Death penalty opponents are bracing for the anticipated execution of an Oklahoma man who even the state acknowledges did not kill anyone. Tremane Wood has been on Oklahoma’s Death Row since 2004 for participating in a robbery-turned-homicide in which the…
Why can’t we just ‘BE KIND NOW!!’?
Thanks to a kindness art campaign going on at our local elementary school this month, I have received multiple notes from my youngest child with a rainbow drawing and one simple command: “BE KIND NOW!!” These BE KIND notes came…
Don’t sacrifice trans kids on a political altar
Many years ago, I read a comic novel in which one character’s hobby was described as “leaping to the defense of ….” We United Methodists are sometimes accused of the same predilection, of being theologically and spiritually wired to stand…
Governors of 15 states opt out of summer food program for children
Governors of 15 U.S. states are putting politics ahead of the needs of hungry children by opting out of a new federal food assistance program that launches this year, critics say. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced the remaining…
Oklahoma school board allows nation’s first publicly funded religious charter school, despite legal challenges
Despite widespread opposition, the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board voted 3-2 Oct. 9 to allow the first publicly funded religious charter school in the nation. St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School would be operated by the Catholic Archdiocese…
Oklahoma joins Florida in allowing PragerU content in public schools
Oklahoma’s controversial new state superintendent of public education has launched a statewide partnership with a private faith-based video-education firm criticized for dealing loosely with history while advancing conservative talking points. “I am thrilled to announce this partnership with PragerU,” said…
Opponents file suit to stop unprecedented Catholic charter school in Oklahoma
Parents, pastors and defenders of public education filed suit against state education officials in Oklahoma District Court July 31, seeking to reverse approval of St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School as the nation’s first religious charter school. Plaintiffs want…
More people are ‘detransitioning’ from church than from transgender identity
Pose is a TV drama series about New York City’s ball culture, an LGBTQ subculture in the African American and Latino communities throughout the 1980s and 1990s. One of the characters is Pray Tell (a gay Black man). He cries, “Ronald Reagan will not say the word AIDS….
Oklahoma superintendent of schools says Tulsa Race Massacre wasn’t due to color of anyone’s skin
This story was updated July 7 to include new comments from Ryan Walters. It’s OK to teach Oklahoma schoolchildren about the Tulsa Race Massacre, just don’t tell them it was motivated by the color of anyone’s skin, the state…