Down the home stretch of the campaign, Donald Trump has doubled down on his message of Christian nationalism and white grievance. While his speeches have indeed become more meandering and more extreme, they nonetheless contain a coherent appeal that taps…
‘Remember the ladies’
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…