In episode #10 of Drunk Ex-Pastors, Christian and I discuss the thorny issue of sex education. Now to be honest, I have not actually listened back to it myself, so I don’t remember exactly what I said on the matter. I’ll take a stab at re-presenting some of my thoughts, and you can feel free to push back and challenge them. My main concern is that I am uncomfortable with something of such monumental significance being taught to my children by a P.E. teacher (true story in my case). This kind of education should be happening primarily in the home, with outside sources reinforcing what mom or dad is already communicating. Secondly, what if (that’s hypothetical language, by the way) a family’s values don’t match up with a school’s? … [Read more...]
Yes by Might, Yes by Power: Lawsuits and Leadership at Calvary Chapel
As we delve into in episode #9 of Drunk Ex-Pastors, the church that we grew up in (Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa) is embroiled in a bitter lawsuit, brought by two of the now-deceased founding pastor’s children, concerning both leadership and ownership of the church’s vast financial resources. My contention was that in the context of a paradigm where the only way to judge a leader’s authority is by whether or not you agree with him, this kind of in-fighting and lust for power is par for the course. Still, it is disheartening to see church leaders behaving with no more dignity and decorum than secular leaders, and for my part, I can totally see how so many of my friends have lost their respect for the Christian church because of the … [Read more...]
Thank God for Hell!
During episode #9 of Drunk Ex-Pastors we fielded a provocative question we received via Twitter: “Since neither Jesus, nor Paul, nor the early church fathers displayed the kind of urgency that a belief in hell as a place of eternal torment would seem to necessitate, is it possible that there is something wrong with the paradigm that insists that hell is in fact a place of eternal torment?” During the podcast, Christian made an interesting point about how upset many evangelicals get when it is suggested to them that their theory of hell is wrong. They clench their fists and dig their heels, as if the suggestion that God might not spend eternity waterboarding people were actually bad news. What do you think? Do you have an opinion … [Read more...]
Whatcha Gonna Do When They Come For You?
If you’re like me and you’ve seen the news lately highlighting all the senseless shootings of black men by white cops, or if you’ve ever watched a documentary about any anti-establishment movement (whether about the civil rights protests in the ’60s or the protest in Seattle against the World Bank in the ’90s), then you’ve surely asked the question, “Dafuq is the deal with the po-leece? Does that profession just attract petty men who were bullied in junior high and who need a target for their juvenile aggression?” If that’s you, then you need to listen to the latest episode of Drunk Ex-Pastors. Just saying. . . . … [Read more...]
My Dateless Existence
What makes someone a picky eater? The reason I ask is that I have endured this label for years, and I have had enough. As I argue in episode #8 of Drunk Ex-Pastors, there’s a difference between actively disliking a particular food on the one hand, and simply not preferring it on the other. So when I say, “I don’t like eggs,” all I’m saying is that while I will eat them in a pinch, there’re 14 other items on the menu that I will choose first (contrast this with something like broccoli, which I actually dislike). But then, it’s possible that the picky-eater label is due to my never having tried certain foods, like olives, mushrooms, dates, or pecans. Yet even this has nothing to do with pickiness, I swear. It’s just that I was already … [Read more...]
Are Men Just Puppets?
An interesting issue came up during episode #8 of Drunk Ex-Pastors. A female caller relayed her frustration over the fact that when she was a churchgoer, many of the other women in the congregation viewed her with suspicion because of their fear that she would try to tempt and steal away their husbands. Of course, the first question that arose in my mind was, “So what’s the deal? Are men simply passive agents in this whole thing? Are they just acted upon, the way a wallet is acted upon when picked up from the table and placed in one’s pocket?” In fact, this whole attitude sort of feeds the idea that men aren’t really responsible for what they do. They’re simply duped, picked off, hypnotized, and forced into doing what their urges … [Read more...]
Women: Walking Vaginas? Or Something More?
Many of you with a religious background will know that Genesis records the creation of Eve from Adam’s rib because Adam needed a “helpmeet” or counterpart with whom he could relate (up to that point there were just animals roaming around). It is very easy for religious people to jump from the Genesis record to the idea that women only exist to make men’s lives easier, and have no distinct purpose of their own outside pleasing their husbands and bearing his children (a position that, as we discussed in episode #7 of Drunk Ex-Pastors, Mark Driscoll appears to hold). Have any thoughts on this? If you’re a female, got any horror stories to share? Have a listen below. . . . … [Read more...]
Boobhack!
As has been reported, a massive security breach has recently led to over 100 celebrities’ cell phones being hacked and their personal photos stolen and uploaded to the web for all the world to see (I believe the celebs were all female). As you can imagine, the majority of the pics shared fall into the category of nude selfies. The victims include Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton, two women that I’m sure no one would like to see naked (</sarcasm>). Unsurprisingly, many on the Right are blaming the women themselves for even having these pics on their devices in the first place (basically, it serves them right for being such hussies). Not unlike when the creepier details of the Patriot Act were made known, the response among … [Read more...]
Does ISIS Speak for True Islam?
The latest episode of Drunk Ex-Pastors deals in part, again, with the issue of ISIS (you can click below to hear our full discussion). I just read a very interesting article by Sam Harris called “Sleepwalking Toward Armageddon” in which the author argues a few controversial points, among which are (1) the idea that as long as the West is invoking the “true religion” to combat Islam’s false one, we’ll have no choice but to also and forever combat our enemies with missiles as well, and (2) those who deny that ideas like martyrdom, armed jihad, and hatred of infidels are central tenets of the Koran are as misguided as those who would say that the resurrection of Christ is some secondary or tertiary doctrine of Christianity. I would highly … [Read more...]
“You’re a RABID Anti-Doggite!”
In episode 5 of Drunk Ex-Pastors (which you can listen to below) I sort of launch into this complaint about pets and pet-people that I want to qualify a bit. Because, you know, say a disparaging word about dogs these days and you’re liable to lynching. Look, I had a dog growing up he needed space so we cleared the backyard with help from wildlife control service who helped with squirrels bats and more. I also had a mother who smoked two packs a day (at least when I was very young, she quit ages ago). Both of those facts had their effects on me, my home, my clothes, the way they smelled, etc. If you are a smoker (or live with one), your hair and clothing will reflect that reality, and so will your furniture, just like with a pet owner. … [Read more...]