The conservative evangelical agenda to define any discussion with children of sexual orientation or gender identity as sexually perverse could become federal law if a group of Republican Congressmen get their way. Rep. Mike Johnson, a Southern Baptist from Louisiana,…
An agnostic teaches us about Jesus
Nearly a decade ago, I had a pleasant surprise. I received an email from a friend I had not seen or heard from since the late 1960s. Charles lived two doors down from us, and we spent many hours playing…
Three Catholic governors shipping migrants for political points are practicing ‘fake religion,’ Wallis says
Claiming to be faithful Catholics while shipping bewildered refugees by plane and bus to other states is a case of “fake religion” for the governors of Arizona, Florida and Texas, Sojourners magazine founder Jim Wallis said during a virtual press…
Religious groups step up as DeSantis and Abbott make immigrants pawns for publicity
Religious groups are teaming with migrant advocacy networks and government agencies to serve asylum seekers recently sent by bus to Washington, D.C., and by plane to Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., by the governors of Arizona, Texas and Florida to protest White…
Butler and Barr connect the dots between race and gender and patriarchy
“Race and gender and patriarchy always go together,” Beth Allison Barr said at the outset of a lively conversation with Anthea Butler during the Friends of BNG dinner June 30 in Dallas. Barr, a history professor at Baylor University and…
Rights, responsibilities and the two-fold commandment of love: A reflection on gun violence in America
“I did not want to weep for Martin; tears seemed futile. But I may also have been afraid, and could not have been the only one, that if I began to weep, I would not be able to stop.” James…
In reelection year, Texas governor proposes statewide voucher program for private schools
All 5 million schoolchildren in Texas should be eligible to attend private or charter schools using government funds, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced May 9. Abbott’s public advocacy for a plan even his conservative allies have opposed drew an immediate…
The politics of nothing and the enabling church
There’s a politics loose in our democracy that is all about nothing. The evangelical church serves as the incubator and enabler of the politics of nothing. This is not a sermon, but it suggests a biblical text: “The grass withers,…
Please pay attention to the plight of transgender children and their families
Here’s something I’ve learned along the way: Good people are too busy with their lives and the pandemic and watching the war in Ukraine to get involved in the plight of transgender children and their families under attack right now….
Texas officials’ new attack on transgender care called a ‘political ploy’ at the expense of children
One week before statewide primary elections, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton launched an attack on the state’s transgender children and their families, threatening to charge parents and care providers with child abuse. “It is clearly…
Faithful discomfort: Why white Americans need to be offended
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott recently announced his support for a Parent’s Bill of Rights, a new but oh-so-familiar offering from conservatives that seeks to bar librarians and teachers in public schools from offering access to facts and stories that stand…
Everything you need to know about the rise in efforts to ban books from libraries
Remember those quaint days when some people tried to ban the Harry Potter books from libraries because they were sure kids would learn how to cast spells if they read the fictional accounts of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?…