The stories of Graham Platner and Roy Moore, although unfolding in different parties and different eras, trace the same institutional pattern: Modern political parties elevate outsiders when they are useful and abandon them when they become inconvenient. Platner and Moore...
The nature of bullies is to strike fear in the hearts of their targets in order to demand compliance with their own self-aggrandizement. Donald Trump is a classic bully, and he just made ABC News bow down to him on…
Fifty years ago, on Dec. 17, 1974, I had my initial interview at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. With one semester to go toward completing the Ph.D. program at Boston University School of Theology, I mailed my resume…
The color line in the American religious electorate As has been the case for the last four decades, when the political parties began sorting themselves along ethno-religious lines in the wake of the Civil Rights movement, the largest voting divides…
Race, religion and Christian nationalism were among the top influencers of presidential voting in the 2024 election, according to new polling by Public Religion Research Institute. Half of all U.S. voters chose Republican Donald Trump on Election Day compared to…
Hope and jubilation were palpable at the United Methodist General Conference in Spring 2024. Conservative forces that had hammered away at the denomination for more than half a century had decamped, unfortunately taking with them more than 7,600 local congregations,…
Advent feels paradoxically heavy and elusive this year. Jan. 20 looms large on the horizon beyond Dec. 25. Many people I know, including myself, are hoping against hope things won’t be as bad as we fear. That Trump’s retributive, hate-filled…
It is incomprehensible that opponents of President-elect Donald Trump criticize his efforts to commemorate historical events and memorable occasions from our recent national story by offering personal souvenirs to his fellow Americans. After all, he is simply following the footsteps…
AJ Sherrill hopes Christians will slow down enough this Christmas to hear the story anew. “Familiarity of the Christmas story can breed a lot of apathy, when we think we know everything there is to know,” he said. “We stop…
To begin with, we didn’t make enough bulletins for the large crowd that attended. So, 3 minutes before the service began, I found myself in the church office running off additional bulletins while simultaneously putting my clergy robe on, hooking…
The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States can’t stay off the political hot seat. There’s a bill now before the U.S. Senate, known as the PRESS Act — the Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying Act —…
A suburban Houston school district has banned 34 books this fall in a show of force by trustees supported by a coalition of Christian nationalist advocacy groups that has ties to a former Southern Baptist pastor in Houston. By some…
Americans have numerous opportunities to push back against Christian nationalism without engaging conservative relatives during holiday gatherings, Amanda Tyler said in a webinar about her new book, How to End Christian Nationalism. Anyone thinking about raising the topic at a…
