Beth is the resident Christian blogger at Friendly Atheist, representing "Not All Christians" in a country where Donald Trump is Lord and Savior. She has a bachelor’s degree in English from Kent State University and a master’s degree in creative nonfiction from Colorado State University. Her work has appeared in xoJane, Huffington Post, and Christians for Biblical Equality, among other places.
Advocate writer Kurt Niece makes a bold statement that religion is the biggest bully in the room. To be perfectly honest, as a believer myself still, I don’t blame him for thinking this way at all: Either you’re for it or against it. It’s the topic that isn’t discussed with strangers and has ruined as many holiday meals as politics. And not surprisingly, politics and religion at family dinners are a combination about as constructive as Fukushima and an earthquake…. Read more
A male student at Timpview High School in Provo, Utah — an overwhelmingly Mormon city — complained to authorities that the cheerleaders’ short skirts were causing him to have impure thoughts. The student’s mother also complained, and the girls were apparently told not to wear their uniforms at last Friday’s game. Read more
Last time we heard from Elizabeth Smart, she was starting to openly discuss the ways her purity culture upbringing made it difficult to escape from her rapist and kidnapper, despite multiple opportunities to do so. Today, she is actively speaking out against her Mormon church’s teachings about women, sex, and virginity as it is linked to worth: Read more
