Do some parents really think banning books will keep their children from swearing or thinking about sex? My guess is that surreptitious middle school book clubs already have formed all over the country to read Maus. Nothing like telling prepubescent…
Who will carry on United Methodism’s legacy of service and community?
When I was a young-ish reporter working on a medium-sized daily newspaper in Florida, one of the more dreaded assignments was the Saturday work known as “bits and ‘burbs.” That jargon stood for the oft-scorned task of collecting suburban news…
Shame on you, Pastor Greg Locke, for saying autism is demon possession
I grew up hearing that mental health disorders and illnesses of every kind were evil. Because I was told these things from an isolated world of fundamentalist Christianity, I was not surprised to see Pastor Greg Locke’s sermon suggesting autism,…
Of statues and stories: Reckoning with the Lost Cause
A few years back, as I wandered across a broad hill overlooking Washington, D.C., I discovered a monument, the statue of a woman atop a 32-foot decorated pedestal rising above the untold thousands of gravestones in Arlington National Cemetery. I…
Pledging allegiance to the kingdom of God
It is no small thing to grow up in a religious tradition that claims for itself the title, “the one true church.” To be taught that I alone was right while all my friends were wrong and on the road…
How Donald Trump became god
Few historical events have captured the attention of Americans, if not the world, more than the election of Donald Trump to the presidency of the United States in 2016 and the dizzying, polarizing and, to some, maddening four years of…
3 big questions can open a dialogue between adults and teenagers
Before stepping into the world of journalism, I served almost 20 years as a youth pastor and loved just about every minute of it. If you ask just about anyone working with or parenting a teenager, they will tell you…
American kids’ mental health is in crisis; the solution isn’t just therapy, it’s revolution
In early December, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued a nationwide Advisory on Protecting Youth Mental Health in light of what he termed “the pandemic’s unprecedented impacts on the mental health of America’s youth and families, as well as the mental…
Where are the good Republicans?
Even with frequent emotional appeals for the passage of two voting rights bills — the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act — Senate Republicans, along with Democratic holdouts Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema, defeated the…
Old tricks: For America’s Black citizens, there is nothing new under the sun
Throughout American history, when Black people have been able to advance toward equal opportunity, the mainstream power structure has tended to change its own rules in an effort to reinforce its control. In the decade immediately following the abolition of…
Something wicked this way comes: Macbeth and darkness
Like any good English major, I eagerly await new adaptations of Shakespeare, especially if they involve great actors and directors. The Tragedy of Macbeth, starring Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand in the title roles and directed by Joel Coen, certainly…
Sacramental pizza
For my first venture out of the house after surgery, Janice decided that, despite my mobility restrictions, we should go to Costco. So, she shopped while I stood in line, ordering lunch — Costco’s famous cheap hot dogs. By the…