Before the pandemic, 1 in 3 families across the U.S. struggled to afford diapers. Now, with more than 56 million families with children losing their household income since March of this year, diaper banks trying desperately to assuage escalating demands…
My journey from being a young-earth Creationist, Dispensationalist Republican to seeing my neighbor as worthy of my vote
My body was tense as I sat in the white-walled classroom of my Baptist high school in Middle Georgia. With the sounds of pretend canons firing at the Civil War reenactment across the street, I listened to my teacher tell…
This will be on the test: What’s the difference between ‘sacred’ and ‘secular’ education?
“Secularism” often functions as a catch-all bugaboo for religious circles in the United States, and concerns that culture is becoming increasingly secular raise fears among American Christians in particular. In the case of public education, there remains a myth that…
Pope Francis calls for elimination of death penalty, and that’s only part of what he wants
On Oct. 4, Pope Francis published his third papal encyclical, Fratelli Tutti. Like all titles, Fratelli Tutti is revealing. Not only does it allude to the writings of the Pope’s namesake, St. Francis of Assisi, it also previews the themes…
The complicated story of Trump’s COVID treatment, stem cells and abortion politics
The irony cannot be missed: A Rose Garden event to announce the nomination of a Supreme Court justice widely expected to tilt the court toward limiting access to abortion became a super-spreader event for coronavirus, which infected many of the…
Mark Dever says in-person worship is essential to biblical Christianity
While national attention has been focused on the West Coast battle between pastor John MacArthur and Los Angeles County over public health restrictions, a new challenge has emerged on the East Coast by another prominent Calvinist pastor, Mark Dever. Only…
United Methodists seek both separation and unity because of ‘Catholic Spirit’
If United Methodists were transformed into an animal, they no doubt would be Dr. Doolittle’s famous “pushmi-pullyu.” In other words, they’d like to have their future go two ways at once. Today’s United Methodists come by this tendency honestly, because…
Is this election all about abortion? It depends on who you ask
If you listen to the most conservative and most liberal activists, you would think the 2020 presidential election is all about abortion rights. It turns out that is not exactly true, although abortion remains a highly motivating factor for certain…
Jesus and socialism? A conversation with Sondra Wheeler
As the rhetoric ramps up for the 2020 election, the term “socialist” has become a go-to polemic in the American political debate. While some portray Jesus as an Adam Smith-style capitalist, weaponizing the word “socialist” against their political opponents, others…