It is Easter season in the Christian community and, like many gospel preachers around the world, I have taken as my Sunday texts the stories of the Risen Lord: How he appeared to his friends and followers, and how they…
The spirit of revenge
The crusade to Make America Great Again is now dominated by the spirit of revenge. Longtime journalist Jonathan Karl has released his fourth book on Donald Trump: Retribution. Nobody needs to read the book to witness Trump’s public campaign of retaliation. Trump…
Cracks in the fascist facade
A remarkable thing happened this week. I don’t know how to explain it or what to do with it. Last Friday, my grandson Sam (a high school senior in Charlotte) texted me a question: “What do you say when people…
A second civil war
The Civil War began in April 1861 when Fort Sumter (in the harbor of Charleston, S.C.) was attacked by local rebels. Even with all the rhetoric for years, the United States was caught off guard. What became the Confederate States…
The Catholic cohort
The first White House press conference introduced us to Karoline Leavitt: articulate, assertive and intensely Catholic. She represents to us the third component of the Religious Right in the United States. For years, we have read about the evangelical Christians….
The Catholic Court
Evangelicals have gotten all the attention, but it is the Catholics that are reshaping American life. By Catholics, I mean the six Roman Catholics that comprise the conservative super-majority on the United States Supreme Court: John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Samuel…
The Devil’s tool
When I was the age of my grandson Sam, I was enamored with the song “Ya Got Trouble” from the musical The Music Man. I even memorized it and performed it once or twice for some gatherings. It clearly did not…
What I’m learning about Christian nationalism
Christian nationalism is gaining ground among Republicans, they say — and I’m not sure who “they” is, but it could be somebody who knows what they’re talking about. I am trying to learn about all this because it has to…
It is a lie
Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Alito has penned, we now know, the draft of a Supreme Court decision that contains at its core a lie. He wrote: “Nothing in this opinion should be understood to cast doubt on precedents that…
Christian nationalism in Russia
The religious angle of the war in Ukraine has been largely ignored by the generals, the journalists and the politicians. But the pastors, bishops and theologians of the Christian community around the world, especially the Orthodox, have found their voice….
Let’s keep the lights on in Georgia
A half century ago, Bobby Russell wrote a song about infidelity, murder and a messed-up legal system. The chorus summarizes the result and gives the song its now-famous name: That’s the night that the lights went out in Georgia. That’s…
Why I’m quitting church: I’ve got better things to do than watch my pastor be run off over race
World Series. Halloween. Time Change. Full Moon. Election. COVID. And for me: Goodbye Church. I love my church here in Georgia and my ministers, my Sunday school class, and the friends I have made. But today, I resolved to put…