Debates always get my attention. I was a high school and college debate student. I have studied argumentation for decades. While the format of the political debates is artificial and not really an actual debate, I will take what I…
New film resurrects an old question: What kind of Christian was Reagan?
In an election year in which Ronald Reagan could not be elected by his own Republican Party, some evangelicals have made a movie portraying America’s 40th president as a Christian saint. Prior to the cultic adulation of the Trump era,…
The Supreme Court is afflicted with a deadly empathy deficit
The Supreme Court has upheld a ban on sleeping outdoors in a homelessness case. By a 6-3 vote along partisan lines, the court ruled homeless residents are prohibited from sleeping outdoors. My own sense of the prophetic, especially when indignant,…
David Barton is still wrong: American exceptionalism endangers America
How many times will evangelical Christians attempt to put the David Barton-inspired revisionist American history into public school curriculums? Every time a state official wakes up one morning and reads the Bible or the Constitution wrong, expect another outburst of…
Southern Baptist Calvinists crave authority, not Baptist theology
Do not be fooled by the new Calvinists among the Southern Baptists who are stirring fears of liberals in the denomination. Lies are being told about liberal influences in one of the most conservative denominations in the nation. And the…
Edwin Edwards and Louisiana taught Donald Trump and MAGA how to dance with the devil
As I watched the announcement of Donald Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts May 30, I thought to myself, “I’ve seen this show before.” Indeed, I was living in Louisiana in 2001 when Gov. Edwin Edwards was convicted of racketeering…
Here comes a progressive response to demagogic and authoritarian politics
As the 2024 election looms over us like a dark cloud, many Americans are fearful of the outcome. Will Donald Trump win a second term? Even asking the question has driven me to my Bible and my bourbon (Pappy Van…
Marjorie Taylor Greene and the toxic trope of the rapist-murderer-racial other
The murder of 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley on the campus of the University of Georgia Feb. 22 has drawn national media interest and political activity. Right-wing movers and shakers have especially been galvanized by this one murder. I think I…
These were a few of my favorite things from 2023
So 2023 was an interesting year, wasn’t it? Baptist News Global wrote and edited 1,800 news, opinion and analysis pieces that addressed some of the most pressing concerns for life in America, and even in our world, today. Not everyone…