This post contains NSFW images.

OK, I know I was a bit of a prude at first when it came to the name of the Russian Punk band, Pussy Riot. But somehow, hearing Leslie Stahl say it on "60 Minutes" neutralized that angst for me.

Jimmy Carter offered an open letter explaining why he is divorcing himself from the Southern Baptist Convention after six decades as a deacon and Sunday School teacher. Basically, the SBC continues to legislate gender inequity from the top-down, cherry picking select verses to serve a desired patriarchal end,...

Note: This post contains some frank and graphic discussions of sex and sexuality.

Two boys from a Steubenville Ohio high school (I've opted not to use their names, though they are readily publicized by other media) have been sentenced to time in a juvenile detention center for the rape of...

A man buys two dogs to live with him in his apartment. They drive him and his neighbors crazy. They bark at all hours, get sick all over the place and cause rifts between him and his neighbors. And yet he insists that, despite the tremendous amount of work and...

There's all matter of speculation about why Pope Benedict is stepping down, especially since he's the first to do so in 600 years. One theory is that he's grown weary of the scrutiny around the priest sex scandal cases, particularly with HBO's recent release of their movie, "Mea Maxima Culpa:...

Mattias: "Dad, I forgive you."
Me: "But I didn't do anything wrong."
Mattias: "That's OK. I forgive you anyway."
-Mattias, 5 years, 1 month

I'm a big, gigantic jerk of a dad.

My son, Mattias, is a charmer. As introverted and crowd-averse as I...

Most Christians' first reaction to this question is to answer this with a resounding "Of course not!" After all, he was the Son of God; he had to be blameless in order to be the perfect sacrifice...right?

But what if we consider Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection differently? Many today believe...

Three nights ago, I awoke to four words that portend nothing good in the family's future. They came from sweet little Zoe, who stood by the side of my bed, staring at me through the dark with those big, 4-year-old eyes.

"Daddy," she said, "I threw up."

The bug quickly...

The ever-reliable and scrupulous news outlet TMZ recently publicized a photo featuring Justin Bieber with what could or could not be something resembling a hand-rolled cigarette or miniature cigar in his hand. The photo is far from conclusive in what it reveals, but this did not stop TMZ from reporting...

I know this sounds strange, but my feelings about guns is pretty similar to how I feel about cigarettes. On the one hand, I can't stand either one, and I'm more than happy to see their numbers reduced in our midst. Both seem to serve a common end game, which...

I sat behind a couple of folks on a plane to Seattle this morning who were discussing their distress about a so-called war on Christmas.

"Memorial Day is a holiday," said the man in a santa hat with disgust. "July 4 and Thanksgiving are holidays. Christmas is, well, Christmas!"

"Absolutely,"...

I understand the basis of evangelism. There are lots of scriptural bases for doing it: making disciples of all nations, expanding our territory and so on. Also, there's a great feeling that comes with bringing someone over to your way of thinking and acting. There's the sense of doing something...

I've had a number of interesting discussions with various people lately about the notions of hell, salvation and who goes where. It's a rhetorical exercise for the most part, since no one really knows. But there are plenty of real-life implications, particularly in the sphere of religion. For some, the understanding...

Following the creation of my first five articles in this ongoing series about Christian cliches (links below), I was alerted to the fact that my lists were notably absent of particular cliches often employed by emergent Christians. While the emergent Christians are endeavoring to re-imagine the way we engage faith,...

I was pretty amazed by the popularity of the first lists of Christian clichés I created (linked at the bottom of this article). I think it was because so many Christians saw themselves somewhere in the list and others (maybe even some Christians!) have been on the receiving end of...

Some may be aware of the dust kicked up around Rachel Held Evans' new book, "A Year of Biblical Womanhood," but in case you're unfamiliar with the "Vaginagate" phenomenon, let me catch you up.

For starters, I think the whole name for the phenomenon is a little bit...

Writing books is a strange process. When you're in the middle of creating something this big, it tends to consume your every waking moment in some way. I can't watch TV or have a conversation with a neighbor without my mind searching the content for narrative or thematic threads to...

I've been reflecting on the recent events in Libya involving the death of Ambassador Chris Stevens, and every time, I arrive at a different feeling about it all.

There's the obvious tragedy of a life unnecessarily lost. By all accounts, Stevens was a humble, passionate man who had invested his...

Recently, the left-leaning news outlet, Mother Jones, reported a story about Mitt Romney that included several video clips taken of him (unknown to him) at a fundraiser. Most of the clips are fairly benign, with him hitting many of the fiscally conservative talking points. But in one clip...

I, like many people, was shocked when I heard that cyclist Lance Armstrong gave up his fight against doping allegations, effectively forfeiting his seven Tour De France titles, his prize money, medals and perhaps his honor as the greatest cyclist ever to ride. Beyond his personal collateral damage, his Livestrong...