Our schools will continue to discuss ideas such as Critical Race Theory, and we will continue to have difficult conversations about how slavery, Jim Crow (a term coined in Louisville), and the constructed notion of white superiority shaped our history…
Politics, partisanship and the powerless
Can you think of a word more maligned than “politics”? Some people believe it’s a dirty term affixed to a despicable craft. That’s because, for the most part, it’s practiced so poorly. People watch politicians engage in politics, and they…
Think your kids aren’t paying attention at church? Consider this …
Last week, I caught my children playing “church” in the backyard — a game I used to play as a child, too. I watched inconspicuously so they wouldn’t see me. My son Benjamin was pretending to be Pastor Stephen, who…
In their own words: Young faith leaders on why young adults should get vaccinated
Current research shows that young adults in America represent one of the least-vaccinated demographic groups. To address this concern, BNG reached out to a diverse group of young clergy and faith leaders to hear their own stories of choosing to…
‘Consider the birds’: Reflections on a pandemic church year
In her recent poem, “A Wing and A Prayer,” Beth Ann Fennelly captures a familiar revelation from early on in the pandemic — how the birds outside our windows and in our backyards seemed so darn loud. We thought the…
Speaking truth to power means denouncing lying politicians and their preachers
In what will be one of the most memorable public exchanges between a U.S. senator and a witness testifying before the Senate in history, Anthony Fauci recently denounced Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky for falsely accusing him of lying to…
Letter to the Editor: Don’t throw away your neighbor’s shot
July 21, 2021 Letter to the Editor Dear Editor: Jesus spent a great deal of time defining who our neighbor is. He told the story of the Good Samaritan who had little in common with the victim to whom he…
Why I refused to sign a school’s belief statement just to get a job
My second private university job in two years was in jeopardy. I had transitioned from pastor to Christian university professor just at the outset of the Great Recession and was one of the low people on the totem pole at…
Three reasons 2021 looks like 1961 in voter suppression
John Lewis spent his 21st birthday in a Nashville jail, Feb. 21, 1961. Lewis was arrested with 25 others after leading a public demonstration to gain admission to a whites-only movie theater. Several protesters, Lewis included, were students at American…
On the collapse of Christianity into politics
A friend sent me this piece in Salon, posted under the provocative title, “How Evangelicals Abandoned Christianity and Became ‘Conservatives’ Instead.” I was not familiar with the author, Nathaniel Manderson, who identifies himself as an evangelical pastor trained at a…
The peril of getting too comfortable in church
More than 65 years of “church going” has made me appreciate a comfortable “church.” My bum is not what it used to be, so a little padding helps — actually a lot. A good sound system that can fill in…
Nice white women participate in white supremacy too
The term “white supremacist” tends to elicit a stereotypical image of a raging, gun-toting, Confederate-flag-waving white man. The image is fueled by recent acts of extremism like the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., four years ago or the…