In the spring of 1994, I enrolled in a course on deviance in the sociology department at the University of Texas at Austin. The course was taught by renowned sociologist Gideon Sjoberg, author of The Preindustrial City. The course wasn’t…
The futility of framing one another as progressives and evangelicals, devils and dummies
In politics, “framing” is the attempt to alter reality by selecting words, slogans and tropes that convince the public to see the other side in a certain negative way. As Robert Entman explains, “To frame is to select some aspects of a perceived…
If you love your party more than your state, go do something else, Andy Stanley tells Georgia legislators
The Georgia House of Representatives invited megachurch pastor Andy Stanley to speak to them as chaplain of the day March 15, and the message he dropped on them could have come from an Old Testament prophet. Stanley, who has been…
‘On a scale of 1 to 10’: Lindsey Graham meets John the Baptist
During Senate hearings on Appeals Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., raised this faith-based inquiry: “I’m just asking this question because how important is your faith to you? On a scale…
The politics of nothing and the enabling church
There’s a politics loose in our democracy that is all about nothing. The evangelical church serves as the incubator and enabler of the politics of nothing. This is not a sermon, but it suggests a biblical text: “The grass withers,…
My beef with the Senate confirmation hearings isn’t political, it’s theological
I try to stay abreast of current news, believing that Karl Barth’s admonition is a good measure for all who dare to claim time in any Christian pulpit. Barth is often quoted as having said that ministers should “preach with…
When following the line leads us astray
“The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup; you support my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.” — Psalm 16:5-6 Back nearly 30 years ago, I…
Is it time for another Gettysburg Address?
Our nation lives in suspended grief over 900,000 dead from COVID. Every day we go to the funeral home, the graveyard. Every day the bells toll for those who keep dying from COVID. Where are words of comfort? Is there…
Where are the good Republicans?
Even with frequent emotional appeals for the passage of two voting rights bills — the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act — Senate Republicans, along with Democratic holdouts Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema, defeated the…
As he prepares to step down from National Immigration Forum, Noorani lauded as bridge-builder
Ali Noorani’s passion for refugees, and his gift for building coalitions around migrant justice causes, has made him a leader in the U.S. immigration reform movement and a must-have on news outlets ranging from PBS Newshour and Fox News to…
One year after Jan. 6, some things are worth dividing over
In his classic work Why I Am a Christian, the late Anglican theologian John Stott prophetically penned gloomy words that, at the time, mostly fell on deaf ears. “The technocratic society, which diminishes and even destroys transcendence and significance,” Stott…
Today’s evangelicals are medieval crusaders at heart
At the dawn of 2022, forget the culture wars; this is a postmodern crusade, and the Christian soldiers are on the march. Evangelical Christians are medieval crusaders at heart. In the 11th and 12th centuries, Christian Crusaders went to war…