The Washington, D.C.-area offices of nonprofit groups that provide legal services to unaccompanied immigrant children were recently visited by federal agents in what some of the organizations described as a campaign of intimidation. Kids In Need of Defense, or KIND,…
Report documents Trump admin’s neglect of children in detention
An average of 25 children age 3 or younger are in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody daily while no fewer than 500 infants and toddlers have been detained since President Donald Trump took office last year, according to a study…
We are manna
I’ve been tired, and I know I’m not alone in that. People are tired. Not inconvenienced. Not stressed but tired, bone tired as the seasoned saints used to say. Wars are waging in the Congo, Iran and Palestine while cable…
How bad theology has set us up for sexualized AI deepfakes
Given the research I conduct for writing, the ads my algorithm sends me can be all over the map. Nothing ever surprises me. But after looking into the recent story about 62 million visits to a website that contained instructions…
We are a nation of bullies
“Mommy, Jason is being mean to me, and I can’t get him to stop!” My 6-year-old daughter was calling from her hour-long school bus ride home (no, she doesn’t have a phone but uses a Fitbit watch for emergencies). In…
Protecting the gift: A call to parental vigilance
I am writing this article specifically for parents raising children in today’s world. As a new church plant, our congregation has been blessed with many children, and our recent parenting class has shown just how much this topic matters to…
Good Friday: Empty chairs at empty tables
The morning began the way mornings are supposed to begin. Children arrived with backpacks slung over their shoulders, voices rising and falling in the easy rhythm of laughter and routine. Classrooms filled. Lessons began. It was, in every visible way,…
Letter to my mother, my pastor
Dear Momma, Every March the church pauses to name Baptist Women in Ministry Month. Churches host panels, women write articles, women fill pulpits and deliver sermons about the long road women have walked just to stand behind a pulpit as…
Why you gotta be so mean?
Someone posted this question on Reddit: “What’s the most hurtful thing anyone has ever said to you?” You might be surprised by how many were willing to reopen deep wounds by sharing the harshest words they have received. One woman…
Are we OK with children going missing?
A child was taken. Taken from routine. Taken from familiarity. Taken from the quiet assumptions that adults would keep him safe. Five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, moved across state lines, shipped to Texas…
The church should be more like Ms. Rachel
The recent anniversary of the adoption of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child on Nov. 20 begs the question: How can the church faithfully live out the calls of World Children’s Day while the war in Gaza…
Court stops Trump’s middle-of-the-night deportation of children
Some of President Trump’s immigration policies suffered a setback in one federal court and a victory in another. In one case, a federal judge temporarily barred the administration from swiftly deporting nearly 330 Guatemalan children under the premise of reuniting…