In the wake of the violence of January 6, 2021, some observers wondered why the insurrectionists at the U.S. Capitol weren’t charged with domestic terrorism. The reason is simple: There is no standalone federal crime on the books for domestic...
The second stop on Turning Point USA’s “This Is the Turning Point” college tour didn’t go so well April 14. Erika Kirk cancelled her appearance at her own organization’s event, citing security concerns, but U.S. Vice President JD Vance attended…
The AI image President Donald Trump posted of himself as Jesus is a sobering reminder not of how much Trump is obsessed with himself, but of how white evangelicals serve a higher power than Trump, and what that higher power…
I recall Helms and I, while co-pastors of a congregation for about five years, working through the following church life issues: The color of the new carpet Whether (and how) to remove the American flag from the sanctuary Guiding the…
Some stories are so stupidly simple they virtually write themselves. This is one such article. But bear with me a moment, please, for just a splash of embellishment. Here’s the stupidly simple part: U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who speaks…
Whatever its specious rationales and eventual outcomes, one underlying fact about the war in Iran is clear: What is largely fueling this dangerously combustible conflict is essentially a clash of fundamentalisms — Islamic, Jewish and Christian. When speaking of Islam generally, it is important to state emphatically that most of the world’s Muslims are peaceable peoples. (In my former role as a leader of the Alliance of Baptists, we entered…
The recent entirely predictable online attack by Donald Trump on Pope Leo XIV has made an argument over values into a personal dispute. But the issue between the two men is not a personal dispute. It is instead a powerful…
There’s yet another new Trump book available. Paul A. Pomerville has written Why Didn’t Evangelicals “See Him Coming”? with the subtitle Donald J. Trump’s Deception and Dismantling of American Democracy. Why bother with another Trump book? Books and articles about…
It is high time we ceased calling nationalism “Christian.” There is nothing Christian about American nationalism. Christians, especially, should lead the way. The origin of the name “Christian” is recorded in Acts 11:26: “The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.” A…
On July 20, 1969, an estimated 650 million people — roughly 20% of the world’s population — gathered around television sets to witness history. Descending from a ladder out of the lunar module, Neil Armstrong stepped onto the surface of…
One of the most common T-shirts, caps and banners displayed during the Jan. 6 insurrection says, “Jesus is My Savior, Trump is my President.” But Donald Trump erased the line between savior and president last Sunday evening by posting an…
In the 1960s, I was in my late 40s. The popular song “From Both Sides Now,” written by Canadian Joni Mitchell, found me through the singer Judy Collins. The song takes us on a journey from “I’ve looked at clouds…
I would have been less surprised seeing an elephant walking past — carrying a Raja, with rubies, perched high on a throne. I certainly would have felt less nervous for the elephant’s and the Raja’s well-being. What I saw took…
