As Advent morphed into Christmas 2023, immigration, a poignant subplot of the Nativity stories, spilled literally and figuratively into the American public square. Immigrants by the thousands jam multiple border crossings in record numbers, creating untold humanitarian and logistical dilemmas…
Evangelicals and a happy new year
’Twas the night before the night before Christmas and the preacher was being stirred by the memory of a childhood experience. Walking down the street, listening to his transistor radio playing the holiday classic “Snoopy’s Christmas.” This merry little Christmas…
Six New Year’s resolutions to move us ‘closer to fine’ in 2024
I’m not big on New Year’s resolutions. After all, we mostly don’t keep them. Given what we’re facing in 2024, however, it might be a good idea for us to think about how we can avoid a repeat of the…
One thing that must happen in 2024
For the sake of the world, for the sake of the church, for the sake of the nation, for the sake of the truth, one thing must happen in 2024: Donald Trump must be defeated. Not just defeated in the…
Letter to the Editor: Donald Trump is no Christian
December 21, 2023 Dear Editor: On numerous occasions, Donald Trump has disparaged our military. Concerning prisoners of war, Trump said about John McCain, “He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.” Concerning those…
As Trump stokes more fear, immigration advocates plead with Biden administration not to succumb
Human rights advocates are pleading with the Biden administration to take legal action to block new Texas laws designed to counter illegal border crossings and to give state law enforcement officers the right to arrest undocumented immigrants. Gov. Greg Abbott…
‘What the hell is wrong with these people?’: An Advent message on Christian white nationalism and the end of America
You may have seen Atlantic Monthly writer Tim Alberta on air talking about why he wrote his new bestseller, The Kingdom, The Power, and the Glory, one of a trio of extraordinary books out this fall warning about white supremacy…
Are young voters switching to Trump over Israel’s war?
Young voters supporting Donald Trump over Joe Biden makes me catch my breath. How is it possible that an indicted insurrectionist who lies routinely has such support among young people? Have our young people lost their collective minds? But yet…
Vote Common Good challenges evangelicals and Catholics to dump Trump and forsake Christian nationalism
Politics always was secondary for Doug Pagitt, who spent three decades serving as a pastor in Minnesota. He served at Wooddale Church under Leith Anderson, president of the National of Association of Evangelicals, and later founded Solomon’s Porch, an innovative…
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…
Republican supporters of Donald Trump share this trait, Pew Research finds
An unwillingness to compromise is a common denominator among supporters of Donald Trump in his bid to return to the White House, according to Pew Research. A new national survey of Republican and Republican-leaning registered voters found 63% believe it…
Robert Reich was right in 1994, and we must pay attention now
Thirty years ago, Secretary of Labor Robert Reich saw something on the horizon most of us missed. He spoke to the 1994 Democratic Leadership Council: My friends, we are on the way to becoming a two-tiered society composed of a…