Like so many around the world, I have been utterly sickened by and grieving over the recent massacre in Buffalo, NY of 10 people in a predominantly Black neighbourhood in Buffalo, NY. Many of the victims of the 18-year-old white terrorist were Black, "including Aaron Salter, a security guard who tried to stop the shooting; … Continue reading “Does this look Biblical to you?” Christian Anti-semitism in the Buffalo Terrorist Manifesto
Category: violence
“God, you come back with the head of my enemy”: Hillsong, Bethel and Emotional Manipulation in Worship Music
Their songs are better than everyone else's and they can kind of infiltrate into other churches by having good music. What Hillsong did was kindof marry the music that they wanted to sing in church - the themes - with contemporary music. So early Hillsong music from 2000 sounds like 2000's pop. Today's Hillsong music … Continue reading “God, you come back with the head of my enemy”: Hillsong, Bethel and Emotional Manipulation in Worship Music
“Recent tension, some division and ministry challenges:” Euphemism and avoidance in Cru leadership’s talk about racism
This is the fourth post I've written about current controversy in Campus Crusade aka Cru, one of the largest religious orders in the world. I began this series after learning through some light digging that Cru was allegedly coercing some (and now requiring all) staff to sign NDAs (You can learn a bit about this … Continue reading “Recent tension, some division and ministry challenges:” Euphemism and avoidance in Cru leadership’s talk about racism
Linguistic Gaslighting: Disclaimers as anti-performative discourse
This is another post in a series on the language of abuse, connected to an online catalogue which I hope will help others to identify and resist linguistic harm. In this post, I look at how disclaimers (a form of anti-performative discourse) can be used to minimise violence, to coercively control, to manipulate and to gaslight.
“A temptation to eliminate:” Purity culture and other complementarian discourse in white male violence against women
Robert Aaron Long, a white man, aged 21, has been charged with murder over the killing of eight people at massage parlours in Atlanta, Georgia. Among the victims were six Asian women, prompting discussion about the intersectionality of Long's alleged crimes, the ways these horrific acts of terrorism reveal how Asian and other minority women … Continue reading “A temptation to eliminate:” Purity culture and other complementarian discourse in white male violence against women
Introduction and Overview of The Subtle Language of Abuse: A Catalogue
An organisation or culture that perpetuates abuse will question the motives of those who ask questions, make the discussion of problems the problem, condemn those who condemn, silence those who break silence, and descend upon those who dissent.Wade Mullen, in Something's Not Right: Decoding the Hidden Tactics of Abuse When you expose a problem you … Continue reading Introduction and Overview of The Subtle Language of Abuse: A Catalogue
The Subtle Language of Abuse: A Catalogue
Before using this catalogue, please refer to the introductory post explaining the catalogue. Some of that post has been reproduced below. This is a catalogue of some of the categories of meaning that subtler abusive language accomplishes and some of the forms that this language can take, depending on the context in which they are … Continue reading The Subtle Language of Abuse: A Catalogue
Us vs. Them: Complementarianism and Culture Wars in UK Churches
Women’s Ministry leader in the FIEC, Sarah Allen, has recently published an article reporting research on the state of complementarianism in UK churches. The experiences her respondents report are concerning and worthy of careful attention, considering the scarcity of research in this area. However, Allen positions her research within an overall United States vs. United … Continue reading Us vs. Them: Complementarianism and Culture Wars in UK Churches
Religious Language 