Behind a sliding bookcase in the library of a house in Buenos Aires lies a secret room. There, in July 2017, federal police in Argentina discovered the largest cache of Nazi memorabilia in the country’s history. Most of the items…
Pat Robertson’s Gong Show
I grew up in the shadow of the Christian Broadcasting Network. I even met Pat Robertson a few times. In high school, I acted in a commercial for The Family Channel. Some of the money Pat Robertson made from its…
Stone of Destiny: Rising secularism and its influence on Scottish independence
If you blinked, you missed it. There amidst the glitz and glitter of the king’s coronation sat a 335-pound boulder. You’d be forgiven for not noticing it. When compared to a jewel-encrusted crown, a silver sword and a golden orb,…
What’s a Baptist to think of the coronation of Charles III?
There are about 2,600 Baptist churches scattered throughout the United Kingdom. The majority (2,000) are in England, where Baptist forebear Thomas Helwys established the first Baptist church on British soil. Another 300 are in Wales, 200 in Scotland, and the…
How King’s ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail’ parallels the Tennessee Three
It was Holy Week and two young Black men, motivated by the courage of their Christian convictions, took part in a nonviolent demonstration. Colleagues chided them for their participation. It was “untimely” given the circumstances, they complained. Furthermore, the young…
Medication for opioid use disorder must fight stigma on top of addiction, but churches could help
Imagine the entire population of a city the size of Peoria, Ill., suddenly vanished. What if half the residents of Richmond, Va.; Huntsville, Ala.; or Tacoma, Wash., turned to the person next to them and that person was gone? As…
‘He Gets Us’ is feeding information to data analysts and, ultimately, conservative political groups
“He Gets Us,” the “biggest faith-related campaign in history,” showcased two commercials at this year’s Super Bowl. But it’s what’s happening after the ads that really matters for the campaign’s creators and backers. While capturing the attention of 113.1 million…
He Gets Us, Part 1: The men and money behind the movement
Comingling faith and football has been a feature of the NFL experience for decades, but this year’s Super Bowl included something different. A group calling itself He Gets Us tweeted: “On February 12, the world’s biggest influencer is coming to…
Spurred on by conservatives’ fears, Tennessee turns down federal funds to fight HIV/AIDS
June 27 is National HIV Testing Day, but beginning June 1, testing and treating HIV/AIDS in Tennessee will become more challenging for residents. Gov. Bill Lee has rejected a multi-million-dollar federal grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, a…