The stupid epidemic has arrived. Entire Christian denominations insist there is only one way to read the Bible, and they expel anyone daring to dissent. Politicians and the media reach for the accusation of “stupid” out of the intractable arguments….
Is calling someone a ‘white supremacist’ the same as calling someone the ‘N-word’?
United States Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, noted for her random assaults on fellow legislators, was confronted by Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. Green responded with what has been labeled a “racially loaded attack.” Greene…
Dear General Flynn, you are wrong about us
The ReAwaken America Tour made its latest stop at Donald Trump’s National Doral Miami. The three-day revival ended last Saturday. Among the hodgepodge of conspiracy theorists and wannabe powerful preachers, Gen. Michael Flynn sounded the most ominous. He said, “The…
Tom Ascol has the wrong apostates in mind
In a recent article titled “Some Will Apostatize,” Tom Ascol breathes fire and brimstone over those he is certain will desert the Christian faith as he defines it. 1 Timothy 4:1 seems to be the text of his sermonic outburst:…
Why such a need for literalism?
Why does a literal reading of the Bible hold such attraction for Christians? More to the point: How has belief in literalism led to Christian nationalism, to such awful ideas about how immigrants should be treated, to discrimination against women…
Tennessee legislators turn back the clock to Jim Crow time
The recent actions of the Tennessee Legislature to expel two Black Democratic representatives scream for answers. Why would members of the Republican Party, who have spent the past seven years swearing on a stack of Bibles, sometimes held upside down,…
Tennessee representative who proposed execution by ‘hanging by a tree’ needs a history lesson
There’s more than the usual political craziness attached to the recent remark by Tennessee Rep. Paul Sherrell to bring back “hanging by a tree” as an amendment to a firing squad bill. There’s a denial of horrible history. This is…
I agree with Pope Francis: True revival will fulfill the Social Gospel
Two disparate events occurred recently disturbed by normal calm. The first was the national news coverage of a revival breaking out at Asbury University in Kentucky. The second event was a social media event where Jordan Peterson wrote a post…
Why do politicians lie? Because it works — and shame on us
Sen. Mitt Romney recently called serial liar Rep. George Santos a “sick puppy” and said the Long Island Republican didn’t “belong” in the House chamber in a heated exchange before President Biden’s State of the Union address. The veteran Republican senator scolded…
Ron DeSantis: The anti-woke prophet of evangelicals
It’s no secret that Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida plans to ride an anti-wokeness wave to the White House. To get there, he has turned his sights increasingly on higher education — specifically “woke” professors. Whatever “wokeness” means, for DeSantis…
The costly victory of evangelicals and Catholics
Have evangelical leaders and Catholic bishops made a strategic blunder? When they decided the cultural war battlefield needed to be the Supreme Court, they engaged in a decades-long battle to have the Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade. In the…
Critics of Brittney Griner are bad patriots making bad arguments
The New Testament story of Barabbas is the best metaphor I have found for what is unfolding in America after the release of Brittney Griner from a Russian prison. The conservative branch of our fractured country has erupted like coyotes…