Why would Hispanic voters embrace a president who has been called the most racist and anti-immigrant in modern history? The most likely answer: religion. But even that isn’t a complete answer. “There are not significant gender or age divides among Hispanic…
A president’s legacy: Trump in the eyes of Africans
On the eve of the Nov. 3 presidential election, a Nigerian of Yoruba extraction in Houston named Ayodele was asked who he would vote for. “I’m for Biden,” Ayodele replied, but he immediately went on to say, in a tone…
In Georgia, demonizing Black Liberation Theology yet again
I am a Baptist theologian, and “professor of historical theology” is my specific job title. It is therefore of no little interest to me that a political controversy moving into the national spotlight involves a candidate who is a fellow…
2020’s earth-shattering events threaten United Methodist Church’s future
In the movie “Seabiscuit,” an early sequence shows how the fabled racehorse’s owner, Charles Howard, transformed his bicycle-repair business into the San Francisco Bay Area’s most successful automobile dealership in the early age of motoring. Howard met the challenge of…
Let’s battle the Q conspiracy with true biblical knowledge
The current Q cult is the most extensive and complete brainwashing encompassing the largest segment of the American people that I have seen in my lifetime, and a vast number of Christians are included among the adherents. Yesterday, a friend…
African bishops demand independence in deciding United Methodist Church’s future
The conflict over acceptance of LGBTQ persons in The United Methodist Church has become a three-way fight — with even more contenders likely waiting to turn the bout into a battle royal between opposing American forces and the rest of…
Cain and Abel: A metaphor for the sin of casteism
In his 2016 landmark book, America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege, and the Bridge to a New America, Jim Wallis reveals: “The most controversial sentence I ever wrote was not about abortion, gay marriage, the wars in Vietnam or Iraq, elections, or…
This year’s electorate is different — and fewer are white Christians
The United States electorate — defined as those who are eligible to vote and registered to vote — changes some from year to year but changed significantly over the span of a few years. A compilation of data from Pew…
Why herd immunity is worse than other potential ethical concerns about a COVID-19 vaccine
The ethical issues surrounding development of a COVID-19 vaccine are complex but pale in comparison to the deaths that would be necessary to reach so-called “herd immunity” in the United States. Questions get raised about the feared use of fetal tissue from…