We’re harder and more calloused and just downright meaner, in music and sports and in national and international policies, in politics in general and our approach to one another in specific.
One simple way to tell real persecution from persecution complex (and why we have to get this right)
There is one simple and relatively reliable way to distinguish real persecution or marginalization: personal examples.
If a person can provide multiple, real life, personal examples of how they or their community have fallen victim to abuse, harassment or exclusion, based on who they are and with little recourse and choice, then it’s likely the real deal. If generalities are all a person can give in response, or if they return to a few isolated incidents that are not systemic, then it is likely manufactured (and likely stoked by certain media outlets).
News alert: God speaks through donkeys, burning bushes, rocks — and women ministers
There will always be daring churches like First Baptist of Jefferson City who will not be afraid to live into God’s vision of the full partnership of women and men in ministry. Yet I still fear the perpetuation of the belief in women’s second-class status.
Letters to the Editor
The latest from our readers: • Roy Moore election would legitimize guilt for everyone except the perpetrator | Susan Glass, Kingsport, Tenn. • Truth is truth, no matter who says it | Philip Brown, Macon, Ga. • Why not more letters? | Kirby D. Smith, Chesterfield, Va.
Letters to the Editor
The latest from our readers • Stand up for Christianity in the face of evangelicalism’s mess | David Hicks, Shanghai, China
Letters to the Editor
The latest from our readers • The wedding cake case is not religious discrimination | Stan Hastey, West Palm Beach. Fla.
What happened to my old Kentucky home?
What the KBC is considering doing is forcing all these churches to choose sides once and for all. In this case, “KBC” is proxy for “SBC.” Choose you this day whom you will serve: The SBC or the CBF.
Paying for the Second Amendment
Firearm obsession exemplifies our national identity, and we should all own that reality. Indeed, firearm violence has become so routine that barring an immediate political or spiritual Great Awakening, these events demand some form of national triage responding to the consequences of weaponized carnage.
Questions the court should ask the baker’s lawyer
If people are really committed to biblical laws, then they should be committed to all of them. Instead of asking if it should be legal to run a heterosexuals-only bakery, we should ask who else a biblical legalist should turn away. Refusing to make devil’s food cakes for gay couples may not be enough.
Are seminaries still relevant?
Many seminaries are in trouble; there are few that are not fragile in some way. Issues include the challenge of recruitment, the burgeoning debt of seminarians, issues of placement for women graduates, the white privilege of which many seminaries are oblivious. It is a “troubled industry.”
What Harvey Weinstein’s fall and Donald Trump’s rise says about the state of American Christianity
American Christianity is no different than any other religion in this way: There are healthy, potentially life enriching versions of religious faith, and there are unhealthy, potentially life diminishing versions as well.
Three cheers for the power of awe
“Religion” derives from the same word as “ligament.” It is ultimately a connecting force and, with no divine object or mysterium tremendum, our experiences of awe are ultimately self-referential and delusional.