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Notice To Impolite Topics Seekers

Welcome back!

Dear Seeker,

Thanks for stopping by.  I’ve stopped adding new posts on this blog to make way for two new blogs. The original Impolite Topics posts are still here and you are welcome to browse. 

Two New Blogs

Freedom From Bad Bible Bullies: Transform Your Bible Authority Stories To Claim Your Personal Freedom

This blog focuses on the use of Bible stories as weapons of power by “Bad Bible Bullies” against individuals. 

Bible Authority In American Politics: How radical claims about Bible authority hijack political  freedom in American politics.

This blog expands the focus from individuals to the larger society. It concerns the misuse of Bible stories by “Bad Bible Bullies” in American politics.

Freedom From Bad Bible Bullies and Bible Authority In American Politics are part of The Story Transformation Process.  

For more about The Story Transformation Process and my other blogs and websites, please visit my central website at Kalinda Rose Stevenson 

For Your Freedom,

Kalinda Rose Stevenson, Ph.D.

“The Story Transformer,”

Creator Of “The Story Transformation Process

“What Voters Don’t Know About Sarah Palin’s Last Days Religion”

Sarah Palin’s religious beliefs about the “Last Days” have received almost no attention in mainstream media and as a campaign issue. Beyond a brief mention in a Saturday Night Live skit, Sarah Palin’s religion has been treated as off-limits.  Part of the problem is that most reporters don’t understand fundamentalist religious beliefs enough to ask good questions.   Read more…

“Hiding The Pentecostal Faith Of Sarah Palin”

One of the fascinating elements of this political campaign is the juxtaposition between the present ”bible-believing Christian” Sarah Palin and the past “Pentecostal” Sarah Palin. 

It is clear that she was chosen as the Republican vice-presidential candidate to appeal to Evangelical Christians.  She was promoted to the “conservative, Christian base” as one of them, without making clear her Pentecostal roots.  Read more…

“My God Is Bigger Than Your God: Does God’s Reputation Depend On Your Vote?”

Today, at a John McCain rally, a pastor prayed a prayer.

Unhelpful for establishing the tone McCain sought in Davenport was the Rev. Arnold Conrad, past pastor of the Grace Evangelical Free Church. His prayer before McCain arrived at the convention center blocks from the Mississippi River appeared to dismiss faiths other than Christianity and cast the election as a referendum on God himself. Read more…

“Politics In Church: Challenging The IRS By Endorsing Candidates From The Pulpit”

Some preachers participated in a political protest against the IRS on Sunday.  

Dozens of pastors across the country took politics to the pulpit yesterday in hopes of influencing the Nov. 4 presidential election and setting off a legal fight over the Internal Revenue Service’s restrictions on church involvement in politics.  Pastors take politics to the pulpit. Read more…

“Should Both Evolution And Creationism Be Taught In Public Schools?”

The controversies over teaching religion in public schools are especially acute on the topics of evolution and creationism. Various Christian groups advocate teaching creationism—recently renamed “intelligent design”—in public schools. Advocates want to counter what they regard as the false theory of evolution. Or, to use the phrase they repeat frequently, evolution is “just a theory.”  Read more…

“A Fickle Obedience To The Authority of Scripture—The Strange Case of Sarah Palin And The Authority of Women Over Men”

The dramatic rise to fame of Sarah Palin—a woman most of us had never heard of a few weeks ago—demonstrates the enormous power of publicity to create celebrities.

What continues to amaze me more than anything else is how Sarah Palin’s meteoric rise to the role of savior within the Republican campaign requires conservative Christians to ignore any questions about women and authority. Read more…

“Evangelical Flip-Flopping Over Sarah Palin and Women’s Authority Over Men”

The nomination of Sarah Palin as the vice-presidential nominee of the Republican Party represents an astonishing Evangelical flip-flop on the role of women in leadership by self-proclaimed social and religious conservatives.

Let’s put this in perspective. If John Cain is elected President, Sarah Palin will hold the second highest leadership position in the nation—and as the saying goes, will be within a heartbeat of the highest leadership position. And conservative Christians declare themselves ecstatic over the choice. Read more…

“John McCain Jilts The Evangelicals and Chooses Sarah Palin From The Assemblies of God”

John McCain has courted Evangelicals for much of his political campaign. Meanwhile, the Evangelicals have not quite trusted him to be one of their own. McCain made the ultimate effort to woo the Evangelical vote in his appearance at the Civil Forum at Saddleback Church.

After all of this effort to capture the Evangelical vote, it is rather astonishing that McCain did not choose an Evangelical to run as his vice-presidential nominee. Instead, he chose a woman deeply rooted in the Assemblies of God. Read more…

“Evangelicals Do Not Own God”

It is time for a confession. I have fallen into the trap. I have let Evangelicals define the agenda, even here on this blog. I’ll explain what I mean by telling a personal story.

While I was pregnant with my second child, I was under the obstetric care of two brothers who shared a joint practice. I never knew which brother I would see at any visit. I knew only that I liked one brother and didn’t like the other. Read more…