There was a time when Black Republicans like Frederick Douglass championed the cause of racial justice. They were the “progressives” of their day. None were perfect, but most had a sense of integrity. Colin Powell comes to mind when I…
How the party of business came to embrace anti-immigrant policies bad for business
Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant policies have so reshaped the Republican Party that the party once known as being driven by business interests nearly wholeheartedly favors a policy that would wreck the U.S. economy. That policy is mass deportation of immigrants living…
Politics, faith and mission: A conversation with Nancy French
I’ve known Nancy French for some years now, if by “know” we count social media connection, which I do. I’ve gotten out of the habit of talking about disagreements with people; I look for places of connection and ask whether…
Opposing Trump secretly isn’t enough
On Jan. 26, 2022, my opinion piece, “Where are the Good Republicans?” was published by BNG. The article was prompted by the Senate’s defeat of two voting rights bills — the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting…
David French says he’ll vote for Kamala Harris to save conservativism
A high-profile conservative evangelical influencer announced Aug. 11 he’ll vote for Kamala Harris in an effort to save conservativism. New York Times columnist David French and his wife, Nancy French, already have become persona non grata in some evangelical circles…
After decades of advances, support for LGBTQ rights slipping slightly
After reaching an all-time high of 55% in 2021 and 2022, Republican support for same-sex marriage fell to an all-time low of 46% in 2024, even among the party’s youngest voters. This was true for a June Gallup poll and…
What JD Vance and Harrison Butker have in common
The most disturbing truth we’re learning this week about Republican Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance isn’t his demonization of the poor in Appalachia, his words about staying in abusive marriages for the sake of the kids, his claim that becoming pregnant through rape is an…
The theology behind the Christian nationalist view on immigration
The second night of the Republican National Convention focused on the party’s No. 1 issue — immigration. Donald Trump scuttled a bipartisan Senate bill on immigration and border security just so he could campaign on the immigration crisis at America’s…
The hypocrisy of House Speaker Mike Johnson
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday that “when the message goes out constantly that the election of Donald Trump would be a threat to democracy and that the republic would end, it heats up the environment.” Johnson called for…