On Jan. 20, Donald Trump will take the presidential oath of office on the day set aside to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. This convergence crystallizes the United States’ ongoing struggle between competing visions of faith and politics in…
Churches must preach the truth on vaccines
One simple way churches could proclaim truth in an era of Trumpian disinformation is to speak plainly about the importance of vaccines. At the height of the COVID pandemic, as many Americans were resistant to what they considered an untested…
How I learned to stop obsessing over lust and you can too
This second week of January is likely hard for plenty of evangelical men who made New Year’s resolutions not to lust. I know, because I used to be one of them. Even President Jimmy Carter had to deal with this….
Stubborn frugality vs. willful extravagance
On Saturday, Jan. 4, former President Jimmy Carter’s body made the final journey from his home in Plains, Ga., to the Carter Center in Atlanta, where he had been so many times since its establishment 42 years ago. The remains…
Caged and aged
Here in Mississippi, we cage and age people. The United States imprisons 311 out of every 100,000 residents, according to a 2023 report from the Department of Justice. Mississippi imprisons more than twice that number at 661 people per 100,000. Compounded by…
The (unforgivable?) sins of the white American church
The sins of the white American church began early on and have continued unabated ever since. For example, large numbers of American Christians enthusiastically supported the genocide of Native Americans, fiercely defended slavery, actively participated in Jim Crow segregation, and…
Harsh times offer progressives an opportunity to restore Christianity’s good name
Through deeds of kindness and love, progressive Christians will have a chance to redeem the good name “Christian” during the harsh era to come. This restoration is needed as never before in our lifetimes. But it is not unprecedented. Early…
The death of truth
Remember way back in 2017, when it felt sort of quaint for Kellyanne Conway, then special adviser to President Donald Trump, to introduce the term “alternative facts” as a euphemism for the lying that characterized Trump and those around him?…
Richard Hays was a great scholar and a better human being
Richard B. Hays, George Washington Ivey Professor Emeritus of New Testament and former dean at Duke University Divinity School, faced many health challenges in recent years with grace and faith. Many family members, friends and former students now mourn his…
A peaceful January 6 offers little reassurance about our democracy
On Sept. 11, 2024, two months prior to the 2024 election, the Secretary of Homeland Security designated Jan. 6, 2025, as a “National Special Security Event.” The press release announcing this decision explained this designation had been made based on recommendations from…
Letter to the Editor: The misnamed ‘conservative resurgence’
Dear Editor: I enjoyed your recent article on discovering the history of the phrase “conservative resurgence.” I appreciated reading about the frustrating walk you and your colleagues had in describing the events at the time. Pastors and journalists share the…
‘He’s only the governor of Georgia …’
I stood at the front of the press corps on the White House lawn on Oct. 6, 1979, as President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter emerged from the front door to greet Pope John Paul II, who had…