A coalition of conservation, history and scientific organizations is suing the Trump administration to stop its ongoing efforts to censor displays and monuments in the federal park system. The National Parks Conservation Association and Union of Concerned Scientists were among…
‘That isn’t right’
My father told me a story about my Granddaddy this past summer that I’d never heard before. My paternal Grandfather was Baptist, like me. A real Baptist. The one who believed in organizational autonomy and the beauty of the Lottie…
America’s unfinished civil war
We are in the midst of an American civil war. This time, wool uniforms have been replaced by whistles, backpacks and face masks worn by ICE agents, and drafts have been replaced by calls from community organizers and federal recruitment…
American Christians morally and spiritually fractured
I rarely read an op-ed by John Pavlovitz without exclaiming, “I wish I had written that!” That was especially true when I saw his Dec. 5 piece on “America’s Divide Isn’t About Politics Anymore.” I may not be able to…
‘Progressive imagination often is wider than progressive practice’
Not long ago, a search committee called to share their final discernment after months of conversations, sermons, prayers and emails. Their words were familiar, almost rehearsed by the collective memory of Black clergy everywhere. They told me it had become…
Black Americans more frequently engage in religious practices than white Americans
There’s an 11-point gap between the share of Black Americans and the share of white Americans who identify as Christians. This is among the findings of the latest Pew Research Center Religious Landscape Study, which found 73% of Black Americans…
Speaking truth in memory of the Charleston Nine
Ten years ago this month, Pastor Clementa Pinckney and eight church members of Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., were murdered in a racist act by someone who believed lies about American history and its diverse people….
There’s no ‘white genocide’ in South Africa
President Donald Trump has claimed, without evidence, there is “white genocide” in South Africa. Once more, he has pulled a rotten apple out of his barrel to embellish his own sense of superiority and power. There is no “white genocide”…
Politics, faith and mission: A conversation with Catherine Meeks
Catherine Meeks is a prolific author of works on race and justice, including the recent memoir, A Quilted Life: Reflections of a Sharecropper’s Daughter, and one of the Episcopal Church’s most impactful teachers on racial healing. After retiring as the…
Race isn’t a ‘biological reality,’ contrary to recent political claims − here’s how scientific consensus on race developed in the 20th century
In the recent flurry of executive orders from President Donald Trump, one warned of “a distorted narrative” about race “driven by ideology rather than truth.” It singled out a current exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum titled “The Shape of Power:…
New PBS documentary explores White Christianity vs. Black Christianity
The past decade has created a new dialogue on issues of racial reconciliation and the role religion plays in it. From Robert P. Jones’ White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity to Kristin Kobes Du Mez’s…
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…