Opinion
In COVID-19 Era, Back to Where We’ve Never Been
Thomas Wolfe said you can’t go home again. And the Israelites, according to 2 Isaiah, learned they couldn’t return to home as they had known it. So when we long to return to normal after COVID-19, it isn’t going to be the same.
Sharing Your Faith When Words Escape You
Many of us who want to share our faith go blank during conversation, don’t know what to say or fear being misunderstood. For a fresh approach to share your faith, consider the four simple points of The Way of Mission.
My 9 Nonpartisan Actions Before Election Day
Voting is central to a functional democratic government. Our duty as US citizens is to participate in this foundational practice. Recognizing that, here are nine actions I plan to carry out between now and the November election.
How Evangelicals Became Easy Pickin’ for Politicians
By simply raising a few hot-button issues and employing related terms, politicians have learned they can attract many churchgoers to their causes like bugs to a lone light. How did this happen? Here are 3 things to consider.
You’re Wrong, Franklin Graham: God Was at DNC
Franklin Graham, popular evangelical leader and Republican political activist, decried the Democratic National Convention, claiming he watched ‘the absence of God.’ Here are 3 reasons his statement is absolutely wrong.
COVID-19 Hits Long-Term Care Patients Hardest
COVID-19 continues to spread across the US, but older patients in long-term care facilities have been hit the hardest. It is time we have a serious discussion about the risk our most vulnerable populations face during this pandemic.
3 Steps: How to Live When No End’s in Sight
COVID-19 has wreaked havoc across the world, and no one knows when the pandemic will end. How do we live under such circumstances? Here are 3 steps on how to face the daily scourge of the coronavirus.
7 Truths Define My Progressive Faith – Part 2
Faith in the divine should not be a set of rules to recite, but an adventure to experience. With that in mind, I offer my four remaining truths that have shaped my progressive faith. What are you waiting for? Let’s go forward!
Faith Doesn’t Drive Violence; Hatred, Fear Do
After surviving the massacre of his village as a child, this imam should hate people practicing the Jewish and Christian faiths. He doesn’t. He would later learn hatred in one’s heart and fear of the ‘other’ drive brutality.
5 Things to Understand About Politics and USPS
With the pandemic making life dangerous in long lines at polling places, the USPS has become the center of a partisan spat. It’s enough to shock Mr. McFeely. Here are five things to keep in mind as the situation develops.
7 Truths Define My Progressive Faith – Part 1
I practice a progressive faith because I believe Jesus was progressive in every sense of the word. Seven truths helped define my progressive faith. Here’s three today to whet your appetite; the other four I’ll discuss tomorrow.
Baptists Must Reckon with Their Past
Baptists have long praised themselves for promoting religious liberty, but it’s a whitewashed history, ignoring the religiously based violence they committed against Blacks by supporting slavery. It’s time we own up to our past.
Can Left Be Right?
Statistics suggest about 10% of the population is left-handed, for no obvious reason. As we acknowledge the recently passed International Lefthanders’ Day, southpaws have played a couple of bit parts in the Bible. Read on.
Judaism Can Be Antidote to World’s Evils
Throughout the centuries, far too many acts of violence have been committed in the name of religion. The teaching of Judaism, when properly applied, would present a possible antidote to this evil. After all, we are all one!
How QAnon Has Hijacked Anti-Trafficking Movement
QAnon spreads misinformation and outright lies about what human trafficking looks like in the US. If people believe QAnon’s version of human trafficking, they won’t look for it where it actually is – in their own backyards.
But What About Abortion?
Abortion is rightly a complex, emotional and ethical issue worthy of thoughtful engagement and compassionate responses. Yet few are willing to engage it in such a way that might lead to the very goals they claim to seek.
Is Our Concern Over Religious Persecution Too Narrow?
Most Christian prayers voiced about global religious persecution focus on Christians. We must be better informed about persecution of all faiths to be able to pray for peace and protection for all, not just our Christian siblings.
Human Trafficking: Following Myths, Missing Reality
While human trafficking has received increased visibility in the media and on social media, one member of an anti-trafficking coalition says many of the reports shared are myths, which will regretfully hinder children being saved.
Website Tells Stories of Lost Health Care Workers
A new website has put faces on those health care workers who have died from COVID-19. The pictures and brief profiles of each health care worker remind us they were someone’s parent, sibling, child or spouse.
When History Was Erased in a Black Cemetery
In Waco, Texas, a park was built over the bodies of dead Black Americans while markers were erected commemorating white soldiers who fought to preserve slavery. It’s another decision showing how we’re complicit in racism.
How to Get Conservatives to Wear Masks
With children returning to school, the risk heightens they’ll likely be infected with the COVID-19 virus and transmit it to someone they love. We are all in this thing together. Wearing a mask is the least we can do.
8 Lessons Learned on My 50th Birthday
Turning 50 is supposed to be a milestone. I’ve learned a few lessons over the last 50 years. Here are eight of them I want to share with you. As 50 comes and goes, I welcome the future with enthusiasm, excitement and joy.
White Support for Black Causes Doesn’t Last
The overwhelming support from white people after George Floyd’s death has been more the exception than the rule. Often, white support lasts until the next event vies for their collective attention. Their support doesn’t last.
What’s Up – or Down – with Giving?
Not all churches are running financial shortfalls during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some are doing quite well. Maybe churches who are doing well with their finances can reach out and support those are struggling financially.
Pray for Our Kids, Those Putting Them in Danger
We should pray for God’s children who are being sent into the teeth of a lethal virus when they return to school. Then we must defy the orders of politicians whose disregard for science and whose lust and greed threatens us all.
The Long-Lasting Harm of Jerry Falwell
As the Moral Majority roared into life in the early ’80s, a young campus minister and a mission volunteer accepted an invite to hear Jerry Falwell. Today, Ol’ Jerry’s misguided call has greatly harmed this nation and the church.
Have We Lost Skill to Discern Fact from Opinion?
Most US adults blame the media for biased reporting and polarizing the nation, but the problem may be more fundamental. Have many adults lost the skill to discern facts from opinion? It’s a basic skill we must relearn.
When You’re Overwhelmed by Crisis After Crisis
With so many interlocking crises facing our nation, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. And there’s little hope we will get wise leadership from the federal government. Perhaps it’s time, as US Rep. John Lewis said, to get in good trouble.
‘Who’s Gonna Clean Up That Mess?’
The process of doing the necessary work of government involves necessary dirty work. Governing is a very messy business. To reclaim the middle ground, we must clean up the mess and start washing away what has accumulated.
How Will US Respond to Its Day of Reckoning?
As we see in Jacob’s life, who faced his day of reckoning and was given a new name, a name means everything. The US faces its own day of reckoning after 400 years of lying, stealing and murdering. Will this rose smell sweeter?