Christians often have been reminded that some of their forebears supported slavery, but many do not know Christians ended slavery in the United States. Southern Baptists, in particular, frequently are reminded their convention began amid the defense of slavery. Yet...
“Blessed to be a blessing.” I’ve heard it a million times. You have, too, if you go to the kind of church that recycles catchy slogans (which is most churches). Sure, it’s a cliche. But I like it. Because it…
The man elected to lead Oklahoma public schools for the next four years believes the state’s teachers all need remedial education from a conservative evangelical school in Michigan in order to teach “true history” that favors “Judeo-Christian values.” Republican candidate…
Antisemitism, one of the world’s earliest and most enduring conspiracy theories, is again rearing its ugly head. With origins in ancient Greece, antisemitism became a hallmark of Christian-Jewish relations across the centuries. It is with us yet. Writing in the…
Americans who embrace democracy and shun conspiracy theories have reason to be cautiously optimistic about the U.S. political system after the 2022 midterm elections, said Norman Eisen, founder and executive chair of the States United Democracy Center. Nov. 8 was…
As dire as the global climate crisis is, human action to mitigate disaster actually has made the future less bad than it would have been, according to one of the world’s foremost climate scientists — who also happens to be…
Veterans Day doesn’t lend itself to commercial attention like its twin, Memorial Day, probably because it’s squeezed between two other cash-registering holidays, Halloween and Thanksgiving, and it does not coincide with a car-cultural observance like the Indy 500 auto race….
Theological education has been my life’s work, and it has been a joyful and traumatic pursuit at three schools: Southern Seminary, Central Seminary, and now United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities. I would consider myself blessed to have labored…
Churches and individual Christians must become more ardent in their opposition to Christian nationalism in the wake of the midterm elections, according to John Dorhauer, general minister and president of the United Church of Christ. “We must seek to engage…
This election season has been a hard spiritual journey, as well as a grimy political slog. Rancor ran rampant, spilling out of campaign rallies and whistlestops, bounding onto our screens. Candidates mongered fear, amplified animosity and spewed indignation. Now, we…
A Baptist pastor in North Carolina won his race for the local school board Nov. 8, pledging to stand against the national movement to cast doubt on public education and limit the teaching of race and American history. Alan Sherouse,…
Moderates are such an endangered species that even when you see one in the wild, they’re easy to miss. Pick your favorite hot button topic of the day and you can likely summarize what the left and what the right…
In any other year, the following fact would have been a minor footnote in a story about United Methodists electing a gay male pastor as bishop in defiance of the denomination’s official ban on gay ministers: Cedrick Bridgeforth is a…
