We cannot continue to pretend that time will heal the deep wounds that divide us. Generation after generation, we bring our gifts to the altar without stopping first to do the work of reconciliation to which Jesus calls us.
The looming prophetic crisis and the urgency for truth-telling
Truth-telling is a moral imperative no matter who may resent hearing the truth, no matter who may refuse to believe the truth and no matter what people who oppose the truth may do to truth-tellers.
Never again? Remembering Auschwitz amid enduring anti-Semitism and increasing acts of hatred
Two irreconcilable statements must be heard as one: Auschwitz was liberated 75 years ago. Yet, anti-Semitism endures, now unleashed with new vigor in the American public square.
Nikki Haley, Confederate memory and the insidious myth of racial ‘reconciliationism’
The most dangerous aspect of reconciliationism is that it assumes an immunity to modern iterations of racism. There is no such immunity. There is only a fight – a never-ending battle against the virus around us and within us.
The first black seminarians and remedying the legacy of white supremacy in theological education
The experience of James Bradley as one of America’s first black seminarians can show us how far we have come. But, even as theology schools consider ways to address their culture of whiteness, it also shows us how far we have yet to travel.
Move so our kids get ‘better’ schools? Why our family is staying put on the wrong side of the tracks
The urban neighborhood where we have chosen to live is not always joyful. My heart has been broken more than a few times. But this place and its people have been my salvation.
Want to truly memorialize a 100-year-old race massacre? Let the people see the truth
We will not be afraid or lose hope or stop working for racial justice – meaning restitution and reparations – no matter how white supremacists and their quieter sympathizers sanitize bigotry, hypocrisy and addiction to greed with their hollow gestures.
Why a monument marking the 100-year anniversary of a race massacre injures rather than heals
A monument recognizing the 100th anniversary of the Elaine Race Massacre will soon be “dedicated,” not in Elaine, Arkansas, but in Helena, across from the courthouse where justice was not served, on ground that also hosts a tribute to seven Confederate generals.
Nationalism and the tribal god it creates
Instead of worshipping a Cosmic Christ, many have settled for a tribal deity who suits our tribal behavior. The result? A nationalism which places country above God and uses religion to justify any means.