When conservative Christian activist groups are called hateful or placed on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s hate map, they claim innocence and reverse the charge: “The real haters are those people who say we’re hateful.” “You are not hateful or…
The approaching storm: Generational shift in views of financial stewardship
Growing up in Florida and Alabama respectively, we both learned early what it means to prepare for storms. When Hurricane Andrew’s name comes up, or when someone mentions the tornado outbreak of 2011, memories surface — not just of the…
Can mainline liberals get their story back?
In my most recent column I drew attention to the certainty gap between American evangelicals and mainline Protestants. While 85% of evangelicals and 82% of Black Protestants believe in God without a shadow of a doubt, the same can only…
Everything is connected: A snapshot of Dallas, ICE and gerrymandering
For the last three months, I have been part of a weekly clergy and faith leader’s prayer vigil that holds space and bears witness to the plight of our immigrant neighbors. The vigil takes place outside of the Dallas Immigration…
The Scopes ‘Monkey’ Trial isn’t done shaping America
If the Scopes “Monkey” Trial is discussed nowadays, the tone usually is pejorative. The events of July 1925 — in which a small-town substitute teacher was charged with a misdemeanor for teaching evolution in a public high school — are…
Israel, a secular state, cannot be covered in the ancient garb of ‘chosen’
I am grateful to two people I have never met. The first is Ali Khan, a physician in Little Rock, Ark. I became acquainted with his advocacy for Palestinians, which has helped draw attention to their genocide at the hands…
American politics: Where courage goes to die
Since Donald Trump returned to power Jan. 20, I have watched people and institutions cave to demands of the president. Are we witnessing a growing tribe of neo-cowards? Has cowardice become a political necessity? As the Master of Wakefield asked,…
The Chosen’s future appears to shine brighter than Angel Studios’
The lucrative eight-year relationship between The Chosen creator Dallas Jenkins and Angel Studios came to an end last month, but the franchise’s future continues to look bright. Just a few weeks after revealing The Chosen’s contract with Angel Studios was…
The long struggle to balance faith and freedom at Baylor
The latest controversy between Baylor University and the Baptists — rejecting grant funding to study LGBTQ exclusion in the church — has roots that stretch back more than 100 years, far preceding late 20th-century and early 21st-century struggles for control…
With two leadership roles open, will SBC embrace a younger generation?
Wanted: Creative leaders who have a spine but are flexible enough to accommodate diverse opinions and changing political tides. Must be Southern Baptist. Only males need apply. With not-unexpected news of the resignation of Brent Leatherwood as president of the…
Fundamentalism and biblical inerrancy lite in the Global Methodist Church
When, on May 1, 2022, the Global Methodist Church announced itself to the world, more than 2,000 churches already had taken advantage of the disaffiliation process to break with the United Methodist Church. At the time of the announcement, I…
Why Trump’s time is almost up
In the 1980s, Ronald Reagan, a celebrity Democrat turned Republican president, granted an Australian named Rupert Murdoch U.S. citizenship after being in the country for only one year. Reagan then ordered his FCC chairman to scrap the Fairness Doctrine that…