Offering advice to politicians and preachers may be a disappointing way to make a living. This didn’t stop Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne from warning, “Religious people should always be wary of the ways in which political power is wielded…
Have evangelicals become libertarians or have libertarians become evangelicals?
Libertarians and evangelicals are hard to tell apart these days. Is that because libertarians are becoming more religious or because evangelicals are becoming more political? I’m reminded of the corporate executive who once explained to me, “Remember that mergers are…
Of Christians singing on a plane, outrage, shame and a better song
Is it good manners for Christians to break into public songs of worship in the confined space of a commercial airplane in flight? Is it fair for a Muslim politician to question whether people of her faith would have been…
The futility of framing one another as progressives and evangelicals, devils and dummies
In politics, “framing” is the attempt to alter reality by selecting words, slogans and tropes that convince the public to see the other side in a certain negative way. As Robert Entman explains, “To frame is to select some aspects of a perceived…
The politics of nothing and the enabling church
There’s a politics loose in our democracy that is all about nothing. The evangelical church serves as the incubator and enabler of the politics of nothing. This is not a sermon, but it suggests a biblical text: “The grass withers,…
This nation needs a church
I have an argument that sounds idealistic, naïve, even triumphalist, but that only serves to increase my determination: The nation needs a church. I still believe the church matters and that we have a role to play that is the…
Putin is no Antichrist; he’s worse than that
In my last article, I related the rapture to Russia. Tied to the rapture is the idea of the Antichrist. My purpose now is to show that Vladimir Putin is not the Antichrist but that the danger he poses is…
Let’s be clear: Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is not about the rapture and Russia in biblical prophecy
As soon as “Russia” and “war” are mentioned in the same sentence, all the premillennial, rapture, tribulation, Armageddon believers are on high alert. The Rapture Index (yes, there is such a thing) is at 186. The all-time high for the…
Beyond heedlessness: Finding the sacrament of an ‘us’ without a ‘them’
Evangelicals have made it clear: Don’t call us racists. We are not racists. Rather than debate the issue, I volunteer to take the word “racist” off the debate table. Instead of calling evangelicals “racists,” I will use the word “heedless.”…