Donald Trump isn’t even in office yet and there’s already political flak between his intended “border czar” and the mayors of Denver and Boston over Trump’s plan to deport millions of illegal immigrants. Paul Homan warned the mayor of Boston,…
New Bonhoeffer film offers a mixed bag of emotions
The task of offering an analysis of the movie Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin has been complicated for me because the promotion for the movie shows Dietrich Bonhoeffer with a gun in his hand. My attempts to recover from this misleading…
False prophets have hijacked the evangelical movement
A group of false prophets, most of them independent Pentecostals, have hijacked the evangelical movement. Historian David Fea identifies this loosely affiliated group of prophets as Independent Network Charismatics. The false prophets have a theological mix foreign to most evangelicals….
America makes a hard right turn with Trump as ‘good old boy’
After decades of progressive influence, America made a hard right turn on Tuesday, Nov. 5. Donald Trump won a decisive Electoral College vote as well as the popular vote. I resist the notion that the nation was voting against having…
How conservatives misuse Bonhoeffer, King and Reagan
Recent letters published by descendants of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and members of the International Bonhoeffer Society denouncing misuse of the German theologian’s legacy illustrate a much bigger problem: The false conversion of iconic people to suit the needs of modern-day conservatives….
100 years after the Immigration Act, we’re reaping what we’ve sown
This year is the 100th anniversary of the 1924 Immigration Act, which limited the number of immigrants allowed entry into the United States through a national origin quotas. The quotas provided immigration visas to 2% of the total number of…
I tried to analyze a Donald Trump speech
Listening to a Trump rally speech is like driving in a major city with no traffic lights, stop signs, cautions or rules. “Hammer down, pedal to the metal,” demolition derby from start to finish. Trump, long a master of not…
Donald Trump is The Joker but he’s not joking
When Donald Trump claimed Tim Walz is a “moron” and Kamala Harris was “born mentally impaired,” Lara Trump said he was “joking around.” In defense of what it means to joke around, I suggest Donald Trump is The Joker and…
What a debater thought about the vice presidential debate
Debates always get my attention. I was a high school and college debate student. I have studied argumentation for decades. While the format of the political debates is artificial and not really an actual debate, I will take what I…
Donald Trump and the story of the magical phone app for immigrants
Donald Trump wants everyone to believe immigrants are bad. The formula is simplistic, misleading and false, but it is the sum total of his immigration policy. The simplicity, the impulsivity, and the emotionalism make Trump so tempting: Immigrants are bad….
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump face-to-face tells the story
The words flying in the presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris were fierce, but the center of attention should be the visual rhetoric of Trump’s and Harris’ faces, with special attention to how images of their faces are…
There’s a Crazy Index for Donald Trump
Is it just me or is Donald Trump getting crazier by the day? How is it possible for a man who is a congenital liar, a convicted felon, a con man and a fraud who happens to be emotionally and…