The principal strength from which the forces of despotism operate comes not from their accomplices in infamy but from the silence of those who turn a blind eye, who have been cowed into silence, saved (they think) by means of…
Druski held up a mirror to the church
For some of us, watching Druski’s recent megachurch parody is hitting a nerve because it’s holding up a mirror. Druski is a comedian and cultural commentator known for using humor to reflect everyday truths about Black life, power and performance,…
Too many Black churches have stopped doing the work
Since its inception, the Black Church has stood for activism. It has been loud when the world demanded silence. Emotive in a culture that prizes stoicism over vulnerability. Communal in the face of capitalism’s insistence on individualism. Faithful amid unrelenting…
Stephen Miller is Plato’s original playground bully
Stephen Miller, President Donald Trump’s muse and adviser, told Jake Tapper of CNN, “We live in a world in which you can talk all you want about international niceties and everything else, but we live in a world, in the…
The God I do believe in
This article is a follow-up to a previous post, “The God I Don’t Believe In.” I majored in religion at college. One semester I took a class called Christian Doctrine. I still remember the final exam. The professor wrote it on…
A dispatch from the USA to Christians in Italy (and beyond)
The editor of Riforma, an Italian-language newspaper published by and for Baptists, Methodists and Waldensians in Italy, invited me to contribute a front-page article for this week’s edition sharing my perspective on recent events in the United States. This is what…
Remembering Tommy Boland
Thinking of Tommy Boland reminds me of a poem by James Whitcomb Riley. Some workers are mourning the death of a colleague. One man, wiping tears from his eyes, says of his friend, “When God made him, I bet he…
Let’s jettison the term ‘Christian nation’
On Dec. 21, 2025, Vice President JD Vance, speaking at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest, declared: “More than any time I can recount, people are talking about American identity and figuring out what it is that unites us. But I want…
We do not know all the names
I need to say this plainly: We do not know all the names. That is part of what has been sitting so heavily with, or maybe even on, me. Over the last 12 months, approximately 32 people have died in…
Clean house in Congress
Every Republican — and some Democrats — in Congress should be voted out of office as soon as possible for dereliction of duty. The United States of America would not be in the crisis we now face — at least…
We spent Christmas visiting my husband in ICE detention
My family loves the holiday season. So much so that we listen to Christmas music year-round. Our yard is usually the most decorated on the street. We attend the Christmas Eve candlelight service at church with our daughter. On Christmas…
Sen. Schmitt goes all in on white supremacy
When Sen. Eric Schmitt gave the keynote address at the 2025 National Conservatism Conference, he hung on America a discredited sign once found on all public bathrooms in the South, “Whites Only.” In his speech, titled “What is an American?”…