Those of you who read this column are aware that I study culture, religion and political life to explore the myths by which Americans shape their lives, and that I’m particularly focused on questions of race and injustice. Knowing that,…
The end of the status quo: Why white people must overthrow white racism
Last month at the American Cathedral in Paris, where I serve as canon theologian, I gave a talk on my journey from “quirky American theologian” (as the UK’s Greenbelt Festival advertised me when they invited me to give talks on…
Rights, responsibilities and the two-fold commandment of love: A reflection on gun violence in America
“I did not want to weep for Martin; tears seemed futile. But I may also have been afraid, and could not have been the only one, that if I began to weep, I would not be able to stop.” James…
The truth and nothing but the truth
I spoke for more than an hour and a half with a FOX News journalist yesterday. That interview ranged across Critical Race Theory, book banning and censorship, racism in American history, faith and spiritual practice, and what, at its best,…
White liberation: Toward a theology of recognition and repentance
Over the past month, I’ve had the great gift and responsibility of traveling the country talking to primarily white Christians about racism in the church and in America. At Trinity Church, Wall Street, America’s wealthiest congregation, I shared some of…
Faithful discomfort: Why white Americans need to be offended
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott recently announced his support for a Parent’s Bill of Rights, a new but oh-so-familiar offering from conservatives that seeks to bar librarians and teachers in public schools from offering access to facts and stories that stand…
Christian masculinity, culture and racism: An interview with Kristin Du Mez
In a time when the descriptors “evangelical” and even “Christian” are taking on destructive meanings they have not heretofore known in America, we need wise guides who can help us unravel the political from the theological, who can help us…
Of statues and stories: Reckoning with the Lost Cause
A few years back, as I wandered across a broad hill overlooking Washington, D.C., I discovered a monument, the statue of a woman atop a 32-foot decorated pedestal rising above the untold thousands of gravestones in Arlington National Cemetery. I…
Ungodly? That all depends on what God you serve
Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, has long been an ardent public supporter of Donald Trump. He recently preached that the Biden administration was “the ungodliest administration in the history of our country,” a continuation of ongoing…