The layers of historical dysfunction in the financial management of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary continue to be peeled back as current trustees and administrators have pledged more transparency — as evidenced by the release of 21 years of audited financial…
14 dangerous words
Never underestimate the power of words or a string of words. A news story about the Florida Board of Education — not a local school board but the state board — adopting new standards for teaching American history for children…
Books and religion without evangelicalism: Thoughts on Stephen Prothero’s God the Bestseller
Forget about politically motivated churches, practices and creeds. Instead, you can learn a lot about religion in North America by the popular books it publishes. I’ve worked in commercial religious publishing for most of my career and can tell you…
Rick Warren wants to talk about the Great Commission
Rick Warren thought he was going to be late for our appointment, but with good reason. The best-known pastor in America had been to the grocery store. He knows most of the workers there by name, but this checker was…
Why the patriarchy is hyperventilating over Barbie
I wasn’t allowed to watch Toy Story 2 when I was 21 years old because the trailer depicted a group of Barbies in bikinis led by Tour Guide Barbie. So when I found out some influential conservatives were having a conniption fit…
Why it’s not enough to make an exception for intersex people amid your exclusion of trans people
Intersex people always have lived among us, but shame and societal expectations have kept them living largely in the shadows. The June 30 nationwide release of the documentary Every Body, available in theaters and for streaming, is just the latest…
President Biden establishes the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument in Mississippi and Illinois
This week, I had the privilege of attending a reception held at the Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C., to celebrate President Joe Biden’s signing of a proclamation establishing the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument in Mississippi…
America isn’t the only one with a declaration of independence
Over the July 4 weekend, hundreds of museum-goers waited in line several hours to get a glimpse of one of the Western world’s foundational political documents. The fragile sheet, written in an elegant hand, tells the story of a people…
What’s really happening with the ‘never attenders’ and what does Donald Trump have to do with it?
I haven’t attended church in almost four years and can’t imagine going back. I don’t share this lightly. I was so dedicated to the church that I structured my entire career spanning two decades cleaning restrooms and floors in order to have…