Hey Rebel is for anyone questioning the systems that exploit and divide us—challenging hierarchies is daily practice. No exploitation. Just solidarity.
You believe America was founded as a Christian nation. You believe God has a special plan for this country. You believe the Bible should inform our laws, that marriage has one definition, that the border needs to be sealed, and that somewhere along the way, we lost our values and need to get them back. You believe Donald Trump, for all his flaws, was the man God raised up to fight for those values. You'd never openly call yourself a Christian Nationalist. In your own mind you're just a Christian. Here's the reality, if you believe the points mentioned above, you are by definition and Christian Nationalist.
There's a version of freedom that looks a lot like a prison cell. The walls are clean. The lighting is warm. Everything has its place and works exactly as it should. Inside you're safe, protected, and sheltered from any outside threats. It's so comfortable, you didn't notice the door lock behind you while you were admiring the edgy yet industrial finish on your new laptop.
The Revolutionary Jesus Was Always the Cover Story
Christianity has a Jesus problem. The figure at the center of the faith — itinerant, propertyless, executed by the state for threatening the established order — bears almost no resemblance to the institution built in his name. That institution has blessed crusades, colonized continents, built boarding schools to destroy indigenous children, and, in its American form, become one of the most reliable constituencies for military power and authoritarian politics. The peasant rabbi became the emperor’s chaplain, and he has never retired from that role. What if the story of the humble, revolutionary Jesus was never the point — but always the alibi?
What happens when a sex trafficking network intersects with wealth, power, and a religious movement willing to provide cover
For years, the pro-life movement told us they were the last line of defense for the vulnerable. They are evangelicals who represented Christianity as a voting bloc, “The Moral Majority.” They fought for the unborn, rallied against trafficking, and built an entire political theology around the idea that a godless elite was preying on children — and only their guy could stop it.
Sally is a single mother who relies on food stamps and Medicaid. She doesn’t pay income tax because she doesn’t earn enough to owe any. She relies on government programs to feed her child and keep them healthy. Sally is a welfare queen. At least, that’s what politicians would call her. She’s exactly the kind of person politicians have been telling you to resent for the last fifty years—the one living off your hard-earned tax dollars, the drain on the system, the reason your paycheck doesn’t go as far as it should.
I remember holding my dad's hand, walking into our local Santikos theatre. I can still smell the buttery goodness of the popcorn and the sweat on the palms of my little hands. It was 1995, a weekend I was spending with my dad, and we were at the movies to see [Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113253/?ref=fnallttl2).
I was 9 years old and it was the first time I can remember going to the theatre to see a ‘scary movie.’ Though this was the first time I went to a theatre to see a horror film, it was a genre I was raised with since I could remember. As an even younger boy, I remember spending time at my aunt’s with my older brother and cousins while they watched Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Creep Show. Being afraid and learning to face my fear was something I had to learn from a young age.
I turned 41 just over a month ago, and I've been stuck in a mental funk. After journaling, meditating, and processing my thoughts, I've realized that I'm distraught by the fact that profit-driven motivation primarily drives everything we do. The reason our primary motivation is to earn profit is that we live in a capitalist society that has permeated every crevice of Western civilization.
My kids take forever in the shower. Despite a very clearly communicated 10-minute shower limit, my wife and I often bang on the door around the 20-minute mark and yell, “TIME’S UP, TURN OFF THE WATER!”
I don’t know if it's genetic or if it's a behavior common to all older kids. But I can’t be too upset because when I was their age, I used to take really long showers, too. As the bathroom door opens, the initial cloud of steam exits, and the thoroughly bathed culprit walks out, my wife asks, “What were you doing in the shower for that long?”
Along with 200 million other subscribers, up until the last few months, I was an Amazon Prime subscriber. Like many Amazon users, books were the gateway that hooked me on free two-day shipping, Prime member exclusive perks, and Prime Video.
All the way back in 2008, it was President Obama's first term in office, the housing market was crashing, and I was a twenty-something married college student, working full-time and would shortly become a first-time parent; money was tight. When I found out there was a website where I could order textbooks cheaper than anywhere else, and for $79 annually (you read that right), I could get free two-day shipping, I was all in.
Photo by Lucas Alexander on Unsplash
