Recent Articles
“Just the Facts” on Vaccine Development
We must start with “just the facts” before we determine what we believe and why. Here is the information you need to know about vaccine development in order to wrestle with the ethical and moral considerations.
Party Line Vote on COVID Aid Reveals Troubling Realities
The party line vote of the latest COVID-19 relief bill is deeply troubling. Too often political leaders seem to care primarily about those who can provide them money or votes. Such transactional politics must change.
How One Facebook Group Is Trying to Disagree Agreeably
Social media allows us to maintain relationships across distances that made regular communication difficult in the past. Yet, it also has become a forum for divisiveness and anger. Here is how one group of friends is working to change that.
March 8, 2021
In today’s curated news and analysis headlines: Black Protestants Aren’t Least Likely to Get a Vaccine; White Evangelicals Are; In Georgia, Republicans Take Aim at the Role of Black Churches in Elections; Hundreds Risked Everything in Selma 56 Years Ago Today. This Group is Trying to Identify Them; Why QAnon Has Attracted so Many White Evangelicals; The Empty Religions of Instagram; and more.
People of Good Faith: Rob Marus
Rob Marus is associate vice president for communications at the Association of American Universities in Washington, D.C. He serves on the Good Faith Media governing board and is an active member of The First Baptist Church of the City of Washington.
LGBTQ+ Christians Continue to Feel Sting of Judgment, Exclusion
Christian churches, universities and organizations continue to struggle with the message of welcome at the heart of the gospel. As a result, LGBTQ+ Christians have felt the sting of judgement and exclusion.
Malcolm, Martin and the American Racial Impasse: Part Two
Lent urges pilgrims on a journey of repentance. With the U.S. increasingly acknowledging its long history of racism, we should use this time to confess our sins and orient society toward more just policies.
March 5, 2021
In today’s curated news and analysis headlines: Is America a Christian Nation? Pastors at Odds About Fusion of Faith and Politics; QANon Has Merged with White Christian Evangelicals, Experts Say – and the Results Could be Lethal; Hundreds Demonstrate in Sioux City Against the Closure of Catholic Churches in Iowa; Century-Old Chicago Logan Square Church Transformed into Luxury Apartments; and more
Masks, Social Distancing Still Advisable Even If Not Mandated
Governor Abbott’s decision to end the Lone Star State’s mask mandate alarmed many health officials and state leaders. It is difficult in such times to parse through the partisanship in our politics.
The Heartbreak and Hope of Church Schisms
The ongoing schism within the United Methodist Church is the latest in a long series of such divisions in Christian history. While sad to witness, splits based upon conscience can also lead to hopeful futures.
The Confidence of Faith and the Idolatry of Certainty
It is a short distance in the calendar between Christmas and Easter, but that period seems to contain in a microcosm the whole of the pilgrimage, both personally and historically.
Malcolm, Martin and the American Racial Impasse: Part One
Our nation is grappling with whether race is incidental to our history or baked in. Just how deep will this archeological dig into racism’s roots go? And what are we going to do with the mounting pile of embarrassing artifacts?
March 4, 2021
In today’s curated news and analysis headlines; How Christian Schools and Homeschooling Teach Supremacist Conspiracies; QAnon and Conspiracy Theories are Taking Hold in Churches. Pastors are Fighting Back; French Catholic Clergy May Have Abused at Least 10,000 People Since 1950, Say Investigators; Conservative United Methodists Announce New Name, Logo, Website for Planned Denomination; and more.
More Identify as LGBT: Will They Be Treated Equally?
Discrimination against LGBT folk is still alive and well, but no longer as widespread as in years past. Could the U.S. House passing the Equality Act and a Gallup poll revealing more LGBT adults in the nation signal a trend toward greater equality?
Lent Calls us to Embrace Foolishness
Lent is a season for reversals. It calls us to acknowledge vulnerability and to embrace foolishness, trusting that divine weakness is stronger than human vigor and divine folly is more astute than human wisdom.
“Moving the Goalposts” Claims Ignore Pandemic Realities
Pundits claim Dr. Fauci and others have been “moving the goalposts” with their pandemic-related policies and guidelines. Such attacks miss the point.
March 3, 2022
In today’s curated news and analysis headlines: Shane Claiborne Urges Churches to Remove US Flags from Altars or Add Flags of Other 195 Countries; How Slavery Still Shapes the World of White Evangelical Christians; New Orleans Archdiocese Warns Catholics to Avoid ‘Morally Compromised’ Johnson & Johnson Vaccine; Who is a Jew? Israel’s Supreme Court Expands the Answer; and more.
Kris Exposed Hypocrisy, Injustices I’d Not Seen
The music of Kris Kristofferson points out hypocrisy and identifies social injustice in places some listeners never knew to look. His willingness to confess his own contradictions made it easier for others to do the same.
One Way to End Immigration Reform Impasse
Politicians and pundits on both sides of the political aisle agree that immigration reform is needed. Yet, an unwillingness to compromise has hindered negotiations. Both parties need to stop letting the perfect be the enemy of the good.
Fewer Protestant Churches Meeting in Person
The number of Protestant churches in the U.S. meeting in person declined in early 2021. Around three-quarter were doing so in January 2021, down from 87% in September 2020.
March 2, 2021
In today’s curated news and analysis headlines: I, Too, Was Once a Soldier of the Apocalypse: Why White Evangelicals Must Choose Between Reform and American Extremism; Panel of Former Members of QAnoners Talk About the White Supremacist Conspiracy Movement, and Warn of More Violence; Major Evangelical Adoption Agency Will Now Serve Gay Parents Nationwide; U.S. Forest Service Temporarily Halts Transfer of Native American Sacred Site Oak Flat; and more
Pandemic Accelerated New Reformation in Churches
The pandemic accelerated a reformation already at work in congregations. Such times remind us that the “raison d’être” of the body of Christ is found in planting the transformative power of the reign of God outside the church walls.
Is the U.S. Health Care System Making Us Sick?
Despite health care expenses that are higher than any nation, the U.S. is not the healthiest country in the world. Is the current system making people sick? What are some possible solutions at both the individual and collective level?
Majority of Black Americans Attend Predominantly Black Congregations
A majority of Black Americans who attend religious services do so at predominantly Black houses of faith, a report found. Nearly two-thirds of all churchgoers in the U.S. believe congregations should be more diverse.
March 1, 2021
In today’s curated news and analysis headlines: GOP Congressman Headlines Republican Conference Where Organizers Push White Nationalist Rhetoric; White Evangelicals’ Dominance of the GOP Has Turned it Into the Party of Resistance; Woman Named First Black Female Pastor for Indianapolis Area Baptist Church; Catholics in Quebec are Leaving the Church in Droves. Can Reinventing Parish Life Save it?; and more
Harder to Vote; Easier to Kill. A New Arkansas Motto?
Long known as “The Natural State,” Arkansas appears to be replacing that moniker with a new one: “Harder to vote; easier to kill.” Two bills now on the governor’s desk would eliminate an option to vote without a photo ID and would enact controversial “stand your ground” provisions.
Vaccinating the Vulnerable Requires Proactive Congregations
Houses of faith can play a significant role in getting people vaccinated against COVID-19. Here is how one Temple in North Carolina is being both a house of worship and house of service.
Look Back | The Real Choice That Causes Poverty, Homelessness
Poverty and homelessness are choices society makes, that you and I make, every day. We have the resources to end poverty and homelessness, but we lack the political, social, economic and religious will to act.
February 26, 2021
In today’s curated news and analysis headlines: More Than 500 Evangelicals, Other Faith Leaders Condemn Religion at Insurrection as ‘Heretical’; Vanderbilt Political Scientists Examine Social, Psychological, Legal Foundation of January 6 Riots; Bill Would Let Child Welfare Agencies Reject Some Kentucky Families Citing Sincere Religious Beliefs; At William & Mary, a School for Free and Enslaved Black Children is Rediscovered; and more.
Returning to the Baptismal Waters
The baptismal act, regardless of mode, remains one of the most significant moments in a Jesus-follower’s pilgrimage. Returning to these waters mentally, emotionally and spiritually offers both renewal and refreshment.