Jesus said: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)
Pastor John Pavlovitz leads a Jesus-centered blog where the three foregoing lines of scripture are taken extremely seriously, and visitors are urged to convert these words into action in their own lives and in the lives of all 7 billion of their neighbors on planet Earth. If you are a Christian fundamentalist or conservative evangelical, and you just lip serve the notion of Christian love while insisting the true Christian faith is all about Biblical law, moral absolutes, and a fire insurance policy, this blog will burn your soul like acid—and it should. This is a blog for souls who have been used, abused, and thrown out into the street to die in the name of Jesus. Come in, sit by the fire, warm your soul, and feel truly loved for the first time. All LGBTQ folks and other hurting folks are welcomed with a hug and a warm place to rest your soul.
Life of a Female Bible Warrior
This blog is operated by my on-line friend Adrienne. Adrienne has a really deep and abiding heart for those Jesus referred to as “the least of these” among us here on Earth (Matthew 25). The Heritage Foundation claims there is no such thing as a poor person living in the United States. Tell’em Addy!!! Tell’um until their ears drop off!!! Love lives here, but beware if you are a political conservative. Sometimes love is tough on stupid, heartless people.
Ms. Rebecca Trotter operates this Christian blog. She thinks deeply and uniquely about Christian spiritual matters and writes about it all. This is a stimulating place to visit on-line. In many ways, it is comparable to April Kelsey’s blog. It has some really good reads. Go for it!!! Rebecca is a white Christian woman who just happens to be married to a nice African-American gentleman—something which no doubt drives many American fundies crazy.
You guessed it!!! Ms. Samantha Field operates this blog. While she was growing up and later in college, Samantha experienced a great deal of unwarranted abuse and non-love at the hands of Christian fundamentalism and conservative evangelicalism—meaning she took a lot of excrement from people who should have been dealing in love rather than raw sewage. She later found her way out of the fundie intestinal tract and retooled her Christian faith into something deeper and more meaningful.
Samantha is a graduate of Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University. Her writing is deep and incisive, and she writes about her past experiences—sometimes with a lovable bit of snark. She also loves to perform detailed reviews on some of the horrid books that sit on Christian bookstore shelves. You know—the ones that claim to shine Holy light before men, but look more like a solar eclipse hovering over an Aztec human sacrifice when you get into their true nuts and bolts. I love her writings, and you will too.
I Love You but You’re Going to Hell
This blog is operated by a college professor (Dr. Adam Laats) who does teaching and research in the discipline of education. He is very much interested in the subjects of Christian fundamentalism and conservative evangelicalism, and he approaches them with a dry, comedic wit. This is a fun place—and quite intellectual at times.
The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser
The owner of this blog is Bruce Gerencser. Many years ago, when I started researching and studying Christian fundamentalism and conservative evangelicalism, I tried to get some fundie pastors to talk with me about the nuts and bolts of their belief system and the various issues associated with it. To the best of my recollection, all of them refused to help in even the tiniest way by using these words: “No. You might try to use what I would tell you against us and against what we believe!!!” In the face of such refusals, I languished in ignorance about the true inner depths of Fundiedom for the better part of a decade or more—limited only to the scratch the surface information in library books and periodicals. Then I met Bruce Gerencser on-line.
Bruce is a former pastor with 25 years of experience preaching in various Independent Fundamental Baptist (IFB) churches and other highly conservative evangelical churches. The things I like most about Bruce are his warmness, complete openness, incredible honesty, high intelligence, and deep knowledge about the true goings on deep up the bowels of Christian fundamentalism and conservative evangelicalism. You know—in those dark, hard-to-reach, behind-the-scenes places no religious proctologists have ever gone before (with apologies to Star Trek).
Bruce fled from Christian fundamentalism a number of years ago, and he now considers himself to be an atheist and a secular humanist. He lives with his wife Polly in Ohio. If you have ever been totally puzzled about some strange-looking thing Christian fundamentalists and conservative evangelicals do and need a truly complete and meaningful answer, Bruce is your “go to” guy for honest, experience-based answers.
I have a loving understanding with Bruce. I do not try to convert him back to any form of Christianity, and he does not try to convert me to atheism. Both of us are big boys now, and we are old enough to have decided on our own where we stand on religious matters. Although Bruce is no longer a Christian, he loves people as well or better than many of the Christians I have ever known, and he tends to view his blog as a secular form of penance for all of the unreasonable harm he inadvertently inflicted on people during his years as a fundie pastor. Here at the Flee from Christian Fundamentalism blog, we do not recommend fleeing to atheism. So bear that in mind if you visit his blog, and please understand before going that your Christian sensitivities might be shocked by some of the things you see posted there.
Flee from Christian Fundamentalism 