As I observed these groups of masked folks wearing gear, in some cases declaring them as police, I wondered why they were hiding. Could it be they know there is no defense for their dastardly behavior toward thousands of law-abiding…
What’s in a mask?
The first few years I lived outside Alabama, I received the same question by those learning where I grew up: Did you see members of the Ku Klux Klan walking down the street in Alabama? This question was sometimes asked…
Three years ago today, our world changed
Three years ago today, when the pandemic hit, I was barely shy of nine months pregnant. We knew our daughter, George, would be born with Turner Syndrome. She faced open heart surgery at a day old in April 2020, a…
It’s not just pastors modern Republicans don’t trust; they also question doctors and politicians who won’t endorse Trump’s lies
Pastors who find some congregants no longer trusting them as much as before are not alone. Two new national polls show significant drops in the percentage of Republicans who trust the medical advice their doctors give or who trust their…
Leaving church, part 3: ‘Opposition to leadership’
In the face of opposition to leadership, successful leaders never give up or walk away. At least, that is what leadership experts tell us. Instead, these experts suggest persistence and dogged determination as appropriate responses to opposition. This viewpoint is…
School boards are ‘local beacons of democracy’ and susceptible to national discord, panelists explain
Local school board protests targeted at COVID-19 mask mandates, transgender student rights and Critical Race Theory are inspired at least as much by state and national politics as they are by parental concerns about education and student safety, a panel…
In New Hampshire, conservative moms group offers a bounty to report teachers
As the furor over Critical Race Theory continues to dominate local school board meetings from coast to coast, a group of conservative New Hampshire mothers has upped the ante. The New Hampshire chapter of Moms for Liberty announced it will…
Why is there a boom in enrollment at private Christian schools? Here’s one critical theory: Race
The New York Times headline, “Christian Schools Boom in a Revolt Against Curriculum and Pandemic Rules,” begs the question “Why?” “Why are Christian schools growing? Before addressing this thematic question, there is a definitional concern that needs attention. The secular…
Gov. Abbott’s COVID-19 vaccination ban tramples on my religious practice
Like me, many Christians in Texas live in a state of perpetual agitation over the actions of our governor, Greg Abbott, regarding sensible public health practices around the coronavirus pandemic. His latest action — an executive order “banning any entity in…
Enslaved by freedom
He stood up to address the House of Burgesses, the legislative body in Virginia, meeting to determine how to respond to British military intervention in the colony. Relationships between the colonists and the British had deteriorated over the past two…
Putting Jesus and Paul ahead of personal freedom
Yesterday on my way home, I went to the supermarket to pick up a few things. Arriving at the door at the same time as a young mother and child coming from a different part of the parking lot, I…
Raising kids at the end of the world
Recently, in the parking lot outside my office, I cried in my car for 10 minutes before work. This was after listening to my local NPR affiliate interview a parent from my son’s school. In her remarks, this parent calmly…