On Oct. 7, 2023, the American Airlines flight I was on landed at Tel Aviv Airport at about 5 p.m. local time. I’d slept most of the flight and was completely oblivious to what was happening in the world. Imagine…
Pastoral empathy and prophetic discord against the backdrop of the war in Gaza
“For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song, the trees in applause.” —Isaiah 55:12 § § § Prelude. “I don’t know how my mother walked…
Letter to the Editor: Don’t forget what ‘Genocide Joe’ has done
Dear Editor: On Aug. 7, David Bumgardner penned a column for BNG under the title “Blinded by Their Hatred of Biden, Arab Voters Cut Off Their Noses to Spite Their Faces.” Bumgardner’s biased and disheartening column takes American Arabs, especially Michigan…
Mr. Netanyahu goes to Washington
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to the U.S. Congress for a record fourth time today. Netanyahu — who has been compared to former U.S. President Donald Trump — easily demonstrated his ability to speak more coherently, in complete sentences,…
A troubling question: Has Southern Baptist mission work among Palestinians been a bad investment?
Troub, short for Troublemaker, is the well-earned nickname of a fellow I got to know some years back. You say “up” and “hot,” he says “down” and “cold. Probably comes from his stormy days while studying at one of our…
A death wish granted
On April 4, 1967, Martin Luther King Jr. called on the United States to lead the world in what he termed “a radical revolution of values” during a speech at Riverside Church in New York City. He urged the United…
Framing the conflict: How religion is a factor of Hamas war
After the International Criminal Court recently issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar for their crimes against humanity, it is becoming clearer that the war between Israel and Hamas since the Oct. 7 attacks has reached…
Yes, ‘Palestine’ is a place despite what Facebook memes may have told you
As Israel wages war against Hamas in Gaza, many Americans have declared themselves armchair generals who think they understand everything about one of the most complex geo-religio-political conflicts in world history. Dear readers, Facebook is a poor resource for a…
We have a teachable moment, and we’re blowing it
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…