If empathy were a person, she would be in therapy for abuse. After a life of virtue, empathy has been cast into the street by an array of detractors as varied as billionaires, psychologists and evangelicals. The wealthiest man in…
What I found hiding in my church library
Some of my former fellow seminarians reminded me on social media at the beginning of this week that 31 years ago on March 9, 1994, Russell Dilday was fired by trustees as president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary after ultraconservatives…
CINO: Christian In Name Only
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21) We’ve all heard the term RINO. It means…
Politics, faith and mission: A conversation with Yolanda Pierce
Yolanda Pierce serves as dean of the Divinity School and Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair of Religion and Literature at Vanderbilt University. One of America’s vital theologians, Pierce was founding director of the Center for African American Religious Life at the Smithsonian…
Ronald Reagan and the Whole Trump
Just 10 days after Donald Trump’s inauguration for a second term, I wrote these words: The Pine Belt News: “On Inauguration Day, January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump commuted the sentences of the paramilitary members who had been convicted of…
Letter to the Editor: The moral urgency of abolishing the death penalty
Dear Editor: Imagine being given a choice on how you die, but the options are limited to electrocution, lethal injection or a firing squad. This isn’t a dystopian nightmare — it’s the grim decision forced upon Death Row inmates in…
The language of liberty
When President Donald Trump signed an executive order making English the official language of the nation his action was heralded by some as a unifying measure while raising concerns among others about the consequences it might have on the rights…
Project 2025, Elon Musk and the American coup d’état
Lately, many Americans are expressing frustration, wondering why federal judges appear incapable of stopping DOGE as Congress seems to just sit back quietly. Although the answer is somewhat complex, it can be broken down in relatively simple terms. You might…
The Cross and ‘Them’
Jesus’ death on the Cross was not a limited act only for his family, the 12, the other followers and some of the rest of the world that was salvageable. Imagine Jesus saying from the Cross, “Father, forgive my disciples,…
I’m a gay student at a nonaffirming seminary: Why?
Editor’s note: In rare circumstances, BNG will publish an opinion piece without a byline to protect the identity of the author. In this case, all identifying information has been removed to protect the seminary as well. The point of the…
12 things you can do to resist Trump’s reign of terror
“There’s nothing I can do,” two people lamented yesterday. Somewhere a Trump minion got their wings, or horns, more likely. Overwhelming us, discouraging us, and depressing us — that’s one goal of the flurry of executive orders, pronouncements and outrages…
An alternative Project 2025
Not since Y2K have we had a year whose mere mention conjures up so much anxious uncertainty. The Heritage Foundation ensured that with their infamous Project 2025 that launched a full-blown blitzkrieg on the federal government. There’s another way of…