"Trump’s most lethal policy will almost surely be his 71 percent cut in humanitarian aid from 2024 to 2025... A recently published study...forecast that at present rates the defunding will cost 9.4 million lives by 2030, including 2.5 million children under the age of 5."

More name changes of SBC churches ahead - “Journey of Faith” and “New Hope”. Nothing like painting over the cracks to pretend the dilapidated shack is brand spanking new.

"People are starting to realize how damaging those beliefs are and they’re walking away... They are discovering that their lives are perfectly fine without having to support churches that do more harm than good."

Meet the New South, same as the Old South.

"The Trump administration’s use of tear gas has been so extreme — with some children exposed multiple times — that the only research ProPublica found that might approximate the impact is a 2018 survey of Palestinian refugees in the West Bank subjected to the chemicals by Israeli security forces."

“Transformation always begins with truth-telling, first to ourselves & then to others. Truth-telling holds value across time & it is the foundation for all reform.” A letter to clergy sex abuse survivors, and thoughts on the 2-yr anniversary of BAPTISTLAND. christabrown.substack.com/p/letter-to-...

"The SBC became structurally incapable of reform because Pressler’s movement taught generations of Christian leaders that preserving conservative control was the only value that mattered... Anything that got in the way of that power... needed to be destroyed." ⬇️ #ThisistheSBC

Dear John: If it looks like a duck & quacks like a duck...

"It's an extraordinary show of weakness." 🎯

"White male supremacy is a load bearing wall of the Southern Baptist Convention, and they will sacrifice whoever they need to maintain it." - @christy-lambertson.bsky.social 🎯 #ThisistheSBC

"It was Duane Rollins, a deeply-wounded survivor, who brought truth to light. It wasn’t any of the pontificating pooh-bahs of the Southern Baptist Convention." #ThisistheSBC christabrown.substack.com/p/they-knew

Bruce Springsteen’s latest tour is different. Yes, he has written songs about police brutality, immigration, poverty, and corporate greed. Likewise, he has performed at all-kinds of protests and benefit events for social and political causes. This time, though, he assembled a string of... 1/

Paul Pressler was not only the architect of the Southern Baptist Convention’s “fundamentalist take-over,” but his work is also influencing the fundamentalist take-over of our country. And… Pressler was a precursor to Jeffrey Epstein. christabrown.substack.com/p/paul-press...

If you want to better understand how a Jeffrey Epstein could carry on with impunity for so long, and could wield such power, read this @robertdownen.bsky.social piece about Paul Pressler & how he weaponized religion for power & abuse. Pressler was a precursor to Epstein. #ThisistheSBC

"Seeing the same faces doing the same things, all with the same unbearable smiles, is a harsh reminder that the machine will go on, whatever the cost." Even when that cost entails 1000s of kids & congregants being raped by pastors. This is the Southern Baptist Convention. #ThisistheSBC #SBCtoo

For many evangelicals, "what it means to obey God for them means bringing this nation under God's laws." - @kkdumez.bsky.social (~30:09) In a nutshell, this is why evangelicalism is discordant with our pluralistic constitutional democracy. www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DoF...

You want to know why some of y’all get side-eyed?! We are standing at the edge of the greatest rollback of Black voting and political power in over 150 years. Not abstract. Not theoretical. Real. Black representation across the South is on the chopping block.

"Hegseth is a man who perennially channels the energy and integrity of a protein powder commercial." - @hollybaxter.bsky.social www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

“To say that President Trump is corrupt is to somehow understate the size, scope and magnitude of his corruption. It is as if you were to describe a modern thermonuclear device as a ‘bomb.’ That is true enough, but it is not quite the truth. It does not capture the nature of the thing in full.”

"Godly." It's a word I absolutely loathe. When humans describe something – or someone – as “godly,” they’re giving divine imprimatur to what is really just their own opinion. My column today. Let me know what Christianese words grate on you. christabrown.substack.com/p/nothing-go...

This piece by @rickpidcock.bsky.social really resonated. I know what it's like to submit to sexual assault while holding fear of hell in my head. Then, when pastor was caught, I as a kid was blamed & damned for having "harbored Satan." Damned if I didn't submit. Damned when I did. #SBCtoo

From "Baptistland," by @christabrown.bsky.social

"This land is your land. This land is my land." - Woody Guthrie

Heartfelt thanks to @wajali.bsky.social for this slam-dunk take-down of Doug Wilson. Truth spoken with fire. 🔥

"If the court rules in favor of the religious plaintiffs, it could snowball discrimination by publicly funded entities. That would undermine decades of civil rights law & harm vulnerable communities, especially religious & nonreligious minorities and LGBTQ+ families." - Patrick Elliott @ffrf.org

It's been fun & stunning watching how the story about Hegseth's Pulp Fiction prayer went viral around the world. And it all started with a report from A Public Witness. Here's a roundup of the impact of that report: publicwitness.wordandway.org/p/that-viral...

This is the point. Make universities uninhabitable for the people that make universities wonderful. Texas Tech faculty are “close to the brink,” Schiller said. “It’s a nightmare … Tears are commonplace. I have a colleague who told me recently that going to campus felt like attending a wake.”

The Supreme Court's secretive "shadow docket" has handed Trump some victories. But the weakness at the heart of it is "an absence of the kind of rigorous debate that the justices devote to their normal cases." From @jodikantor.bsky.social & @adamliptak.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/u...

Have you experienced sexual grooming, sexual abuse, or sexual coercion by a Christian faith leader when you were age 16 or older? If so, consider participating in this global research study that's being conducted by @jaimesimpson.bsky.social. #ChurchToo jaimesimpson.substack.com/p/call-for-p...

"The fact that he serves up his megalomania with such an excess of dark farce only reinforces how shameful it is that this is the man for whom so many Republicans have chosen to sacrifice what remained of their integrity." - @sbg1.bsky.social www.newyorker.com/news/letter-...

And this news too... At the Pentagon, "half of the 12 monthly worship services have featured a sermon by a Southern Baptist." Some other sermons were by SBC-adjacent folks & other white evangelicals. Thx to @briankaylor.bsky.social for such fascinating & disturbing info. #ThisistheSBC

Colbert hilariously mocked Hegseth's Pulp Fiction prayer last night: youtu.be/taNi3btpaLs?... Wild to see that a report from A Public Witness led to Colbert jokes. Here's the report that sparked all of this: publicwitness.wordandway.org/p/hegseth-bo...

"70% of Americans say Trump isn’t religious, but don’t let that get in the way of the fact that white evangelicals are responsible for this era. He’s breaking the country with their help & they should be held accountable for it." - @friendlyatheist.com ⬇️

There’s been a rise of Christian pastors & leaders, known as 'Theobros,' who are vocal online & promote very traditional gender roles... It’s unlikely to draw many people to church. 'As a growth strategy...it seems to be a little dicey,' said Deckman." religionnews.com/2026/04/15/s...

He takes it out on the children.

Preaching about marital fidelity will not cure the Southern Baptist Convention's clergy sex abuse crisis. Seems obvious, eh? But this kind of ignorance runs rampant throughout the SBC. My column today: It's Not About Sex. #ThisistheSBC #SBCtoo christabrown.substack.com/p/its-not-ab...

BREAKING: Senate Republicans blocked my War Powers Resolution that would have ended Trump's unnecessary, unjustified war against Iran. These cowards have had four chances to stop this chaos in the Middle East. And they put Trump's ego before America. Every damn time.

On beefin with the Pope and the infamous Dr. Jesus H Trump picture

Likewise, there is no pastor so irreplaceable that we must overlook sexual misconduct... And yet, churches turn a blind eye all the time. "But he's done so much good for God's kingdom... He repented... All have sinned... He's been forgiven... blahblahblah." #ChurchToo

This week on The Pitt

And what happens in Texas doesn't stay in Texas. The Texas school textbook market is so big that it influences textbook publishers across the nation. So, you can expect that Jonah & the Whale - and other Bible stories - will wind up in public schools throughout the country.

“'I’ve never experienced anything like this in my entire life,' the congresswoman said, fighting back tears. "She described the way people were laying down inside as “like sardines.” “'It is frightening in there,' she said. 'It is disgusting'..." azmirror.com/2026/04/10/i...

"Her name was Nilufar Easmin. Trump posted her murder. He never said her name."

"What this actually is, stripped of the Orwellian window dressing, is the largest forced purge of a federal land management agency in American history." Our precious public lands are being pillaged.

"Radicalization within the American Christian community is occurring at emergency rates right now. The MAGA movement has inflamed a whole host of Christian supremacist theologies...actively drawing millions...deeper into the bleak ideological movements of Christian extremism." - Matthew D. Taylor ⬇️

I love the cover of the upcoming new book by @kkdumez.bsky.social, LIVE LAUGH LOVE! It will be out in September & you can pre-order it now. I just did. Can't wait!

Those who think women should lose the right to vote are gaining ground. They call it "biblical patriarchy." And while outright repeal of the 19th amendment seems unlikely, red states may try to cater to evangelicals by throwing up obstacles to women's suffrage. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/02/u...

"By keeping silent, other people were being abused in the name of religion... It's the cruelest way to abuse a child. It completely destroys your faith in humanity." - @djsugi.bsky.social One of the responses here on what drives people to leave MAGA Christianity. www.huffpost.com/entry/leavin...