National Republicans are standing up to defend Herschel Walker after a bombshell report that the Senate candidate in the hotly contested battleground state of Georgia paid for a woman’s abortion in 2009. Something has radically changed in the value system of…
‘These are not your people’
Meeting up with good friends recently, we all hugged and chatted about changes in our lives during the tumultuous pandemic. Everyone, of course, contributed with updates. At one point, I shared that a decision we made didn’t seem to be…
Separate filings accuse two SBC agencies of misleading courts to delay trial and avoid scrutiny
It hasn’t been a good week for Southern Baptist Convention entities defending themselves against lawsuits. Court filings in the two most prominent such cases have accused SBC leadership of intentionally misleading the court and, in one case, committing perjury. The…
‘Radical new arrangements’: On conservative Christian radicalization in the U.S.
After a year of researching the matter rather deeply — including listening to conservative scholars, activists and politicians — it has become completely clear to me that a significant chunk of conservative Christians in the United States has moved from…
What’s wrong with the ‘you’re being divisive’ argument
Pastors, of all people, should recognize this deflection for what it is. It’s a dirty trick they suffer from all the time. The pastor gets up the courage to speak actual truth about some situation — most likely a sermon…
Frederick Buechner, Maya Angelou and Helen Lewis: Telling the truth
But to preach the gospel is not just to tell the truth but to tell the truth in love and to tell the truth in love means to tell it with concern not only for the truth that is being…
Do Franklin Graham’s accusations against progressive Christianity hold up against truth?
Back on May 1, 2022, Franklin Graham, CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, posted an article in Decision Magazine titled, “The Eternal Peril of Progressive Christianity.” In this article, Graham expressed many poignant statements about the progressive Christian movement…
The American history some people wish weren’t true
Scrolling the web for morning news, I came across an article titled, “Historical Facts You’ll Wish Weren’t Really True.” The article turned out to be about historical oddities of not even passing interest. The headline, however, suggests an entire philosophy…
The fantastical world of the New (evangelical) Zealots
Evangelicals are the New Zealots, and that spells danger for democracy and for the planet. The danger lies in the fantastical world created by evangelicals. The danger becomes personal in the symbol of guns and precarious in their climate denial….