“Given the right conditions, any society can turn against a democracy. Indeed, if history is anything to go by, all of our societies eventually will.” Anne Applebaum As with many people, the 2016 election proved extremely divisive among my family and friends. My Boomer, upper-middle-class white parents, who were living their best Gordon Gekko life in […]
Tuesday, 22 September, 2020 by Brooke Ventura
In October of 2016, LifeWay retailers announced that they would cease distribution of Jen Hatmaker’s books in response to her controversial statements on support for LGBTQ+ marriage. It was a bold move—Hatmaker’s broad appeal and ardent following made her a New York Times bestselling author whose books continue to generate significant revenue for the Christian […]
Wednesday, 29 July, 2020 by Brooke Ventura
When my mother was a child growing up in central California, she would lie in the middle of the street and watch the stars come out. As evening settled in, the horizon over my grandparents’ ranch would darken from yellow to tangerine to fuchsia, and each pinprick of light would slowly appear in the night […]
Monday, 23 March, 2020 by Brooke Ventura
“I wished people understood the realities of what life was like for a survivor. What it was like to try to bring justice. What it felt like whenever someone asked—or even insinuated—‘Why didn’t you report?’” Rachael Denhollander Last year my in-laws came to Canada for the summer, and we passed one humid evening watching Gone […]
Wednesday, 08 January, 2020 by Brooke Ventura
“Mother, go within the house and busy yourself with your daily duties, your loom, your distaff, and the ordering of your servants; for speech is man’s matter, and mine above all others—for it is I who am master here.” The Odyssey, Book I Ten years ago, a job offer popped up on my Facebook feed—a […]
Tuesday, 22 October, 2019 by Brooke Ventura
“Most would-be Christians, he said, insist too much on faith. But all God looks to find in us is desire. If we want him, belief spills in. It rises to His level, and it will fill the void. Isn’t that right, Lord. Real faith isn’t about laws, moral prohibitions. No, Lord. He cited early Christians, […]
Tuesday, 27 November, 2018 by Brooke Ventura
“When you say grace you can say it to grown-up Jesus or teenage Jesus or bearded Jesus or whoever you want.”—Will Ferrell, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby No one watches a Will Ferrell movie for an accurate theology of prayer, but if they wanted a general idea of how many North Americans approach […]
Thursday, 01 November, 2018 by Brooke Ventura
“….she knew and cared nothing about God’s love, since she had never had it translated to her through the medium of human love.” L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables A few months ago, Mark Wahlberg posted his daily schedule on Instagram—beginning with prayer at 2:45 am (how many Christians can say that they do that?) […]
Wednesday, 24 October, 2018 by Brooke Ventura
In 2016, approximately 1,000 women contacted Emily’s List, an organization dedicated to helping women run for public office. In 2017, that number jumped to 22,000. In 2015, 88 women were running for seats in the House of Representatives, and 19 women were running for seats in the Senate. In 2017, those numbers rose to 354 […]
Monday, 01 October, 2018 by Aimee Byrd, Brooke Ventura, Nana Dolce
I’ve always had a healthy relationship with alcohol. Growing up, my parents let me have a sip of their wine if I wanted one, and in high school, I never joined the partiers (mostly because I wasn’t popular, but also because I didn’t like beer). I was too busy studying to drink in university, and […]
Friday, 28 September, 2018 by Brooke Ventura
It sounds odd to say it, but I remember a time when opening my Facebook page was entertaining. In the carefree days of university, when I’d be twenty pages into my Rationalists 101 reading, I would turn to social media for a mental break. I’d see my friends’ status updates and new pictures, smile and […]
Tuesday, 18 September, 2018 by Brooke Ventura
In Southern California—the birthplace of the Calvary Chapel movement and home to multiple “burned-over” districts, where the fire of evangelical zeal consumed (and disappointed) many a newly converted soul—the reformational church has long been having a PR crisis. Small, straitlaced, and unsexy, it lives on the outskirts of the Protestant world, too confessional to be […]
Saturday, 01 September, 2018 by Brooke Ventura