Christian Solidarity or Christian Hate?

March 24, 2020 By George Yancey

When I started to present my work on Christianophobia, I ran into a fair amount of resistance. Most of the resistance was easily answered with the data I collected. For example, complaints about whether hatred of Christian is justified quickly fell away when I pointed out “jokes” about torturing Christians to death. In fact they sell merchandise with one such joke. It is difficult to justify that level of dehumanizing. Some argue that Christianophobia, which is an unreasonable hatred or... Read more

Super Bowl Halftime Shows, and Moral Authority

February 12, 2020 By George Yancey

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Soon after the Super Bowl I posted the following to my facebook page. Evangelicals: That halftime show was degrading to women and sexually exploitative. Don’t those dancers know what they are teaching girls and boys. They are role models whether they like it or not. Also evangelicals: So what if we have a president who talks about women like they are pieces of meat? We did not elect him to be our pastor. Well some of my evangelical friends took... Read more

Eddie Murphy, Saturday Night Live and Race Relations

January 15, 2020 By George Yancey

Eddie Murphy is arguably the greatest product of Saturday Night Live. I think of all of the performers who have been on that show that he has had the most impactful career. A few weeks ago he made an appearance back on SNL. And of course he brought back “Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood” which is obviously a spoof of the Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood show. The skit was not only funny, but I found it insightful for race relations. You may want... Read more

Are we Doomed to live in Polarization?

January 3, 2020 By George Yancey

225 Comments

Our polarization has developed to such an extent that we no longer care about qualifications. We only want someone who will fight for us and our team. Forget trying to seek out some sense of unity in our society. Provide us with a candidate who fights. Read more

What Impeachment Says About us

December 7, 2019 By George Yancey

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I have been watching the impeachment hearings with some degree of internal conflict. On the one hand, seeing the end of the Trump administration is appealing. On the other hand, the path towards ending that administration by impeachment troubles me. At the end of the day, I realize that my discomfort is linked to a larger issue than the impeachment. Let me first clarify that it is not the fall of Trump that bothers me. Indeed, if he loses in... Read more

Christian Politics for a Post-Christian Society

November 5, 2019 By George Yancey

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I recently wrote about the possibility that Christians face religious discrimination in the United States. We are moving into a post-Christian society and this is reflected in increased expressions of anti-Christian bigotry. My research has confirmed that those with this bigotry are more likely to be white, male, wealthy, and well-educated. So, it is very well connected and powerful individuals who have the type of anti-Christian prejudice that will continue to trouble Christians. Beyond having financial and educational power, those... Read more

Hit them in the Pocketbook

October 1, 2019 By George Yancey

1 Comment

I have been following the University of Iowa all-comers policy case with interest. This was the case where the university officials attempted to force Christian student groups to have non-Christians as leaders but were caught not putting the same requirements on a Muslim student group. That requirement is what has come to be known as all-comers policies. It states that campus student groups cannot limit their leadership by race, sex, sexual preference and even by religion. Evidently, after losing their... Read more

Secularization and the Loss of Community

September 2, 2019 By George Yancey

5 Comments

A couple of articles caught my attention over the past couple of weeks. The first concerns what religion scholars call “the nones.” These are individuals who answer questions about religious faith with “nothing in particular.” They are not all atheists or agnostics. Some even believe in God. But their answer indicates that they do not affiliate with any specific religion. So, they do not feel connected to a religious group. But they also do not feel connected to educational institutions,... Read more

Mass Shootings and Polarization

August 7, 2019 By George Yancey

14 Comments

Last Sunday in church I began to have thoughts I had not had before. I began to wonder what I would do if a gunman came into the sanctuary and started to kill us. Would I be able to reach my kids in time? Could I protect my wife if necessary? What sort of security does our church have in case such violence comes to my place of worship? Disturbing thoughts but also the price of living in 2020 America.... Read more

Rejecting Christian Refugees.

July 22, 2019 By George Yancey

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Did you catch this story from a while back? Apparently an Iranian national was rejected as a refugee and not allowed into England because someone decided that Christianity is a hateful religion. Naturally the Church of England and other Christians are angry at such idiocy. Government officials in a Western modern society should not be in the business of engaging in the theological interpretations of different religions. Their job should be to see if the refugee’s life and safety is... Read more