What Should Christians Think About Immigration?
In the midst of a season that calls to mind the birth of the Christ child, and the upheaval in the world of the occupation by the Roman Empire surrounding the place of his birth, …
Politics
Revisiting Trumpamentalism: What has staying cost people of faith?
A year and a half ago or so, I wrote an essay about something I called “Trumpamentalism.” I wasn’t really trying to invent another clever political insult. I was trying to describe something I recognized. …
Fireworks on My Parents’ Driveway: Grace, Judgment, and a Nation at 250
Today is the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. It is our nation’s 250th birthday!! This is a momentous day. Yet I find myself sitting here with a profound and unexpected …
Happy Birthday, America? Reflections on 250 Years of Loving a Country Enough to Tell the Truth
I still remember America’s 200th birthday, or at least I remember it the way a five-year-old remembers things: not in policy or politics, not in historical nuance, but in colors, sounds, and feelings. It was …
Reconsidering what it means to be Pro-life in America
For over a decade, the United States of America was a dry nation. The Volstead Act was a nationwide constitutional ban on alcohol in all its forms, and while statistically, the consumption of alcohol did …
Insiders until they’re not
Martin Luther stood in peril of his earthly life and possibly his eternal soul. The energetic Wittenberg firebrand challenged more than he realized when he issued debating points to the popular indulgence seller Johann Tetzel. …
Telling secrets, finding grace: If all life is sacred, all life is truly sacred
A couple of years ago, a meme started to float around in what I think of as my Internet circles that wasn’t so much a joke as it was an expression of despair. It was …
Jesus Didn’t Do This, We Did. Acknowledging My Complicity in Trump’s America.
A Complicity I Can No Longer Ignore I am convinced there is a concerted effort to move this nation backward, and I have been complicit. Let me explain what I mean by this. First, this …
Before Jackboots Recruit Them, Offer a Better Way
“I’ve gotten so numb to all of this,” my friend wrote after messaging me a photo of a group of agitators flying Nazi flags outside of Disney World in Florida. I responded that I understood, …
A bank full of beggars
The Parcast Network’s Conspiracy Theories podcast recently did a four-episode deep dive into the supposed mysteries of the Vatican. While some parts were interesting and some were just silly, it opened with what I thought …