“I handed my son over to the devil,” Joe Alarcon told me during an interview for BNG’s upcoming podcast, “Non-Disclosure,” which features interviews from survivors and their families about the serial sexual abuse that occurred at Kamp Kanakuk. Alarcon’s son,…
What if Trump followed Jesus Christ?
History is filled with oppression — nations rising on the backs of slaves, governments entrenching inequality and cultures ignoring the cries of the vulnerable. For centuries, people have been stripped of dignity, denied opportunity, education, health, resources and forced into…
When will Texas Republicans value the lives of all children?
Anyone with a soul is devastated when children die under tragic circumstances. It doesn’t matter how those children die — the morally and spiritually virtuous among us want to ensure whatever can be done to prevent the tragic loss of…
James Dobson’s America
Whatever a real American family was supposed to look and act like, I couldn’t have told you. I was raised on 1980s comedy television. Each evening, I watched the whole slate of sitcoms, most of which were about families, and…
Bring back religion? It never left
Dear President Trump, I have a hot flash for you: Religion never left America. What’s more, those of us who’ve practiced our respective religions faithfully for generations aren’t about to let you force your white “Christian” nationalism down the throats…
Stand up for trans folk who have no place to pee
I received an urgent call last week from one of my dearest transgender friends. He faced a horrible predicament. Apart from being transgender, my friend suffers from a rare autoimmune illness that, when it flares up, requires intensive hospital care….
It’s time for white Christians to take to the streets
My friend David Dark often posts on social media that there are lots of ways to love God. I have seen some of those forms of love recently, as have you. Since President Donald Trump unleashed masked ICE officers on…
Letter to the Editor: Secretary of War?
Dear Editor: Over the course of the past few days, in addition to the many other unhinged things the president has said and done, he’s announced the renaming of the Department of Defense as the “Department of War.” When questioned…
The veterans resisting the militarism in DC
Last weekend, I was in Washington, D.C., with a group of veterans pushing back against the occupation of the city by the National Guard and federal officials. As veterans, they believe it is their unique voice and responsibility to tell…
What to do if ICE shows up at your door
I’m self-soothing during these “unprecedented times” by learning about my Constitutional rights and teaching others. I’m not a lawyer and I can’t offer legal advice, but I can offer resources. If you, your employees or your neighbors and friends are…
The Department of War: A step backward for America
America once made a conscious choice to step away from the language of war. In 1947, President Harry S. Truman signed the National Security Act, reorganizing our armed forces after World War II. Two years later, the Department of War…
Donald Trump is neither strong nor masculine as president
Donald J. Trump may be the richest and oldest president in U.S. history, but beneath the glittering headlines lies a portrait of profound emotional and moral poverty — a leader marked not by strength, but by defensiveness, dishonesty, vanity and…