I was given my first gun around age 10 to 12. It was a pellet rifle, which I still have today. My second gun was a 12-gauge double-barrel shotgun, a gift at about age 14, which I still have but only…
November 22, 1963, took my life in a new direction
November 22, 1963, was a Friday. It began normally. I was a junior at Tallulah High School in Tallulah, Louisiana. After lunch that day we were scheduled to attend an assembly in the gymnasium. Between lunch and the assembly word…
If Supreme Court is consistent on valuing life, it will keep ban on domestic abusers bearing arms
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in U.S. v. Rahimi, a case about whether abusers subject to domestic violence restraining orders have a Second Amendment right to bear arms. Their decision will reveal whether the Court’s conservative…
The fifth freedom: freedom from hate
The following message was delivered by Jimmy R. Allen, then secretary of the Christian Life Commission of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, at the Oak Cliff Community Thanksgiving Service, 1963 — six days after the assassination of President John…
Blessed are the public figures for they will be shown mercy
As Christians and consumers, what can we do to prevent our favorite public Christian figures from feeling like they are subjects to us? Even as Christians, we are fans from various genres of music and worship and inspiration. We can…
November 22, then and now
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 35th president of the United States, spent the last night of his life in the iconic Texas Hotel in Fort Worth. On the morning of Nov. 22, 1963, he attended a Chamber of Commerce breakfast, then mounted…
Orientalism and Gaza
I participated in one of the most beautiful and powerful conferences, “Land, People and Culture,” held at Dar al-Kalima University in Palestine, organized by Mitri Raheb. It was a transformative conference for me in so many ways as I got…
A brief history of word choice and Bible abuse
From historian Randall Balmer I learned the medical/moral matter of abortion became a late-date toss-in to the cynical Southern strategy of GOP thinkers in the 1970s. It gave them a new wedge to use in dividing the Bible Belt: Elevate…
In Gaza, ceasefire is the necessary moral solution
What we have witnessed in the Holy Land is a catastrophe, and Christians must do our part to end the violence. The terrorist attacks by Hamas against Israelis on Oct. 7 were abominable. This month’s long war in Gaza, which…