In 1776, Abigail Adams wrote to her husband, John, “Remember the ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember all men would be…
Sexually harassing a nation
I have been watching social media as people are responding to the recent uptick of violent sexual rhetoric targeting women (and everyone, really) from former President Donald Trump and those from his inner circle. This aspect of the Trump campaign…
Do we want to see?
Last week as I was preparing my sermon for Sunday, I was reading the passage in Mark where the blind man, Bartimaeus, asks Jesus to heal his blindness. Unlike other places in Scripture where someone asks Jesus to heal them…
Politics, faith and mission: A conversation with Bishop Michael Curry
Michael Curry was elected 27th presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church in 2015, after previously serving as bishop of North Carolina. One of America’s most-renowned preachers, he is perhaps most widely known for his sermon at the “royal wedding” of…
Is this a Bonhoeffer Moment?
A week before the election I was in a group of clergy where we were sharing our anxiety about the election, expressing our apprehension that Donald Trump would be elected president, and casting about for the meaning of it all….
When ‘thy kingdom come’ is a threat more than a blessing
Every election season since I left the final church I was a part of in 2019 is a reminder of why I don’t think I could ever go back. And I know many ex-evangelicals agree with me. I’m writing this…
This year, I’m a single-issue voter
I used to think single-issue voters were totally off-base. I mean, everything’s connected. Political issues never stand alone. The solution to whatever problem motivates the single-issue voter will always affect other problems and other citizens. A good example is an…
Thanks to the college student who prescribed me an anti-pride-essant
Thoughts of suicide hounded me even though I was preaching every Sunday about abundant life. I had suffered from depression and anxiety long before the stress of Ph.D. work. Now the pain was compounded by taking a double full-time course…
Jesus is still Lord on Wednesday, Nov. 6, and every other day after that
Tomorrow — Tuesday, Nov. 5 — registered voters will elect the 47th president of the United States of America, providing one of the candidates secures the necessary 270 electoral votes. A third of the U.S. Senate will be elected and…
This election is about whether American women are more than breeders
My paternal grandfather was a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force and the personal pilot for the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan from 1967 to 1970. My father actually graduated from the American School in Kabul in 1970 before he, his…
Vote for us, because in the economy of God, there is no them
I never have told anyone — not even my children — how to vote. Today, though, I shall ask you to consider for whom to vote, if you have not already. I encourage you to vote for your neighbor, for…
Do I hate Donald Trump?
One of the accusations I hear leveled by evangelical Trump supporters is that people who oppose him do so not out of principle but out of mere hatred of him. Do I hate Donald Trump? I try as best I…