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…
Ronald Reagan, the Strict Father and American conservatism
My reading life has provided me with a web of networks with authors I never have met except on the pages of their books. Lacking any other acceptable descriptor, I refer to these writers as “my friends.” My “friend” George…
Here’s why Americans are so obsessed with getting ‘tough on crime’
Americans have consistently lacked confidence in the United States criminal justice system and, once again, a majority views it as not tough enough. A national debate, ongoing for at least a century, attempts to solve the problem of crime. Ironically, we…
Why did Paige Patterson write a book on ‘biblical’ counseling?
Why did Paige Patterson write a book about biblical counseling? Without rehashing events already thoroughly chronicled by the media and covered extensively in Baptist News Global, we are talking about the former president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, who counseled…
Why ‘ressentiment’ defines our age
The political scientists tell us we are living in the age of resentment. This is the story of searching for a word that defines our age because “resentment” doesn’t really fit the bill. In an alliterative journey through the “Rs”…
When ‘liberal talking points’ are the gospel
Russell Moore, evangelical and editor-in-chief of Christianity Today says, “Multiple pastors tell me, essentially, the same story about quoting the Sermon on the Mount, parenthetically, in their preaching — ‘turn the other cheek’ — (and) to have someone come up…