My paternal grandfather was a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force and the personal pilot for the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan from 1967 to 1970. My father actually graduated from the American School in Kabul in 1970 before he, his…
A prayer for peace in the Holy Lands
On Oct. 7, 2023, the American Airlines flight I was on landed at Tel Aviv Airport at about 5 p.m. local time. I’d slept most of the flight and was completely oblivious to what was happening in the world. Imagine…
I just left The United Methodist Church for an Alliance of Baptists congregation
Those of us in the Mainline Protestant traditions who still find community in church settings often feel an allegiance to whichever denomination we were raised in. In my case, I was baptized and confirmed in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and…
The shocking things I witnessed at the Texas Board of Education
Recently I traveled to Austin, Texas, to testify against the new curriculum proposed by the Texas Education Agency. This curriculum was orchestrated by TEA’s Commissioner, Mike Morath, whom Texas. Gov. Gregg Abbott hand-picked to lead the agency. Morath has refused…
Who’s funding Moms for Liberty? It’s complicated
Those who regularly follow political news will know that as most Americans headed joyfully into the Labor Day weekend, about 600 women gathered in Washington, D.C., for the third summit held by Moms for Liberty. Founded in Florida in 2021…
It’s time for the prophets among us to stand up and speak out
I was recently with a group of pastors and laity from The United Methodist Church (the denomination I’m a part of). There, I lamented the fact that some pastors are afraid of addressing things like Christian nationalism within their congregations….
What a word cloud generator sees in Project 2025
As I began reading the now-infamous Project 2025 manifesto, Mandate for Leadership, I was immediately struck by the writing style used by the authors. The word choices, voice and tone of the document say a great deal about those behind…
We can no longer ignore the toxic forms of ‘evangelism’
Recently, I wrote an analysis about some of the shadow funders behind Project 2025. As part of that article, I pointed out how the form of evangelism embraced by many evangelicals is “dominating, colonialist and culturally offensive” and therefore “morally…
Purity culture is alive and well in the Christian nationalist agenda for public schools
Last week, I attended a school board meeting for the Southlake-Carroll Independent School District in North Texas which has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education over its changes to Title IX. This is the school district in…