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…
How Christian extremists are co-opting the book of Esther
I first became aware of far-right Christians co-opting the Book of Esther for political ends when I heard the extremist group Moms for Liberty use Esther 4:14 as its slogan. Since then, the phrase “for such a time as this”…
Here’s why the new Texas school curriculum is so very, very bad
Last week I spent a day in Austin, Texas, to testify for the second time against the new (and newly named) “Bluebonnet Learning K-5 Reading Language Arts” curriculum. Despite significant opposition, the Bible-infused curriculum was approved, which should be unsurprising…
Hillsdale College’s shadowy fundraising and American exceptionalism curriculum
One month before the election, I was forwarded an email originally sent from an organization called “Backing America.” The email was presented by Backing America as “a message from our sponsor.” The sponsor, Hillsdale College, wrote asking for tax-deductible contributions….