Stuart Delony

Chapel Hill

Contributor at Patheos

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Articles

We Got A New Pope. Cool. So Now What?

6 days ago | patheos.com | Stuart Delony

White smoke rose, the bells rang, and just like that—we’ve got a new pope. Enter Pope Leo XIV, a Chicago-born bishop with a passport full of mission trips, Vatican cred, and (gasp!) a few anti-Trump tweets. Naturally, progressive Catholics are lighting candles of cautious optimism. After all, when the bar is “didn’t actively support fascism,” he’s already breaking the papal mold. But before you break out the communion wine in celebration, let’s ask the harder question: does it actually matter?
What Happens When You Stop Needing Jesus To Behave

1 week ago | patheos.com | Stuart Delony

This is what deconstruction actually looks like: not a rebellion, not a trend, not a TikTok phase. Just a slow unraveling of inherited certainty in pursuit of something more honest. Alex O’Connor’s recent interview with Rhett McLaughlin—yes, that Rhett from Rhett & Link and Good Mythical Morning—is a fantastic example of a faith journey that had the audacity to keep going when the system around it begged him to stop.
Trump 2.0: When God Loves You Enough To Break You

2 weeks ago | patheos.com | Stuart Delony

Fox News recently declared that divine intervention helped Donald Trump claw his way back into the White House. In a poll, a full third of Americans — and a fat majority of White evangelicals — seem convinced that God Himself shoved Trump across the finish line, shielding him from not one but two assassination attempts. Sure. Let’s go with that.
The Great Awakening (To Our Own Stupidity)

3 weeks ago | patheos.com | Stuart Delony

Remember when religious revivals were all the rage? The tent meetings, the sweaty preachers, the sobbing sinners crawling down sawdust aisles? America used to know how to awaken—with fire, fury, and a touch of snake handling. But now? We’re in a new kind of revival. Call it the Great Dumb-ening: a mass spiritual movement powered by YouTube conspiracy videos, anti-science tantrums, and sermons preached with the theological depth of a bumper sticker. We used to awaken to God. Now we awaken to grift.
Why The Trinity Doesn’t Matter If We Don’t Love

4 weeks ago | patheos.com | Stuart Delony |Snarky Faith

Easter is this Sunday, and while most churches were busy declaring victory over sin and death, George Barna was busy sounding the alarm. His new report shows only 16% of self-identified Christians believe in the Trinity—and according to him, that’s the real crisis. Meanwhile, out here in the wilderness, I can’t help but wonder: if resurrection is real, why are we still policing belief instead of practicing love?
This Is Your Brain On MAG

1 month ago | patheos.com | Stuart Delony

In 79 AD, a man’s brain turned to glass. No, seriously. When Mount Vesuvius exploded, it unleashed a surge of volcanic ash so hot it flash-fried everything in its path. A young man, likely caught mid-scroll on whatever the Roman equivalent of TikTok, had his brain vitrified—literally turned into glass. The heat was so intense and the cooling so rapid that his grey matter became shiny, hardened, and utterly useless. Sound familiar? What was once a scientific anomaly is now a spiritual epidemic.
This Is Your Brain On MAGA

1 month ago | patheos.com | Stuart Delony |Snarky Faith

In 79 AD, a man’s brain turned to glass. No, seriously. When Mount Vesuvius exploded, it unleashed a surge of volcanic ash so hot it flash-fried everything in its path. A young man, likely caught mid-scroll on whatever the Roman equivalent of TikTok, had his brain vitrified—literally turned into glass. The heat was so intense and the cooling so rapid that his grey matter became shiny, hardened, and utterly useless. Sound familiar? What was once a scientific anomaly is now a spiritual epidemic.
Christian Severance

1 month ago | patheos.com | Stuart Delony |Snarky Faith

If you haven’t seen Severance, it’s a chilling little workplace dystopia where employees voluntarily undergo a procedure that splits their consciousness. Their “innie” only knows the workplace—an eerie corporation called Lumon, filled with cryptic rituals and a sinister “Break Room” where employees are forced to atone for wrongdoing. Their “outie” lives the rest of life, blissfully unaware of the cubicle purgatory they’ve signed up for. It’s equal parts existential nightmare and corporate satire.
The Gospel Of The Orphan Crushing Machine

1 month ago | patheos.com | Stuart Delony |Snarky Faith

The Orphan Crushing Machine isn’t real—but it should be. Or rather, it should be talked about as if it were, because in many ways, it is.
You Can’t Stop The Machine, But You Can Outlast It

1 month ago | patheos.com | Stuart Delony |Snarky Faith

There’s a certain point where you stop asking, “How did we get here?” and start realizing this is just how things are now. And we’re only in the early days of the hellscape that is Trump’s second reign. System shock after system shock—every move seems less like governance and more like demolition. From the whiplash of idiotic tariff games to bans on diversity and humanitarian programs, the administration’s actions aren’t just reckless; they’re calculated. The chaos is the point.