I am pleading for my people, A poor, downtrodden race, Who dwell in freedom’s boasted land, With no abiding place. While I bear upon my body The scars of many a gash, I am pleading for my people, Who groan…
Clergy oppose Missouri Legislature rewriting Ten Commandments
A Missouri Senate committee approved legislation to place the Ten Commandments in public-school classrooms, but not before rewriting the Scriptures to conform with conservative political ideology, said Brian Kaylor, a Baptist minister and leader of a clergy coalition opposed to…
Matt Walsh says America wasn’t built by immigrants
Matt Walsh’s views on immigration could be refuted by a fourth grade social studies student. Walsh, an influential conservative blogger, author and political commentator, hosts the podcast “The Matt Walsh Show,” which has 3.2 million subscribers. He is the author…
I study modern-day slavery − and here’s what I’ve learned about how enslavers try to justify their actions
Several high-profile celebrities were slapped with human-trafficking charges in late 2024, from music mogul Sean Combs, known as P. Diddy, to Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries. Neither has been tried yet, but in 2022 the R&B superstar R. Kelly was convicted of…
Dismantling the master’s house
For the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house. They may allow us temporarily to beat him at his own game, but they will never enable us to bring about genuine change. — Audre Lorde Audre Lorde helps us…
White women stood by their men again
Many white women made it clear on Nov. 5 — just as they did in 2016 — that their true allegiance is to their men and the white supremacy paradigm upon which America was built and continues to live and…
Here’s the toxic racism and misogyny you let loose with a vote for Trump
If Kamala Harris had won, no Black people would be receiving text messages threatening to make them slaves again, and no women would be being told, “Your body, my choice.” When Trump wins, those things happen. And when Trump loses,…
How Christians can support religious liberty without sacrificing human dignity
With Election Day in two weeks and early voting already under way, it’s impossible to miss how religion continues to be wielded in American politics. For decades, Christianity has been co-opted to justify a specific slate of policies, narrowing what…
Look underneath Lady Liberty’s skirt
Did you know there are broken shackles representing the end of slavery partially hidden underneath the skirt of the Statue of Liberty (Lady Liberty)? Wow! It is amazing the extent to which we have been and continue to be willing…
Wine, women and gospel: A perilous inerrancy
In Primitive Baptists of the Wiregrass South, author John G. Crowley writes that for those Appalachian Baptists, “the use of fermented wine, usually made by the deacons” is standard in their celebration of the Lord’s Supper, a biblical mandate they…
This Christmas, remembering Sam Sharpe and the Baptist War in Jamaica
“I would rather die upon yonder gallows than to live in slavery.” Sam Sharpe wrote these words in a letter to the British Parliament from his jail cell in Jamaica. Sharpe, a Baptist deacon and lay preacher, faced execution for…
Baylor regents allocate $6.3 million for Memorial to Enslaved Persons
Baylor University regents have allocated $6.3 million for construction of a Memorial to Enslaved Persons to be located on Founders Mall at the Waco, Texas, campus. Erecting such a memorial was among recommended actions in the final report of a Commission on…