Religious trauma, religious joy

One of the ways I help with the magazine is gathering feedback from our readers—usually through letters to the editor they send by email—for our Letters & Comments section. I love this part of my job, because I love learning what content delights you, moves you, angers you, or sparks your curiosity. We just wrapped our September issue, and it includes a moving letter from someone who identified closely with McKenzie Watson-Fore’s essay, which I shared with you two weeks ago, about the damaging theology at the evangelical church camps she attended in her youth.

For our video of the week, I talked to Watson-Fore—and it was one of the liveliest and most enjoyable conversations I’ve had for the Century. This is partly because her experiences and insights relate so clearly to my own journey. It’s a powerful thing when a person or idea comes along and connects to our own spiritual history. As you can see in some of our new pieces, this kind of resonance can come from a host of sources: from a retelling of Superman’s origin story, or perhaps from a renaissance of the groundbreaking ideas of Teilhard de Chardin.

Scroll down for even more new content, like an editorial on the performance of narratives in US politics, a call for churches to become sanctuaries for endangered stories, a punchy double book review from yours truly, and more.

Jon Mathieu
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VIDEO: What was happening theologically at evangelical youth retreats?

McKenzie Watson-Fore and Jon chat about their evangelical youth group experiences and how to make sense of them.

When Superman deconstructs

“While this change to Superman’s origin story has proven controversial for some, it was this moment that resonated most powerfully with my own experience, causing me to reflect on my journey of faith, identity, and deconstruction.”

by Christopher Thiessen

Science is finally catching up with Teilhard de Chardin

“What Teilhard dreamed about 50, 60, 70 years ago—the inclusion of subjectivity in scientific studies, even the sciences working together and with other disciplines, becoming less siloed and fractured—is now important to the conversation and cannot be ignored.”

Jessica Mesman interviews Frank and Mary Frost

In the Lectionary for August 3 (Ordinary 18C)

Putting on the clothing of the new self is a metaphor of extravagance.

The politics of performance

“Fighting disinformation is difficult, discouraging work. Correcting the record on policy can feel like screaming into the void. But we who seek the common good also need to perform different stories from the dominant ones in our politics. Truthful, lifegiving stories.”

by the editors

A sanctuary for banned stories

“The stories we tell, or refuse to tell, matter.”

by Kelly Brown Douglas

Evangelical idols and ideologies

Two new books critique evangelicalism from within. But does the authors’ continued connection to the tradition make it impossible for them to go far enough?

Jon Mathieu reviews Mike Cosper and Jeff Mikels