by John Ellis Secretary of State Marco Rubio has ordered the State Department to revert to the Times New Roman font in all official documents. His order reverses one his predecessor, Secretary Antony Blinken, made in 2023 requiring all official State Department documents be typed using the Calibri font. Secretary Rubio’s reason, as explained in … Continue reading The Petty Meanness of the Trump Administration Is a Sinister Warning to Christians (fonts are the new front in MAGA’s War on Wokeness)
Tag: Christianity
Respecter of Persons: The Lack of Socio-Economic Diversity on Reformed (White) Evangelical Elder Boards
by John Ellis Diversity has become a buzzword among reformed churches over the last couple of decades. While buzziness can bring more heat than light, the desire for churches to reflect the beautiful diversity of God’s Kingdom is good and right. Most often, this desire and the accompanying strategies focus on ethnic diversity. The segregation … Continue reading Respecter of Persons: The Lack of Socio-Economic Diversity on Reformed (White) Evangelical Elder Boards
Knowledge Is Not Neutral: or, How ‘Data Over Dogma’ Is Idolatrous
by John Ellis I’m currently reading – working through – Frederic Jameson’s A Singular Modernity. Jameson is probably best known as a Marxist literary critic, but his work crosses multiple avenues, notably political theory and cultural/societal criticism. I’ve been exposed to Jameson via various books by other authors, articles, and lectures[1], but A Singular Modernity … Continue reading Knowledge Is Not Neutral: or, How ‘Data Over Dogma’ Is Idolatrous
Donald Trump, Bob Jones University, and Fundamentalist-styled Historical Revisionism
by John Ellis Earlier today, I published a short, anti-Trump diatribe (anti-totalitarianism diatribe, to be fair) in response to the White House’s letter to the Smithsonian Institute. The letter informs the Smithsonian that the White House will be reviewing exhibits, materials, and programs to ensure that they conform to President Trump’s definition of American exceptionalism … Continue reading Donald Trump, Bob Jones University, and Fundamentalist-styled Historical Revisionism
What Christian Nationalists Have in Common with Lenin
by John Ellis (Edit on 8/19/25: I'm currently rereading Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts by Marx and realized that I made a small error. Marx didn't believe that communism was necessarily the final stage for humans. He believed that it was impossible to know when/what the final stage, if there ever is one, will be. So, … Continue reading What Christian Nationalists Have in Common with Lenin
The Syncretism of American Mythologies and White Evangelicalism
by John Ellis Several years ago, while living in Arlington, VA, a church member approached me with a concern about my use of the title king for Jesus. It wasn’t so much the title as my near constant use of it. Whenever I prayed publicly, preached, taught Sunday school, etc., I made it a point … Continue reading The Syncretism of American Mythologies and White Evangelicalism
Bob Jones University: The End Is Nigh
by John Ellis This morning, Bob Jones University, my almost alma mater, introduced Dr. Bruce McAllister as the school’s seventh president. The announcement was wrapped in a mood of relieved optimism. Watching it live, the whole thing seemed to me like a giant sigh of relief from those who love a version of Bob Jones … Continue reading Bob Jones University: The End Is Nigh
Deadly Worship Services: How Corporate Worship Serves the Curse
by John Ellis As a teaser, I ended my previous article with this quote from Antonin Artaud: “And if there is still one hellish, truly accursed thing in our time, it is our artistic dallying with forms, instead of being like victims burnt at the stake, signaling through the flames.”[1] Artaud’s highly imagistic words underline … Continue reading Deadly Worship Services: How Corporate Worship Serves the Curse
The Church: An Agent of Disruption
by John Ellis “For me, to live is Christ, to die is gain.” Philippians 1:21 One of the most important works of theatre theory published over the last century (or, really, ever) is The Theater and Its Double by the almost inexplorable and wonderfully mystical Antonin Artaud. In the book’s preface, titled “The Theatre and … Continue reading The Church: An Agent of Disruption
Consumerism Sits at the Center of White Evangelicalism
by John Ellis Readers of this blog are (should be) aware of my thoughts on white evangelicalism. The deeper I dive into the history of the movement, the more convinced I’ve become that white evangelicalism is a false religion. This past summer, historian Matthew Sutton published an article in Oxford Academic: Journal of the American … Continue reading Consumerism Sits at the Center of White Evangelicalism
Practically Known Theology 