I watched a movie one night recently called Selma. It was about the 1965 freedom march in Selma, Ala., led by Martin Luther King Jr. Given all of the turmoil now roiling our country regarding Black Lives Matter, I wanted…
The Black resistance tradition and its fight for U.S. democracy
Black America flipped the script on a racialized democratic state to make it more perfect. It is Black people’s fight that makes the United States exceptional. —Randal Jelks (2022) Many of us are profoundly worried about the health of…
New survey: Republicans and white evangelicals are outliers in fear of immigrants invading U.S.
The gap between Americans on immigration is steadily widening as conservatives increasingly embrace anti-immigrant attitudes that include a belief that migrants are invading the United States to displace white citizens, according to new research by Public Religion Research Institute. The…
We’ve been sold a sampled gospel
Sean P.Diddy Combs is held by many today as a talented if not iconic hip-hop producer. He rose to fame and prominence however through sampling — the practice of taking an old song (one that is typically already very popular)…
Some words I’m working to adjust in my vocabulary this year
On New Year’s Eve, Lake Superior State University released its annual list of English-language words and phrases that should be banished in 2023 because they are overused and trite. Please don’t call this list the Greatest of All Time or…
Pantyhose, purity and the theological implications of the Virgin Mary
I recently attended the funeral of a beloved man and a darn good deacon. The morning of the service was wet with a crisp winter chill. Of course, my pre-COVID funeral suit doesn’t fit, so my only semi-solemn option was…
Where God is: Preaching the hard truths about change
Last fall on the second Sunday of Advent, I preached a sermon at the American Cathedral in Paris on change, our fear of change, the difficulties of change. And on race. It was a pretty typical sermon for Advent, that…
Dig deeper when looking for your church’s racist or anti-racist history, Gardner advises
A church may have a racist past even if its archives reveal no evidence of support of slavery, Jim Crow, lynchings, segregation or other racist structures, author and historian Andrew Gardner said during a recent webinar hosted by the Alliance…
Alliance of Baptists steps into anti-racism work
The coming year will be filled with the challenge of intense anti-slavery work for the Alliance of Baptists if its 2022 fall gathering was any indication. The session was held Nov. 10-12 in Montgomery, Ala., where about 150 participants attended…