A few years back, as I wandered across a broad hill overlooking Washington, D.C., I discovered a monument, the statue of a woman atop a 32-foot decorated pedestal rising above the untold thousands of gravestones in Arlington National Cemetery. I…
The sacred work of white discomfort
In Florida, a state Senate committee wants to make it illegal to cause discomfort to white people. This bill, which reads like a scene from 1984, is a doozy. You can, and should, read the full text of it here. The bill…
America’s conscience: Moral bankruptcy and communal decay
For if the disinherited get such a new center as patriotism, for instance — liberty within the framework of a sense of country or nation, then the aim of not being killed is swallowed up by a larger and more…
Are you sleeping through the revolution?
In the last chapter of the last book he wrote titled, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?, Martin Luther King recalled the Washington Irving story of Rip Van Winkle who fell asleep for 20 years on a…
The ‘MAGA faction’ could be a hindrance for multiracial congregations
One of the prized goals of evangelical and mainline churches in America today is to create multiethnic congregations. But the same political trends that are making life difficult for pastors also bode ill for multicultural churches. New research published Jan….
Everything that’s wrong with the world explained in one brief column
We do love simplicity. We love the idea that complex issues can be distilled into easy sound bites, that nuanced conversations can be summarized as “he said/she said” and that internet memes and bumper stickers offer plenty of space to…
Why have so few U.S. congregations experienced even a single COVID death?
With more than 800,000 lives lost to COVID-19 in America alone, observers might wonder why some U.S. congregations have taken a seemingly cavalier approach to fighting the pandemic. One possible answer emerged this week from new survey data released by…
Tim Tebow and Demaryius Thomas and the world we see
After having what will one day be recognized as a Hall of Fame NFL career, Demaryius Thomas died unexpectedly of what police are calling “a medical issue” in his Georgia home on Dec. 9, 2021. He would have turned 34…
‘Thank you, bell hooks, for your biblical vision of love’
Editor’s note: Author and activist bell hooks died Wednesday, Dec. 15, at her home in Berea, Ky. This is a tribute to her influence. I first heard bell hooks when she spoke at a graduate school event in 1999. She…