Rachel Held Evans wrote a fabulous follow-up to my post about John Piper and gender roles, in which she calls the whole mindset exactly what it is: legalism. Some of the comments are incredibly thought-provoking too (as per usual).

“Legalism is destructive, certainly. And it is often absurd. Framing gender stereotypes as God’s will turns too many men and women in actors and too many marriages into elaborate performances rather than genuine partnerships.”

Speaking of legalism, what happens when a person decides that much of what their church taught them is wrong, but doesn’t want to break up with Jesus? Fred Phelps’s grandaughters, who recently left Westboro Baptist Church, talk about that scary, but hopeful, place.

“She kept trying to conquer the doubts. Westboro teaches that one cannot trust his or her feelings… ‘If you you have a feeling or a thought that’s against the church’s interpretations of the Bible, then it’s a feeling or a thought against God himself.’…Now that those boundaries are gone, ‘I’m trying to figure out which ones were good and smart, and which ones shouldn’t be there anymore.'”

Last week, Sarah Bessey wrote an amazing article about some of the unintended consequences of the purity movement.

“I was nineteen years old and crazy in love with Jesus when that preacher told an auditorium I was ‘damaged goods’ because of my sexual past. He was making every effort to encourage this crowd of young adults to ‘stay pure for marriage.’ He was passionate, yes, well-intentioned, and he was a good speaker, very convincing indeed. And he stood up there and shamed me, over and over and over again.”

So, what have you been reading?