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The TV show Full House is based on the implosion of a nuclear family and its replacement with a forged family. Danny is a widower who temporarily brings in two bachelors, his long time best friend and his brother-in-law, to help raise his three young girls, including a baby. Eventually their unusual family configuration expands further as Uncle Jesse gets married to Aunt Becky … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Gets Creative About Alternative Kinship Structures

Ah, the nuclear family. The basic social unit of a father and mother who together parent one or more dependents while living in a detached home with a high degree of independence from an extended family support network. This familial model is premised upon the uniquely American prioritization of such cultural values as personal freedom, unprecedented affluence, and … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Sees the Nuclear Family Not As the Solution But As the Problem Itself

Shortly before dying of ALS my dad had a vision/dream of his father. Grandpa comforted him by saying it won't be long now and everyone was awaiting their reunion. It brought needed peace. Shortly thereafter their pastor came by. He heard the story, dismissed the possibility of it being a genuine supernatural experience, and chalked it up to oxygen deprivation. While I'm not … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Has Room for Strange, Supernatural Phenomena

After revealing my researched perspective on a particularly controversial theological topic, a pastor friend asked, "Was there anyone else intimately involved in the discernment or did it come from your own autonomous research and individual reflection?" Ya know, that's a valid question. As someone who maintains the Bible was primarily intended to be read, interpreted, and … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Wishes We Had a Better Communal Deliberative Process

First century Christians genuinely believed the Lord would return in their lifetime, including the New Testament authors. Can we go ahead and agree they got that one wrong without it seeming irreverent? For that matter, can we please acknowledge it's unlikely Jesus is coming back this year or this century? Now that we're a couple millennia out, who's to say the Second Coming … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Begrudgingly Tolerates Just a Dash of Apocalyptic Rumination