People who identify as Christians but give money to Mainline churches and organizations aren’t actually Christians because they’re giving money to organizations that support LGBTQ people and abortion. So says the conservative commentator Megan Basham, who calls herself a “Christian…
Is Trump making Russia great again?
What happens when the president of the United States appears more willing to offer economic incentives to an invading nation than to guarantee the security of the nation being invaded? For nearly five years, the world has watched Russia wage…
The danger of a woman’s word
A few weeks ago, I watched the Netflix documentary Death of the Pastor’s Wife. I was sad, but not surprised, that a woman’s testimony was considered so threatening it warranted death. What is it that makes women’s stories so dangerous…
Why the Mica Miller story didn’t surprise me
I was raised in evangelical Christianity. My grandfather was an evangelist in the 1950s. My mom was the church pianist. I grew up in Sunday school and youth group, the kind designed to keep kids like me out of trouble….
If Dolly Parton can give from the heart, so can Elon Musk
The Dollywood Foundation has asked the world to “Give Like Dolly.” A month after Dolly Parton’s death, it was a fitting tribute to a woman whose generosity became almost as much a part of her public identity as her music….
The cost of admission to the Colosseum
Taking advantage of an overnight layover in Rome last summer, I hit the Roman roads for a run at sunrise and happened upon the Colosseum. I instantly thought of the Christian witness against the cruelty once celebrated within its walls….
What if independent voters are trying to tell us something?
Political parties want independent voters’ support. But are they prepared to offer them belonging without demanding their allegiance? A woman once asked me to carry a message to my fellow Democrats. She was a Democrat, but her husband was an…
Remembering St. Francis more accurately
If the anniversary of St. Francis of Assisi’s death on Oct. 3, 1226, or his feast day on Oct. 4 slipped by your attention (as they did mine), not to worry. No less than Pope Leo has declared all October…
250 years later, fight for religious dissent recalled
On a cool, damp Sunday evening in October, a small crowd gathered under the white steel beams that define the footprint of the Historic Polegreen Church in Hanover County, Va., site of one of the first four non-Anglican meeting houses…
When justice becomes a spectacle
When did killing someone become a measure of justice? And when did watching someone die become entertainment? Let’s begin with Christa Pike. On Sept. 30, the state of Tennessee attempted to execute Pike by lethal injection. She was administered two…
I am tired of begging the church to remember Jesus
I am tired. And I need the church to hear me when I say that. I am tired in a way that a good night’s sleep will not fix. Tired of waking up wondering what this administration will say or…
Public school policies cannot serve just one kind of child
There are two children in this story, and the lawsuit can only see one of them. The one it sees is easy to love. A child whose parents are raising them, feeding them, praying over them, and who find out…