My new book has a title, cover, and release date. Reality in Ruins: How Conspiracy Theory Became an American Evangelical Crisis will hit book shelves on March 17, 2026. Distilled from my PhD research, Reality in Ruins brings together—for the first time—an untold history of conspiratorial beliefs in and across white American evangelicalism. Here’s a preview from myContinue reading “Reality In Ruins, Coming March 2026”
Tag Archives: Christianity
The Contagion of Violence and Conspiracy
Yesterday’s failed assassination attempt might have shocked, but it did not surprise. I am glad former President Trump is relatively unharmed. And it’s fitting we pray for him, and the families who—today—are holding out for loved ones to recover. And pray for those mourning permanent loss. How did we get here? Elected officials and scholarsContinue reading “The Contagion of Violence and Conspiracy”
The Shock of Palm Sunday
Today is Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week. Maybe you’re like me and grew up with the Sunday School version of Palm Sunday. You might have flashbacks to palm fronds, a donkey, and yelling “HOSANNA” as loud as you could — to be sure, these are elements of the story. But the meaning—or let’s say shockContinue reading “The Shock of Palm Sunday”
When The Name Christian Meant Something
I thought I’d share an insight from my research today. I think it helps us resist some of the ways “Christian” has become associated with racism, bigotry, and violence (i.e. with antichrist). In my upcoming dissertation, I have a whole chapter on the label “evangelical” — what it’s meant, where it’s come from, how it’sContinue reading “When The Name Christian Meant Something”
Close Encounters of the Theological Kind
I should’ve known this article was inevitable. As a researcher of conspiracy theory, I keep tabs on communities where conspiracy theories are concentrated. One of those is the UFO/UAP (unidentified aerial phenomena) community. This community plays host (sometimes intentionally other times incidentally) to one of the “legacy” conspiracy theories in American culture: of non-human intelligentContinue reading “Close Encounters of the Theological Kind”
“Was Jesus Nice?” Is The Wrong Question
Asking if Jesus was “nice” or “mean”, whether he mocked his opponents or was winsome, is a proxy war. We are trafficking in baptized concepts of male domination and female domestication which themselves must be dismantled and reimagined in light of the gospel. In an interview this week Ken Harrison, who is the CEO ofContinue reading ““Was Jesus Nice?” Is The Wrong Question”
A (New) Lost Generation
In the classic World War I novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Remarque described the effect of the Great War on the men who fought it: “It is the common fate of our generation…We’ve been cut off from real action, from getting on, from progress. We don’t believe in those things any more;Continue reading “A (New) Lost Generation”
Why We Better Call Saul
The series “Better Call Saul” wraps this week on AMC. Over the last 6 seasons “Better Call Saul”—with its tale of Jimmy McGill turned con-man lawyer Saul Goodman—took on a life of its own. It was more than a spin off of the original “Breaking Bad”. It steps out from the shadow of Walter WhiteContinue reading “Why We Better Call Saul”
Are Evangelicals A Threat To Democracy Today?
This week, The Atlantic published a piece on how politics have poisoned American evangelicalism. It’s a good read, and I don’t see an end to this sort of analysis anytime soon. One quote stuck out: The Church is not a victim of America’s civic strife. Instead, it is one of the principal catalysts. Tim Alberta,Continue reading “Are Evangelicals A Threat To Democracy Today?”
Not So Biblical Manhood
The popular evangelical vision of Biblical manhood is not as Biblical as it might appear. Before I stepped away from pastoring in American evangelical spaces, it wasn’t uncommon to hear manhood attached to cultural expressions (hunting, guns, emotional suppression) and yet it was always cast as “Biblical”. But the vision sure is lucrative. From studiesContinue reading “Not So Biblical Manhood”
Jared Stacy 