Personal Essays

I never thought ‘New Atheism’ would become a tool of the Christian Right
After leaving religion, I learned that some atheists were more interested in opposing Islam than standing for pluralism
By Eiynah Mohammed-Smith
Unveiled as trans: My journey out of the closet and evangelicalism
By Becca Hawkins
My faith denied that I existed, even as others were willing to accompany me on my journey
To protect abortion rights, we need to start talking about miscarriage
By Liz Dye
Women who have miscarried know first-hand that a pre-term fetus is not a baby, we must use our voices and our standing as mothers to protect abortion access
‘We Are Lady Parts’ portrays Muslim women as they are, not as others see them
By Mona Eltahawy
Finally a television program that shows the struggle Muslim women face between bigoted Western right-wingers and intracultural misogyny
Beyond belief: The day I almost sold my soul to God
By Matthew Sheffield
As a child brought up in Mormonism, I was taught to constantly worry about whether I’d survive the Second Coming of Jesus
Some of us did not die: How I began learning to talk to grief
By Mona Eltahawy
Learning to confront loss is a critical part of our humanity, one that modern society often discourages
The myth of American exceptionalism is just as much a myth about ourselves
By Anna Tarkov
I used to have both my father and America on a pedestal. My faith in both has been severely shaken, but I still have hope that it’s not too late for one of them.
I’m childfree by choice, it shouldn’t be taboo to say that
By Mona Eltahawy
Not having children with my ex-husband was the biggest relief of my life
‘Leaving to sin’ is more about evangelicals’ obsessions than the desires of those who leave
By Chrissy Stroop
People who leave high-demand religions do so for many reasons, it’s very telling that their critics think it’s all about sex
Russell Moore had a crisis of faith, but it didn’t help him understand ex-evangelicals
By Chrissy Stroop
Evangelical leaders have finally started speaking about people who leave the fold, but it’s clear that they don’t understand what they’re talking about
A obviously false story about Big Ben taught me a lot about how fake news happens
By Eli Gottlieb
Relentless bombardment by stories on social media makes our attention an increasingly scarce resource and increases the chance that any given story we encounter is fake.
Can non-believers find value in religion?
By Jeffrey Howard
We live in a world in which science has undermined many traditional faith truth claims. But what if the true power of religion is mythology?
Conspiracism and conservatism
By TomCiccotta
Disinformation and conspiracy theories have always been around, what’s different now is that American conservatism has rebuilt itself on disbelieving reality.