Rich Mullins’ twisted story gets twistier — He may be the most significant musician in modern Evangelical Christianity—and a bizarre figure the religion has never been able to figure out. Rich Mullins died on September 19, 1997 in a car accident. As Evangelicals marked the 25th anniversary, Mullins was trending on Twitter. My 2020 post “Was Rich Mullins Gay?” was getting a spike in views. And there was a profile in the New York Times — where Mullins’ biographer is…

Is that why he killed gays? — The Netflix hit series “Dahmer” is surprising viewers with the serial killer getting baptized and reading the Bible. Was Jeffrey Dahmer a Christian? It’s not widely known that Dahmer was, in fact, an Evangelical Christian—attending church at key points in his life. As I study his life and crimes, I’m struck by how Evangelical he was. His church attendance isn’t emphasized in existing biographies.

Let’s look at the Evangelical leader — He was as ‘godly’ as it got in post-War Protestant America. A Southern Baptist man from North Carolina was viewed as nearly divine. I went to learn more about Billy Graham, who was often called a ‘saint’ or ‘prophet’, certainly the greatest leader in Evangelical Christian history. He didn’t seem that ‘great’ to me. Let’s study a scene in 1972. It sets up Graham’s character — or the lack of it. He was sitting with President Nixon in the…

She’s the star who keeps shining. Ever-fascinating and strange, Marilyn Monroe is the greatest imaginative figure that Hollywood ever produced. A new movie about her, called Blonde, is in theaters and will appear on Netflix on September 28th. But I’m thinking about her as a deity. Not just one. With A.I. graphics—she can be all of them in mere moments! There’s Marilyn Buddha.

From David Bowie to Billy Graham, the Führer had fans — They tell you to never meet your heroes, but the reality might be that if you learn about your heroes, you might not want to meet them at all.7 I’m thinking about the many times I’ve learned of major cultural figures liking Hitler and Nazism. I was shocked. 1. David Bowie You might think David Bowie, the futuristic Pop star, often colorfully androgynous, was on the liberal side. If you asked him, you’d learn otherwise. …

On September 19, 1997, the singer-songwriter Rich Mullins died in an auto accident. The Evangelical world has grieved ever since. Yesterday, on the 25th anniversary, the religion remembered the only musician they truly love. It’s such a weird story. Mullins wasn’t even Evangelical, and seems to have deeply loathed them. Whatever the details of his highly concealed life, queerness suffused his being.

And you think he defines a “hero”? — In 1988, a star was born when PBS broadcast “The Power of Myth.” Bill Moyers interviewed Joseph Campbell, the 83-year-old scholar who’d found the core story of all religions. It was called the “hero’s journey.” Campbell had died by the time the PBS series aired. Posthumously, he became ultra-famous, his ideas cited endlessly—as if they were true. It was a heartwarming story?

A look at her religious journey — She’s been having issues with Christianity, and in a recording posted Monday, pulled the trigger. “There is nothing to believe in anymore,” she said. “I’m an atheist, y’all.” It’s been the strangest story? Britney Spears was Southern Baptist. The sex symbol was from the religion that hates sex, and her life has been a long struggle against its violence. She was raised going to an SBC church.

How does Midjourney depict the deity? — I’ve been laid up with Covid-19 for a week, and idle hands were the devil’s workshop. I made an account on Midjourney, the A.I. graphic program, and started typing ‘Jesus’ with various keywords. I’d always wanted to see him laughing. I did hundreds of word combinations. There was serene Jesus…