When I moved to Wisconsin 16 months ago to assist with a family member’s hospice, I wouldn’t have guessed I was entering a new and unique sort of hell. I’ve lived my entire life in single-party states — Illinois and…
Did Jesus really say that?
During some of the hardest days of racial tension in in the 1960s, a Mississippi Delta white pastor in his frustration one day asked one of his stalwart members what she thought Jesus would do if Black people came to…
What I found hiding in my church library
Some of my former fellow seminarians reminded me on social media at the beginning of this week that 31 years ago on March 9, 1994, Russell Dilday was fired by trustees as president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary after ultraconservatives…
Turns out, we have partisan brains — but there’s hope
It’s no secret politics divides America. The growing hostility between Republicans who support Donald Trump and the Democrats who oppose him is fracturing friendships, families and churches. Each side wonders at the rationale of the other: “How can they possibly…
Get angry, church
There’s a powerful quote buried halfway through Madeleine L’Engle’s children’s novel, A Wrinkle in Time: “’Stay angry, little Meg,’ Mrs. Whatsit whispered. ‘You will need all your anger now.’” Just as Meg Murry, Charles Wallace Murry and Calvin O’Keefe are…
Here’s how faith leaders should address a new era of division in US politics
Since delivering a sermon at the inaugural prayer service at Washington National Cathedral, Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde has faced a firestorm of backlash from far-right forces. Pointing to her calls for mercy — especially for LGBTQ people and immigrants —…
Politics, faith and mission: A conversation with Jonathan Eig
Jonathan Eig is the New York Times bestselling author of six books, including Ali: A Life, Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson’s First Season, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning King: A Life. His biography of King is thought of by…
This is not Christianity
“How can people who claim to be Christians do these things?” That’s among a set of recurring questions people the world over keep asking about the Trump administration and its MAGA mafia in America. While too many have danced around…
A benediction gone bad
As sociologist Orrin Klapp observed in his 1962 book Heroes, Villains, and Fools: The Changing American Character, “The celebrity cult celebrates the triumph of ordinariness — charm without character, showmanship without ability, bodies without minds, information without wisdom.” The critique…
In new podcast episode, Mark and Ben try to talk about Trump
Baptist News Global’s podcast series “Stuck in the Middle with You” is back with two special episodes that introduce a second season of the show. Co-hosts Mark Wingfield and Benjamin Cole intend to devote most of season two to interviews…
The Religion and Politics of Students Who Were Homeschooled
I went to a fairy conservative Southern Baptist Church in rural Illinois as a kid. It was a big congregation – I bet we had 300 in worship on an average Sunday when I was a teenager.
‘Cloistering’ is not the answer to America’s great divide, Burge says
U.S. society will continue to fragment into ever-shrinking political and religious clusters as long as Americans continue to shun those with different perspectives, sociologist of religion Ryan Burge said in a Denver Seminary podcast. The trend has been highly visible…