“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…
Embracing the hopelessness of Holy Saturday
Why are we in such a rush to get to Easter Sunday? In our efforts to make Easter celebrations the most extravagant Sunday of the year, when church attendance is expected to be beyond the norm, we forget — if not…
Which Jesus do you follow?
By Miguel De La Torre As an ordained Southern Baptist minister of the Good News, I am instilled with a mission to evangelize those held in Satan’s grip, in the hope that they repent from their sins and find salvation…
So the papyrus is genuine. What now?
By Miguel De La Torre A faded tiny scrap of papyrus caused an uproar when first unveiled in 2012. Why? Because this ancient fragment contains the phrases: “Jesus said to them, My wife…” and “she will be able to be…