The 2025 film Nuremberg tells the story of the trials that followed the fall of Nazi Germany. It focuses on the prosecution of leading Nazi officials after the war, especially Hermann Göring, Adolf Hitler’s second in command. The film also highlights…
Is Wicked: For Good the gospel story we all need this Advent?
An unconventional Christmas tree sits in our living room this year. Sparkly pink trimming wraps around its breadth. Green and white striped candy canes hang from the branches, and twinkling jade lights glow in their midst. A thin gold ribbon…
Lisbon to Auschwitz to Alligator Alcatraz: Cruelty and the human face of evil
There are few things more characteristic of the Trump regime than cruelty, often gratuitous cruelty. It is the human face of evil in one of its most repellent forms. Susan Nieman, in her masterful work Evil In Modern Thought: An…
‘We are on the side of God,’ Stephen Miller says
Enemies of the MAGA movement “have nothing,” Stephen Miller said at Charlie Kirk’s memorial service Sunday morning. But conservatives, on the other hand, “are on the side of God.” Miller, who has been called the mastermind behind the most controversial…
Don’t be a Stormtrooper: Moral clarity in story and in life
As someone who has fond memories of watching the original Star Wars in the theater, I will confess I am drawn to the meme of Star Wars stormtroopers in their off hours — hanging in the break room, eating lunch,…
The evil among us
This week, Christians around the world begin the observance of Lent — a period of repentance and self-reflection. It is no accident that the Revised Common Lectionary includes the story of Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness in the readings for…
Repent, for the kingdom of God is near
For too long, we have given deference to those of you who have supported and enabled Donald Trump and the MAGA movement. We have feared losing relationships, losing family, offending friends, dividing churches. We’ve bristled when you’ve accused us of…
What happened to ‘friendship evangelism’?
My grandpa, Edwin Penner, mortgaged his house to build our hometown Baptist church in Chico, Calif. Once built, he drove his Dodge pickup over every Sunday at 6 a.m. to turn on the heat or air conditioning for the comfort…
Did God protect Donald Trump?
Immediately after the horrific assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, some people of faith began claiming God protected him. For example, Franklin Graham unequivocally pronounced, “God spared his life.” But that popular affirmation raises difficult questions, which even Graham…
The truth about police brutality
Leadership is a privilege. It is not a right. I wonder when we will get that through our thick skulls. Jesus said rather plainly, “To whom much is given, much is required,” which underlines the differentiated, increased expectations that come…
Putin needs to be taken down
Someone needs to take down Vladimir Putin. Last week’s brazen attack on a residential building in Dnipro, Ukraine, is only the latest in a year’s worth of horrifying atrocities set in motion by one man alone — Putin. And for…
The evil that men do
In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, the Bard suggests that the memories of greatness or good someone has done fade from view far sooner than do the effects of evil done by the same person: “The evil that men do lives after…