In 2019, I was running an award-winning teen theater company in Dallas. We’d made our mark by creating original plays from first-person interviews on particular issues. In 2019, there was no more pressing issue than the border crisis. That spring,…
How Charlie Kirk went from college dropout to Trump influencer
From BNG’s coverage earlier this year, first published April 15, 2025: It seems Charlie Kirk — the Millennial founder of the Christian nationalist powerhouse Turning Point USA — is everywhere these days. He was part of a handful of…
A visual guide to the elected officials who fly Christian nationalist flags at the Capitol
Earlier this month I attended the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s Advocacy in Action in Washington, D.C. On the fourth day of the gathering we headed to Capitol Hill to meet with our various representatives. On the walk to the six buildings…
What I learned at CBF’s Advocacy in Action
I got to tag along with Cooperative Baptist Fellowship on its Advocacy in Action trip to Washington, D.C., last week. Having participated in several similar advocacy trainings and trips with various groups, I thought I knew what to expect. The…
Disney, Christianity and the erasure of transgender people
There is an ongoing effort by the Trump administration to erase the existence of transgender people. Since taking office in January, Trump has banned words like “gender,” “nonbinary” and “transgender” from government documents and websites; he’s ordered that all new…
The evil among us
This week, Christians around the world begin the observance of Lent — a period of repentance and self-reflection. It is no accident that the Revised Common Lectionary includes the story of Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness in the readings for…
Why you should care about the Kennedy Center board
The arts — in whatever form they take — play an important role in all societies. In fact, archeologists often look to the artistic and cultural remnants of a society to understand what it valued and believed. In addition to…
Following Leonard Leo’s dark money in pushing America to the far right
Last summer, I did a deep dive into the organizations connected to the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 and the entities that fund them. In doing so, I learned much about the network of dark money shaping our shared political and…
Here’s what tax dollars will fund with the Texas school voucher bill
With proposed legislation to create school vouchers in Texas, a majority of taxpayer money could go to private schools that teach anti-science ideas and young-earth creationism. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has made “school choice” his mission over the last few…
United Women in Faith and Texas Impact converge on Texas Capitol
United Women in Faith (previously known as United Methodist Women) is one of the largest denominational faith organizations for women in the United States. Since 1987, the Texas Conference of United Women in Faith has partnered with Texas Impact —…
We’ve been here before
Over the weekend, I finished reading Jerome E. Copulsky’s new book, American Heretics: Religious Adversaries of Liberal Order, just in time to watch the second inauguration of Donald J. Trump into the office of the presidency. As Copulsky demonstrates time…
A new Baptist’s reflections on BINOs
In September, I left the United Methodist Church for an Alliance of Baptists congregation. While I hold a master of divinity degree and knew the broad strokes of Baptist history and have worked alongside Baptists for several years, I didn’t…