We haven’t seen protests on college campuses like this since the 1960s. As a professor, I’m thrilled to see a deep level of engagement by students on an important issue. I’m also horrified at the responses of many institutions to…
A new book on the Bible and LGBTQ folks by a straight, white man is not what we need
A conservative biblical scholar has changed his mind about LGBTQ folks. I supposed I should be excited, but I find myself quite appreciative of Anna Sieges’ insightful and appropriately critical comments about Richard B. Hays’ (along with his son Christopher) book…
Are we really doing this again?
I’m tired already. And filled with a sense of deja vu and dread as we face another Trump run for the presidency. More than half of Trump supporters in 2024 are evangelicals. Imagine that. People who profess to be Christian…
Wrestling with the reality of sexual abuse in the Easter story in Surviving God
In their new book, Surviving God: A New Vision of God Through the Eyes of Sexual Abuse Survivors, Grace Ji-Sun Kim and Susan Shaw offer a feminist and intersectional understanding of God that challenges traditional ways of Christian thinking. Kim…
Watch your language and your beliefs, sex abuser survivors tell the church
The insidious and chronic nature of church sexual abuse is an outgrowth of patriarchal concepts of the divine that provide theological cover for abusers and shame for their victims, said the authors of a new book on theologies of abuse….
Southern Baptist theology set me up for sexual abuse
I grew up in a fundamentalist Southern Baptist church in Georgia. I was on the “cradle roll” from the time I was six weeks old, and I was at church “every time the doors were open,” as the saying goes….
In defense of DEI: 10 benefits of DEI in higher education
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs in higher education are under attack around the country. Conservatives see these programs as purveyors of “wokeism” that limit free speech and teach discrimination, hate and divisiveness. I’ve spent my 37-year-career in higher education in…
Things I would tell my younger self
Sometimes when I’m watching the news, there’ll be a story about an older woman being mugged or a grandma being held hostage. “A 63-old grandmother was severely injured today,” the newscaster will intone with all the gravity due the harming…
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…
Six New Year’s resolutions to move us ‘closer to fine’ in 2024
I’m not big on New Year’s resolutions. After all, we mostly don’t keep them. Given what we’re facing in 2024, however, it might be a good idea for us to think about how we can avoid a repeat of the…
Big ideas at human size: An interview with Carrie Newcomer
Carrie Newcomer may be the holiest person I’ve ever met. The Quaker singer-songwriter embodies the peace and universal love that characterize Quakerism, and it comes across clearly in her songs, which are peopled with characters who are flawed, searching, quirky,…
Are we all guilty of mass shootings?
Here we are again. Another mass shooting. Another set of grieving families and friends. More calls for sensible gun control. More fist-shaking about Second Amendment rights. More inaction. In the 2016 movie The Limehouse Golem, the catchphrase of entertainer Dan Leno…