“Do you believe I am unwittingly supporting the Antichrist?” Benjamin Cole asked BNG Executive Director Mark Wingfield in perhaps the most contentious episode of BNG’s “Stuck in the Middle with You” podcast to date. In an hour-long conversation on current politics, the…
Donald Trump’s January 6 insurrection is now a coup
On Feb. 2, private actors reportedly employed by Elon Musk took over U.S. Treasury computer systems that control the nation’s payments for government benefits. That action followed a Trump-ordered takeover of the USAID independent federal agency responsible for distributing foreign…
MAGA ramps up attacks on US Christian groups
Donald Trump and his allies are widening their attacks on religious groups compassionate toward immigrants, refugees, the poor and LGBTQ people. The Catholic and Episcopal churches have faced the heat from the MAGA movement for some time and are again…
Theologians push back on JD Vance’s view of ‘ordered love’
Vice President JD Vance is getting schooled by theologians over his inverted theology expressed in a Jan. 29 interview on Fox News. What Vance said: “There’s this old school — and I think it’s a very Christian concept, by the…
Trump world throws tomatoes at Phil Vischer
To understand how viciously MAGA world — including evangelical Christians — has turned against immigrants of all kinds, consider the plight of Phil Vischer. You probably know him as the creator of the “Veggie Tales” videos for kids or maybe…
Catholic leaders and JD Vance spar over immigration doctrine
Vice President JD Vance and the Catholic Church — of which he is a member — are at odds over U.S. immigration policy. With less than a week in office, President Donald Trump has begun swiftly implementing anti-immigrant and anti-refugee…
How will your grandchildren look back on your vote this year?
Driving around my neighborhood in North Dallas, I’ve noticed an unspoken correlation with political yard signs this fall. Because we’ve lived in the same house for 25 years, I have a pretty good idea of who my neighbors are. It…
JD Vance’s ‘Courage Tour’ appearance may have broken laws
GOP vice presidential candidate JD Vance’s Sept. 28 appearance during a Pennsylvania stop on Lance Wallnau’s “Courage Tour” may have broken nonprofit tax law. Ziklag, the deep-pocketed but little known nonprofit that helped underwrite the Pentecostalism-meets-politics swing state tour, may…
Why Trump’s pledge of free IVF for anyone divides his own party
Donald Trump’s recent announcement that, if sent back to the White House, either the government or insurance companies would pay for IVF “for all Americans that get it, all Americans that need it,” was greeted with a mixture of surprise…
ELCA bishops warn about ‘hate-fueled’ political lies
Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America issued a letter Oct. 1 to “condemn the hateful, deceptive, violent speech that has too readily found a place in our national discourse.” The letter from the Council of Bishops said: “We…
Ye shall know the truth, and?
On Thursday, Oct. 2, I exited the Winston-Salem Costco with products purchased for home and the storm-ravaged North Carolina mountains. At that moment, a man and a woman were loading a large pickup truck parked next to my car with…
Abortion, immigration and January 6: Christians from both sides react to VP debate
While Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate between Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was a notably civil and issue-focused affair, Christian supporters rallied online for their preferred candidates and, more often, attacked the opposing candidate. The debate…