A federal judge in New Hampshire has granted class-action status to a lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s efforts to end birthright citizenship and also blocked the administration from implementing the plan nationwide. U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante issued the order…
Alligator Alcatraz tourism
My wife, Lauren, told me a story once. When she was 16, her mother put her on a plane to Europe. She gave her a peck on the cheek, a few words of encouragement and a credit card. “Have fun,”…
The Trump administration is using the arts to rewrite history
I’ve written elsewhere about the role the arts have played in both creating and confronting shared identity and ethics across time. Art is a powerful medium. It has the potential to both reflect and to shape collective memory — which…
‘Once the church of presidents … now an engine of resistance’
Acknowledging a history marked by power in high places that included 54 of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence and 11 presidents including George Washington, the top officer of the Episcopal Church in the United States declared the…
Thin places, sacred spaces: Why our national parks matter
Driving through the fog gave the air a thickness that seemed to envelop us, to welcome us into a place that fizzled with eternity. A group of friends and I had traveled into the Cades Cove area of the Great…
A critical assessment of the president’s ‘big beautiful bill’
Just days before President Donal Trump left office at the conclusion of his first term in office, a “1776 Commission” he created in 2020 issued its report, calling for “patriotic education” designed to counter what he claimed was a “twisted…
Trump wants to take back citizenship already given to some immigrants
Stripping some naturalized Americans of citizenship is now a top priority of the U.S. Justice Department, according to a memorandum recently made public. “President Trump and Attorney General (Pam) Bondi have directed the Civil Division to use its enforcement authorities…
Johnson gives ‘glory to God’ for Trump’s big bill but others say God is mocked
While Speaker of the House Mike Johnson gave glory to God for final passage of the “big beautiful bill,” other religious leaders decried the legislation as un-Christian, un-American, evil and dangerous. On July 3, after the House passed the bill…
Trump administration ends protected status for Haitian immigrants
Haitian immigrants who fled chaos and violence to start new lives in the U.S. have wondered if and when the Trump administration would start deporting them. They got their answer Friday, June 27: Their Temporary Protected Status ends Sept. 2….
Trump vs. Harvard, round three
In a nation that reveres liberty, intellect and the rule of law, the ongoing saga between Donald J. Trump and Harvard University has entered round three — and this time, it’s nothing short of a federal siege. What began as…
A faith-based call to prepare for what comes next
The recent tensions in Los Angeles — sparked by ICE raids, the arrest of SEIU California President David Huerta, and the unilateral deployment of federal troops by President Trump — were not an isolated event. They were a warning shot….
‘Great white Christian freakout’ shifted America, Jones says
The U.S. was just beginning to come to terms with the effects of racial injustice when the “great white Christian freakout” ushered in the era of Donald Trump and empowered religious nationalism, said Robert P. Jones, president of Public Religion…