A blog about religious language in all of life’s contexts
The Brexit Religion and the Holy Grail of the NHS (Kettell & Kerr, 2021)
I’ve just come across a recent article by Steven Kettell and Peter Kerr on the use of religious discourses in the context of the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union. I’ll be talking about this paper with my religious langauge students this morning, since we are discussing this image from my recent book. Here … Continue reading The Brexit Religion and the Holy Grail of the NHS (Kettell & Kerr, 2021)
The Heroic Abuser: Christian News Headlines about Saeed Abedini’s Abuse of Naghmeh Panahi
I wrote this short piece in 2016 and am now republishing an updated version, in support of Naghmeh Panahi’s decision to go public with her abuse. Occasionally, opportunities arise to discuss domestic violence in the context of widely known families whose stories have been covered by the media. The case of Saeed Abedini and Naghmeh … Continue reading The Heroic Abuser: Christian News Headlines about Saeed Abedini’s Abuse of Naghmeh Panahi
Complex and Cringeworthy: Christianese and other religious jargon
Christians talk in code … and the code excludes those who cannot read the secret language. These words of Malcom Doney and Martin Wrote, in a 2019 Church Times article, reflect a common discomfort with religious code talk, what some people call “church-speak” or “Christianese.” Language like “sin”, “salvation”, “discipleship”, “repentance”, “righteousness”, and “judgement” – … Continue reading Complex and Cringeworthy: Christianese and other religious jargon
“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
“Not teachable or cooperative:” Ministerial exception in Cru’s Hire Packet
Some of my research on religious language has taken me into the rather tricky area of First Amendment rights granted to certain employers by the Supreme Court on the grounds of freedom of religious expression. These employers, granted the status of religious order, are given by law exceptions to the principle of equality in the … Continue reading “Not teachable or cooperative:” Ministerial exception in Cru’s Hire Packet
“Simply biblical”: The sacred us vs. them narrative in Cru’s anti-CRT publication
This is my second post on the recent Campus Crusade aka Cru anti-CRT publication, written by around 65 Cru staff members and leaders, representing the views of at least 350 Cru staff. I first came across this Cru document after some light digging revealed that Cru leaders were requiring staff to sign NDAs, sometimes in … Continue reading “Simply biblical”: The sacred us vs. them narrative in Cru’s anti-CRT publication
Discussing Christianese and corporate jargon on the Biblical Mind podcast
Why do we say “come to Jesus”? This Christianese phrase doesn’t just show up in church—it shows up in offices, homes, and schools around America, where we speak of “come-to-Jesus moments.” What about words like “community” or “intentional”? Do we even know what those words mean? Unless we attend to our words and try to express our … Continue reading Discussing Christianese and corporate jargon on the Biblical Mind podcast
“Calm down”: Campus Crusade aka Cru leaders debate racism and critical race theory
In November, 2020, a group of staff in various positions of leadership at Campus Crusade for Christ, now known as Cru, published an astonishing document aiming to confront their belief that “Cru has embraced a secular system of ideas that divides humanity into victims and oppressors.” Over 174 pages, the document puts forward the views … Continue reading “Calm down”: Campus Crusade aka Cru leaders debate racism and critical race theory
The Good Life, The Life Well-lived: Reflections on The Sacred’s recent event ‘My Dream, My Taste’
At an online event on 29th March 2021, The Sacred podcast, hosted by Elizabeth Oldfield, screened Emily Downe’s multi–award-nominated 3–minute film ‘My Dream, My Taste.’ This was followed by a conversation with leading voices from the fields of theology, philosophy and the creative arts, Professor Miroslav Volf, whose episode of The Sacred podcast inspired the … Continue reading The Good Life, The Life Well-lived: Reflections on The Sacred’s recent event ‘My Dream, My Taste’
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.
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About Me
Hi, I’m Dr. Valerie Hobbs.
I research, write and teach about religious language.
- abuse
- An Introduction to Religious Language
- apologies
- archaism
- conversion
- death
- definitions
- gaslighting
- industrial religion
- intertextuality
- metaphor
- news media
- politics
- racism
- religious freedom
- religious nationalism
- sacred legitimating authority
- sermons
- the sacred
- us vs. them
- video abstracts
- violence
- vocabulary
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