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?”…
Letter to the Editor: Ten Commandments hypocrisy
Dear Editor: Over the course of the previous year, Christian nationalists in Texas pushed through Senate Bill 10, which requires public school classrooms in the state to display the Ten Commandments. The rationale behind this legislation is the claim that…
Update on proposed human warehouse in Texas
Ever since the Washington Post broke the story on Christmas Eve that the Trump administration is converting warehouse spaces across the country into literal human warehouses, the towns named in the story have been playing catch up. Last Friday, the…
What the birthright debate reveals about race, wealth and belonging
In spring 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments from President Donald Trump regarding his pursuit to end birthright citizenship. On the surface this decision, if passed, raises questions about the future of American citizenship, including how citizenship will…
In conversation with Ty Seidule and Connor Williams
I recently spoke with Gen. Ty Seidule and Connor Williams about their co-authored book A Promise Delivered: Ten American Heroes and the Battle to Rename our Nation’s Military Bases. These two respected historians spearheaded the Naming Commission authorized by Congress…
American Christians morally and spiritually fractured
I rarely read an op-ed by John Pavlovitz without exclaiming, “I wish I had written that!” That was especially true when I saw his Dec. 5 piece on “America’s Divide Isn’t About Politics Anymore.” I may not be able to…
Lessons from Minneapolis and beyond
On Jan. 7, federal law enforcement officers in Minneapolis were “doing an enforcement operation.” At 9:35:05 a.m. local time, witnesses observed Renee Nicole Good’s Honda Pilot stopped diagonally on Portland Avenue. Roughly a minute later, a woman who would later…