The day after the election, a good friend who is a conservative Republican called to check on me, realizing I would be in a puddle of disbelief. My friend, who is a seminary-educated Southern Baptist and very smart, told me…
Take America backward
The last time this happened, I met with two other ministers in a bottle shop. The owner opened up early for us. We filed in with bags under our eyes, proof we stayed awake too late watching news outlets and…
I tried to analyze a Donald Trump speech
Listening to a Trump rally speech is like driving in a major city with no traffic lights, stop signs, cautions or rules. “Hammer down, pedal to the metal,” demolition derby from start to finish. Trump, long a master of not…
This is how to defeat Trump’s fascist movement
It is only a matter of time before Donald Trump’s hateful fascist rhetoric incites some of his followers to engage in violence against immigrants, women, people of color, LGBTQ people, members of the news media, election officials and others who…
I live in North Carolina and see FEMA’s presence every day
In the summer of 2016, I was serving on staff at a large United Methodist Church in downtown Raleigh, N.C., while attending Duke University Divinity School. One day I walked into the senior pastor’s office to speak to him on…
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…
If you plan to vote for Donald Trump …
If you plan to vote for Donald Trump, it is your right to vote for the candidate of your choice. Just be aware the candidate of your choice doesn’t want the rest of us to have a choice in the…
Bullshit
In 1916, a 26-year-old Darley Hiden Ramsey submitted a motto for the newly commissioned town seal of Asheville, N.C. His choice, levavi oculos meos in montes, “I lift my eyes to the hills” was taken from Psalm 121. Scholars consider…