Red Letter Christians

In ‘Conversion Therapy Dropout,’ a survivor exposes the discredited practice

RLC Editor — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 10:30:53 +0000

Editor’s Note: Previously published on Religion News Service on May 1, 2026. (RNS) — When the U.S. Supreme Court passed down its 8-1 decision against Colorado’s ban on conversion therapy last month, Timothy Schraeder Rodriguez knew exactly what was at stake. That’s because he spent eight years in conversion therapy, inundated with messages about the need to change himself to be accepted by…

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Empire: The Beast that Devours Rather Than Serves

RLC Editor — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 10:30:55 +0000

When most readers encounter the Book of Revelation, they do one of two things. They either treat it as a coded prediction of contemporary events, a kind of encrypted newspaper from heaven, or they set it aside entirely as too strange and violent for serious reflection. Both responses miss what the text is actually doing. John of Patmos was not writing a puzzle to be decoded by people two millennia…

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A Pride Month Challenge To Would-Be LGBTQ Allies (And A Warning To The Bigots)

RLC Editor — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 10:00:32 +0000

Yes, allyship is about rainbow flags, social media posts, and parade events, but it’s about a hell of a lot more than that. To be a true LGBTQ ally right now means visibly and forcefully pushing back against the quickly metastasizing hatred throughout this country; the toxic flood of intellectual ignorance, archaic dogma, phobic fear, and inherited stupidity all being curated by the MAGA…

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RAWtools South Turns Guns Into Garden Tools in the Mountain South

RLC Editor — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 10:00:18 +0000

PHOTO: Scotty Utz, RAWtools South’s blacksmith, leads a demonstration at the 2025 Fire on the Mountain Festival in Spruce Pine, North Carolina. (Photo by Sarah Melotte) On a chilly spring morning in downtown Spruce Pine, North Carolina, a town of around 2,400 in the Blue Ridge Mountains, a double line of tents stood parallel to the railroad tracks, filled with people working at forges and…

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The Ineffectiveness of War

RLC Editor — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 10:00:45 +0000

There is a peculiar habit of mind that grips the modern person, including the modern Christian, when the topic of war arises. The habit is to assume, almost without examination, that war is the practical answer to human conflict and that those who suggest otherwise have wandered into a sentimental garden where the hard realities of history do not intrude. The pacifist, on this account…

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I Was Lied to By Christians About Migrants

RLC Editor — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 10:00:42 +0000

How can we call ourselves Christian, and not understand the most fundamental truth of what that means? It means our shared belief in the resurrection of Christ unites us as the family of God. We must see Christ in ourselves, as we see Christ in others. Our dignity is not earned, lost, or shaped by political ideologies. It simply is because we are the family of God. A few months ago…

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What Have We Become?

RLC Editor — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 10:45:07 +0000

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer It has been a rough week. It feels like we are living in authoritarian times. Immigration is probably the most divisive issue in our country. Reports have surfaced that there has been a plethora of abuse done unto folks being detained at the…

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Moral Resistance at Delaney Hall

RLC Editor — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 09:30:26 +0000

Over the past week, the violence at Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey has become a national news story. But so much of the reporting has been about clashes between officers, protesters, and counter-protestors. Those most directly impacted by the violence – the detainees who are still on hunger strike – are neither seen nor heard. On the first day of every month, Shane Claiborne and I gather…

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Melting ICE with salt and light

RLC Editor — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 21:59:02 +0000

Welcoming immigrants is not about left and right – it’s about right and wrong. Providing refuge for families fleeing poverty and violence is not a Republican thing, or a Democrat thing – it’s a love thing. And it’s a Jesus thing. There is no version of authentic Christian faith that can justify the atrocities we are seeing in the US right now – ICE raids, intimidation tactics, racist rhetoric…

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“To Rebehold the Stars: Reimagining Faith and Formation After Deconstruction”, an excerpt

RLC Editor — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 10:30:58 +0000

What does it look like to create your own spiritual lexicon? Honestly, there really isn’t a straightforward answer to that. Maybe you come up with new words you feel are lacking for your experience by combining words (portmanteau words: e.g., “brunch,” “hangry,” “frenemy”) or by calling on Greek or Latin roots. Maybe you assign another word that is a near approximation…

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