So, Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who refused to sign marriage licenses for same sex couples, went to jail. And many political conservatives and religious fundamentalists praised her faith — as if she’s the first person ever jailed for following…
Is church a waste a time?
If I could have more money or more time, I’d take more time. No doubt. There’s so much I want to do in this world, too much to see, to experience, to know. Nothing puts me in a foul mood…
Why do so many Christians think we need government to prop up Jesus?
In a recent Facebook post, Franklin Graham praised Indiana’s House of Representatives for passing a “religious freedom” bill “that would protect business owners who want to decline to provide services for same-sex marriages.” Religious freedom, which has been a hallmark…
When bad religion makes headlines
The recent hoopla over using the Duke University chapel for Muslim prayers raises interesting issues, and is just another sign of our highly-religious nation’s deeply troubled understanding of its own convictions. The value of religious principles to our nation’s values…
There is purpose
There’s an argument going on. Sometimes you have to listen closely, but it’s rumbling beneath the polite noise of our sophisticated society like the background radiation of the Big Bang, filling every black hole as it sweeps across an infinite…
Learning to think more clearly about death
By Russ Dean She was surrounded by family and friends in the warmth of her own home. Her breathing stopped; the light went out; she was at peace. It was apparently just that simple when Brittany Maynard ended her fight…
We need a change of heart on the border crisis
By Russ Dean Jesus said, “Let the little children come unto me.” But Robert Pittenger, a North Carolina congressman, said if they arrive at our border without proper documentation, let the little children be deported ASAP, even though crushing poverty and…
Bumper sticker theology
By Russ Dean We live in a frightening world. Everywhere we turn there are reminders. There is violence in the streets; multiple killings seem commonplace and no place seems to be immune from the crosshairs of the lone gunman; our…