In my most recent column I drew attention to the certainty gap between American evangelicals and mainline Protestants. While 85% of evangelicals and 82% of Black Protestants believe in God without a shadow of a doubt, the same can only…
Man-made catastrophes devour possibility of ending hunger
A perfect storm of war, pestilence and budget cuts has dashed any hope of ending national and global hunger by 2030, anti-poverty advocates say. The United Nations set a goal in 2015 of eradicating global food insecurity by the end…
‘Pro-family’ policies may worsen American women’s maternal health
Christian groups that identify as “pro-family” say America’s declining birth rates are an urgent crisis, and they support President Trump’s efforts to spawn a “baby boom.” But policies promoted by these groups may actually make becoming mothers more difficult —…
American politics: Where courage goes to die
Since Donald Trump returned to power Jan. 20, I have watched people and institutions cave to demands of the president. Are we witnessing a growing tribe of neo-cowards? Has cowardice become a political necessity? As the Master of Wakefield asked,…
Trump tries to criminalize homelessness
Claiming the nation is under threat from unhoused people, the Trump administration has announced “a new approach” to ending homelessness that includes expanded police powers and mass incarceration. “Shifting homeless individuals into long-term institutional settings for humane treatment through the…
How a tribal religion of a tribal god is in charge in America
I am in a state of theological outrage. It has to do with how Donald Trump’s narrow escape from an assassin’s bullet has been used to claim divine intervention to save his life, a claim that no doubt aided his…
Trump’s religious rhetoric clashes with Canada’s secular politics
Throughout his new term, starting with his inaugural address, President Donald Trump has said he was “saved by God” to make America great again. In Canada, Prime Minister Mark Carney rarely evokes religion in public; his victory speech in April never…
Another stroke of cruelty
The current administration is preparing to destroy $9.7 million in U.S.-purchased contraceptives destined for women overseas following the dismantling of foreign assistance programs under USAID. There is a callous meanness in this action from a “Christian In Name Only” (CINO)…
Federal employees can pray and preach in the workplace under new Trump rules
Federal employees can preach in the workplace under new guidelines issued Monday by the Trump administration that have alarmed advocates for the separation of church and state.
Why Trump’s time is almost up
In the 1980s, Ronald Reagan, a celebrity Democrat turned Republican president, granted an Australian named Rupert Murdoch U.S. citizenship after being in the country for only one year. Reagan then ordered his FCC chairman to scrap the Fairness Doctrine that…
2024 election explained in three metaphors
How Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election, after exhaustive evaluations by pundits, pollsters and political scientists, remains an enigma. I read all the number-crunching explanations I could Google. The Pew Research quantitative analysis of the election results was the…
DOGE Comes for Catholic Education
The dizzying Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) news cycle may seem to many like the distant past, but the slimming down of the federal government continues.