Not long ago, I was sitting with a friend who is building his own business. He works long days, serves people well and is doing what Americans always have been told to do: Work hard, take responsibility and keep pushing…
An American experiment: 250 years of trying
The American experiment continues. We keep on trying. Yet turmoil, division, distrust, confusion and misinformation batter us daily. Demagogues leverage social cleavage and manipulate nativistic fears. We feel increasingly undone. Our tendency is to somehow believe this is a new…
10 reasons America is not a ‘Christian nation’
For generations, many Americans have described the United States as a “Christian nation.” The phrase appears in political speeches, church sermons, social media debates and campaign rhetoric. Yet history and Scripture raise an important question: If a nation truly sought…
Americans value freedom but there are differences on what it means
America’s 250th birthday prompted researchers at Navigator to ask Americans how they define America, patriotism and what our country should aspire to. The result was 82% of Americans across all generations saying they believe freedom is an extremely important value,…
America needs grace
Everyone needs grace. Republicans, Democrats and independents need grace. Undocumented immigrants and Christian nationalists need grace. People of color and people of privilege need grace. Young and old, rich and poor, gendered and non-gendered, more or less educated, born in…
America’s moral emergency
As our nation celebrates its 249th birthday, we find ourselves in a time of moral emergency. The seven deadly sins of Western Christianity are being paraded as virtues by our most powerful and wealthy, and the classical virtues of our…
How would Jesus judge America?
Judgment is not my favorite subject. I’d rather speak about grace. However, I cannot deny that Jesus, at least in the memory of the Gospel writers, mentioned judgment on numerous occasions. Which has me wondering, if Jesus were to visit…
Was America born as a Christian nation? It’s more complicated than that
No one markets products like evangelical preachers and Donald Trump. While Trump sells Bibles and golden sneakers and politics, Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Dallas is selling copies of his coffee table book version of his annual July 4 sermon…
Vital life lessons learned on the Camino de Santiago
“Buen Camino.” This is the phrase every pilgrim uses on the Camino de Santiago — a 500-mile spiritual pilgrimage in Spain — when walking past another pilgrim. Considering my walking pace was slower than everyone else’s, I often heard, “Buen…
No, Mr. Trump, America is not going to hell
After Donald Trump’s conviction in his Manhattan trial, he said, “Our whole country is being rigged” and “has gone to hell.” Then he added, “We’re a nation in decline, serious decline. Millions and millions of people, pouring into our country…
Most Americans believe democracy is at risk in 2024 — but for different reasons
Election-related pessimism, paranoia and predictions of political violence are among the key findings of the 14th annual American Values survey, author and pollster Robert P. Jones said. “One of the things we’re finding is that the political temperature in America…
My heart and my mind are in conflict about Israel and Hamas
The unexpected Hamas incursion into Israel, and the resultant deaths that are yet occurring, bring to mind our own experience of 9/11. The rhetorical choices made after 9/11 included labeling the attackers as “terrorists” rather than “criminals,” designating 9/11 as…