Recently, a friend asked, “Has American culture gone completely mad?” Today, I’d add to that troubling question this troubled response: “It’s not just that American culture has gone mad, it’s also gone mean. Meanness, to quote a Bette Midler song,…
Everything’s getting on my last nerve
I don’t know about you, but, I tell you, right now, pretty much everything is getting on my last nerve. People who refuse to get vaccinated are getting on my last nerve. Ditto people who won’t wear masks. Republican obstructionism…
No more airtime, Mr. President!
I watch the news on television every day, more than once a day. In the past several months of election rancor, I often watched or listened all day. In that period of all-day news, I sometimes neglected the more weighty…
Four ways to recognize a bully in your church
It was five minutes before worship, and I was greeting people at the sanctuary entrance. The contemporary service was about to begin when a gentleman who usually frequented our traditional service came through the door. After seeing the stage (drums…
I have a few choice words for people protesting public health directives. Then I hear that still, small voice.
As disciples of Jesus, we do not have the luxury of hating people, writing people off, dehumanizing them or wishing them ill, even when they are acting in the worst ways possible.
Carrie Newcomer, Christian kindness and making room at the table for everyone
It’s time to turn our personal kindness into political kindness, to turn love into policy, to speak truth and to be the people God calls us to be, in person and in policy.
‘Righteous anger’ is the wrong motivation for the work of God’s justice
For many progressive Christians, young and old, righteous anger has become our pièce de résistance. But anger, no matter how righteous, puts our spirit in the wrong position.
In divisive times, can we find ways to let our ‘better angels’ show?
My advice for living faithfully in these troubled times: Listen carefully to others, speak the truth in love and then . . . well, leave the rest to God.
As a pastor, I tried engaging the issue of abortion with Facebook friends. Here’s what I learned
No matter if we are talking about abortion, LGBTQI issues or politics, we need to stop thinking we can change the world with an angry Facebook post or a partisan online article. We need face-to face conversations that humanize one another.