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…
¡Silencio! When and when not to keep silence
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…