Humor me and try to imagine something: Many days, as you go through your life, someone, somewhere gives you a quick jab in the gut. Sometimes it’s a jab to the face. It happens over and over. It happens to…
A lesson from Sister Meg on celibacy helped me understand white supremacy
No one, not even church folk, like talking about celibacy let alone white supremacy. Celibacy and white supremacy — like sexuality and skin color — are two preferably avoidable conversations. Perhaps these conversations are sidestepped because they invoke images that…
On teaching history, the president has a point, but he goes too far
A few weeks ago, the President made headlines at the National Archives Museum when he denounced the teaching of American history classes as a “left-wing cultural revolution … designed to overthrow the American Revolution” and responsible for everything from tearing…
I follow Jesus and contribute to racism? Question mark?
Mark Wingfield makes a compelling case that “You cannot follow Jesus and endorse racism.” However, he may have placed the “Period” of his title a little too soon. I do believe the biggest problem in perpetuating racism is the “virulent white supremacist…
Beware when ‘law and order’ is cover for lawlessness and disorder
If you’ve been paying attention, the phrase “law and order” has saturated the news cycle of late. Some political candidates posture themselves as the “law and order candidate,” while other social commentators decry the absence of law and order in…
Is the Kentucky attorney general a sell-out?
“There is always a place for posers who are willing to sell out their own people,” my Facebook post read. “Gain the world, and lose your soul.” The reference was to Daniel Cameron, the Kentucky attorney general, who had just…
You cannot follow Jesus and endorse racism. Period.
You cannot claim to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ and endorse white supremacy — either explicitly or implicitly. Period. There is no room for justifications or caveats. None at all. This is not about whether you identify as a…
Don’t be left behind in this apocalyptic autumn
This will be an apocalyptic autumn. While the biblical concept of “apocalypse” has been historically appropriated in some fantastic ways, its meaning in the Greek — “to reveal” — is what leads me to make this claim. Many Americans will…
Do Southern Baptists need a rebranding?
In the midst of a turbulent summer of police violence against Black Americans, the pressure for institutional fixtures of American society to examine the legacies of their names never has been greater. Now the Southern Baptist Convention, according to the…