Note: This post is an excerpt from a chapter titled “Juneteenth” in the author’s forthcoming book, Backslide: Reclaiming a Faith and a Nation After the Christian Turn Against Democracy, which will be published September 8 and is now available for pre-order....
Most Americans only encounter Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 if their child is one of the 8.5 million public school children with a 504 Plan. Whether they are dyslexic, have cerebral palsy or a temporarily broken leg,…
After his long days leading the U.S. House of Representatives, Speaker Mike Johnson retires to a nearby D.C. townhouse owned by a small activist Christian ministry that works to shape legislation on LGBTQ rights, Israel, the downsizing of the federal…
Editor’s note: This is the second in a five-part series on the Social Principles of The United Methodist Church and how they intersect current issues. In 1989, a United Methodist layman named Bill McKibben wrote a book he called…
Brent Laytham, a former professor of theology at North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago and currently running the ecumenical division of America’s first Catholic seminary, has edited a fascinating book titled God Is Not … . The book — written…
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take up a Colorado case that addresses one of the most controversial of all debates about homosexuality and the church: Is so-called “conversion therapy” legitimate or abusive? The largely discredited strategy of helping…
The Ash Wednesday liturgy in The Book of Common Prayer includes this reading: Dear People of God: The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church…
There is an ongoing effort by the Trump administration to erase the existence of transgender people. Since taking office in January, Trump has banned words like “gender,” “nonbinary” and “transgender” from government documents and websites; he’s ordered that all new…
When she was forced off the faculty of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and accused of heresy, Molly Marshall found “a scandalous providence preserved my vocation and my life’s work,” she recently recalled. Marshall, now president of United Theological Seminary of…
We have heard a great deal about efficiency lately. The current administration has made “efficiency” a buzzword that raises lots of concerns by the way it is being applied. It has led to the gross dismissal of thousands of civil…
The Oklahoma Supreme Court has temporarily blocked state school officials from purchasing Bibles and Scripture-based instructional materials for use in public school classrooms. The March 10 order bars Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters and the Oklahoma State Department…
A coalition of Democratic legislators has reintroduced the “Do No Harm Act” in the U.S. Congress with hopes of clarifying that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act cannot be used to harm others. The bill has been reintroduced every year since…
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…
