For many of my compatriots, belonging is measured by the intensity of righteous indignation generated toward Fidel. If I don’t join them in dancing in the streets, then I must truly be an apologist for Fidel. But regardless as to how justified my hostility toward Fidel may be, I refuse to base my actions and responses on hatred.
The great white backlash continues
Hatred has won. Violence is the new means of communication. We have gone from a political correctness which masked racism and ethnic discrimination to a full blown demonstration of revenge for the years in which people of color strived to…
The great white backlash
As I look at the clock I notice it is a little passed three in the morning on the day after the election and I am hopeless. In the midst of deep desperation, I metaphorically turn to paper and ink…
Shechem for president: Erasing the voices of the sexually abused
We know Jacob was not just the father of boys. After the list of all the sons born to Leah, as an afterthought the birth of Dinah is mentioned (Gen. 30:21). We can only wonder how many other daughters who…
Holding my nose and voting against my beliefs
On January 20, 2017, either Donald J. Trump or Hillary R. Clinton will take the oath and become the 45th president of the United States. Although I can provide thousands of reason why Trump is dangerous to the Latinx community, as…
Is God male?
Christians believe Jesus is the ultimate reflection of God, so is God also male? Centuries of European art has taught, normalized and legitimized how to see the Divine. But insisting on the maleness of God ignores the times God is depicted in feminine language.
The Whore of Babylon: Pimping the Body of Christ to the highest political bidder
“God is on our side” has led to more bloodletting in the form of crusades, wars, colonialism and genocides than any other human caused catastrophe — a truth in which all faith traditions have, at one time or another, participated. All churches have played the “whore,” falling into the temptation of tailoring the liberative Good News to sell a political ideology or party as ordained by God.
An open letter to Donald Trump on his recent Christian conversion
Dearest Donald, My old buddy James Dobson says you are a baby Christian who recently accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. ¡Felicitaciones! Who am I to question the conviction of your heart or the resolve of your newfound…
Jesus, the man of violence
When we think of Jesus, images of a peace-loving, gentle pacifist comes to mind, at least it did to the mind of Howard Yoder. We read our particular ideology into the biblical text when we claim Jesus was a pacifist….
We all are Omar Mateen
A rush is on to call Omar Mateen, the “Other.” He must be the antithesis of Americans. He is evil, we are good. He is Muslim, we are saved. He is a foreigner, we belong. He is an external threat…
Immigrants who aren’t supposed to be in the room
How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot in the Caribbean by providence, impoverished, in squalor, grow up to be a hero and a scholar? With these words,…
Joyless about ‘Amoris Lætitia’
The Catholic Church, a multi-century institution, moves at glacier speed. Pope Francis’s recent post-synodal apostolic exhortation finally moved the Church into the 20th century. Like his earlier apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium (EG), Francis attempts a joyful evangelical call for a…