After the turkey had been carved and the pie had been sliced, my family concluded this year’s Thanksgiving celebrations in an unexpected way: We sat together and watched the 1961 Spencer Tracy drama Judgment at Nuremberg. The film follows Spencer…
The Charlotte Pentecostals inverting the slogans of Christian nationalism
I was in Charlotte and attended several protests against the presence of ICE in the city. One I went to was made up of largely left-leaning white protesters, which you would see at many Indivisible or No Kings rallies. These…
How the Black Church saved me from white evangelicalism
There was a time when I almost lost myself trying to fit into white evangelical spaces that never were designed for me. These were spaces where I was preemptively labeled a “liberal” and my passion for racial justice was dismissed…
Six insights I learned from women in ministry
“What is your story of serving as a woman in ministry?” We asked this question to nearly 100 women ordained by Baptist churches in Atlantic Canada over the past 50 years as part of the Called to Serve research project. Their responses surprised,…
How Orthodoxy almost drew me in
On The New York Times website recently, Ruth Graham wrote about the surge of converts to Eastern Orthodox Christianity, driven heavily by young, conservative men who crave the grounding in tradition it provides. I was immediately struck by the resonances…
Letters to Mary: Women are fully alive
Looking yourself in the eye and feeling alive That is hope — Christy LaFrance Williamson Dear Mary, Mother, I write these words to you woman to woman, my flesh like your flesh. I also am a mother, and I…
Starving the mindset that feeds terrorism
Across Nigeria’s highways and farm paths, in markets and dormitories, and even in churches and mosques, faith has become a weapon. The line between devotion and destruction has grown perilously thin. Religious violence here is not new; what is new is…
Who gets to apologize?
The recent atmospheric shift felt by many across the country wasn’t hell freezing over — it was Marjorie Taylor Greene apologizing for years of participating in what she called “toxic politics,” taking responsibility for herself and her own actions. For those of…
Back to the plantation: How MAHA weaponizes food
As the nation looks to the holidays and fallout from the longest government shutdown in history, funds are slowly becoming available to fund SNAP programs for 42 million Americans. At the same time, the Make America Healthy Again movement is poised to resurrect a…
MAGA Thanksgiving may implode like a deep-fried turkey
There are indications this year’s MAGA family Thanksgiving gathering may be contentious. Pre-Thanksgiving arguments and disagreements threaten to spill into scraps and splits at the family meal. After more than 10 years of party loyalty and unity, the MAGA family…
20 questions for Baylor University
With families traveling long distances by car this week, there’s likely to be a resurgence of one of the most beloved of all time-passing games, Twenty Questions. In that spirit, I’ve come up with 20 questions for the leadership of…
A different kind of Thanksgiving gratitude
Over the last couple of weeks, I sat down to write my Thanksgiving message several times, only to scrap every draft. Try as I may, I find myself incapable of penning some sappy tribute to the season. Don’t get me…