Dealing with sexual harassment and abuse in the church is hard, and I remember almost every day that I don’t have all the answers. But I do know that we have to do better than we have done. And that starts by being willing to talk openly and honestly, and to act with courage to make sure the church is a place of safety and flourishing for everyone.
The kids aren’t alright (but they could be)
When you want to study the overall health of a society, you don’t estimate the quality of life of people 50 and over; you ask if the kids are alright. And, historically speaking, America has never had more kids in poverty, more kids without access to healthcare, more kids chronically medicated, more kids with diagnosed mental health issues, more kids on semi-pro traveling soccer teams, more kids with student debt, more kids unemployed, more kids working unpaid internships, and more kids homeless, childless, and savings-less.
Pieces of graduation wisdom
While it is true that graduations are visible marks of new beginnings, the reality is that new beginnings may start whenever we are brave enough to decide to make positive changes in our lives. Is today the day?
Dosis de sabiduría para graduaciones
Si bien es cierto que las graduaciones son símbolos visibles de nuevos principios, la realidad es que los nuevos comienzos pueden ocurrir en cualquier momento, siempre y cuando tengamos el valor suficiente para decidir hacer cambios positivos en nuestras vidas. ¿Será hoy el día?
Remembering Ed McAteer and the Jerusalem Embassy
Donald Trump would not be president today, the Moral Majority would not have existed, and the U.S. Embassy would not be in Jerusalem today without the seeds planted by McAteer from the 1970s through the 1990s.
Where Michelle Wolf crossed the line
Sarah and I don’t agree on much, but we both grew up Baptist, so I know what her childhood looked like and why she became the woman she is. Michelle Wolf and I share the same politics, but I’d rather spend an evening with Sarah Sanders. Jesus might be the only thing we had in common, but he’d be enough.
Paige Patterson, Mother’s Day and #MeToo
Sexual assault and harassment are unconscionable in all environments, but there is something especially vile about the culture in religion that often leads to the abuse and silencing of women.
Hear our prayer, O Congress: A neo-establishmentarianism?
Events surrounding the dismissal and rehiring of “Father Pat” are more than a mere legislative kerfuffle. They provide important contemporary lessons in the enduring dynamics of church-state relations — old tensions, new twists.
The dangerous demands of uncritical loyalty
It is worrying that valueless loyalty has achieved a stranglehold on much of the American psyche, having really ratcheted up in this current era of cable news. But even more concerning is that It has also firmly taken hold of evangelical Christianity and propelled it to unsightly levels of hypocrisy.
Check your idols at the church door. Trinket gods aren’t worth much.
Let’s name these false deities security, convenience and control. These are not three separate gods. They are the same idols, simply described in different ways, each highlighting different connotations and pointing in slightly different trajectories.
Thanks for your help, Siri. But what about that human connection?
What happens as our artificial intelligence devices become “smarter” the more we use them? Will they crowd out or confuse our ability and will to make uniquely human connection, to build authentic community?
Savoring the moment when the sacredness of the present is made plain
It is only in suspension that the sacredness of the present is made plain. What lies ahead cannot be seen, but each day has enough trouble of its own. For now, there is this moment. This breath. This being here.