I’m not usually one to say, “If your pastor doesn’t say X about Y this Sunday, then you should leave your church.” I usually encourage talking with your pastor, helping your pastor and fellow layfolks see the perspective you’re bringing…
Your government is lying to you
Friends, your hearts aren’t lying to you. Your eyes aren’t lying to you. Your friends aren’t lying to you. Your faith leaders aren’t lying to you. Your teachers and professors aren’t lying to you. Your government is. Federal agents executed…
Are we OK with children going missing?
A child was taken. Taken from routine. Taken from familiarity. Taken from the quiet assumptions that adults would keep him safe. Five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, moved across state lines, shipped to Texas…
Widening Fifth Avenue
I asked my recently retired Department of Transportation friend how roads get widened. His answer was unsurprising: It happens because of increases in volume and planning for future traffic patterns. I asked because it sounds unthinkable — not to mention…
The Tribulation is here for real
About the time I was 10 or 11 — old enough for a child to begin to reason out some things — I began to fear the end of the world. Being raised in a Southern evangelical Christian environment, I’d…
Why do people deny the evidence before their eyes?
“The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” Over the last week, in the wake of Renee Good’s murder by ICE agent Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis, this quote…
Why should we remember Martin Luther King?
My daughter, a student-athlete at a Baptist university, called me about a problem with her softball teammate. The head coach made an announcement canceling Monday’s practice due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. A teammate said, “Thank you, Martin…
Walking with King and Heschel past Beth Israel Synagogue
As we have honored Martin Luther King this past weekend, I am remembering his friendship with Rabbi Abraham Heschel and Heschel’s joining with him in the Civil Rights March in Selma March 21, 1965. Heschel was criticized for leaving his…
‘Religious freedom isn’t something that exists on paper’
For a year, ICE and the Trump administration have made it harder for communities to live, gather and worship without fear. It started with the erosion of sensitive locations — which allowed ICE to conduct immigration enforcement activities on church…
Maladjustment and resistance
Jan. 15 marked the 97th birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. The American Baptist Home Mission Society celebrates his legacy as the foremost prophet of the 20th century, who also was an activist for biblical and social justice, liberator, truth…
Cities Church isn’t being persecuted for righteousness
MAGA churches are not being persecuted for righteousness but for not loving their neighbors. They are being persecuted by unexpected judgment like Jesus cleansing the temple. Cities Church in St. Paul, Minn., is not being persecuted for faithfulness to the…
America needs grace
Everyone needs grace. Republicans, Democrats and independents need grace. Undocumented immigrants and Christian nationalists need grace. People of color and people of privilege need grace. Young and old, rich and poor, gendered and non-gendered, more or less educated, born in…