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June 2021

June 27, 2021

It’s Time to Get Back to Work

As we continue to move toward "normalcy" after close to a year-and-a-half of pandemic shut...

June 22, 2021

The Truth Will Mess You Up

I’ve always been afraid of people in possession of what they believe to be the...

June 12, 2021

God Said It, I Believe It, That Settles It? Not so much.

One of the books I gave Jeanne for her birthday this past week is As a...

June 06, 2021

Learning From Our Inferiors

As the world begins to open up after fifteen months of pandemic restrictions, as things...

May 2021

May 31, 2021

A Memorial Day Question: Is Our Experiment in Democracy Failing?

Memorial Day is a great time to honor those who have made sacrifices over the...

May 26, 2021

How To Be a Person

Not long ago, I read Hilary Mantel’s long-awaited The Mirror and the Light, the final...

May 23, 2021

From Babel to Pentecost–We’ve Come Full Circle

Jeanne and I once watched a documentary called “Fierce Light: When Spirit Meets Action,” created,...

April 2021

April 02, 2021

A Good Friday Meditation: God is With Us

During the college basketball season, Jeanne and I frequently watch a replay of the Providence...

March 2021

March 27, 2021

A Palm Sunday Reflection on Power and Love

Today is Palm Sunday, one of the most dramatic days on the liturgical calendar. But...

March 02, 2021

Hitler, Trump, and the Golden Calf

In one of my seminars a week or so ago, my students and I considered...

February 2021

February 09, 2021

“So We Could Blend In”: A U.S. Congressman Learns About White Privilege

Today is the first day of the impeachment trial of former President Donald J. Trump...

February 04, 2021

The Best of 2020 #1: The Coronavirus, the Apocalypse, and The Book of Revelation

It is not surprising, given what 2020 was like, that the most viewed post on...

January 2021

January 19, 2021

Can You Be a Christian Capitalist? Can You Be a Capitalist Christian?

There is nothing that attracts the ire of various commenters on this blog more than...

January 17, 2021

Stupidity On Display: Where do we go from here?

As the nation continues to process and seek to understand the seditious riot and occupation...

December 2020

December 27, 2020

A Different Kind of Christmas Story

Because of Covid-19, a less-than-smooth transition from one administration to another, and a general impatience...

December 02, 2020

To Pardon is Human, but to Forgive is Divine

Michael Flynn got one. Rudy Giuliani is fishing for one. Donald Trump may grant them...

November 2020

November 24, 2020

Christianity Does Not Solve the Problem of Evil

In the eight-plus years that I’ve been writing this blog, I’ve occasionally been asked what...

November 14, 2020

Don’t Make Me Come Down There

As is the case with many of the things in my life, my knowledge of...

November 03, 2020

It’s Election Day: What’s the Worst that Could Happen?

In 1969, Johnny Maestro and the Brooklyn Bridge released the single 'Worst That Could Happen"—it...

October 2020

October 22, 2020

“Political Jesus”: Yes, those words belong together

In a recent interview, Union Theological Seminary president Serene Jones said that "If you really...

October 16, 2020

Don’t Read the Constitution like Literalists Read the Bible

Not long ago, I found myself involved behind the scenes in a squabble between the...

October 06, 2020

On Earth, as it is in Heaven: Why Faith is Always Political

Last Sunday, it was my turn to be lector at church. The reading from the...

October 01, 2020

Take a Deep Breath

Jeanne and I did not watch the presidential "debate" on Tuesday evening, choosing instead to...

September 2020

September 29, 2020

A Few Thoughts Before the First Presidential Debate

The first debate between the 2020 presidential nominees is this evening. It will come as...

September 22, 2020

Don’t Be a One Issue Voter–even if that issue is abortion

With the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginzberg, the abortion issue is slowly...

September 20, 2020

WTF Is This??–A story about change

Organized religion often is a source of packaged answers and comfortable solutions to important questions...

August 2020

August 11, 2020

I’m not a Catholic, but I could play one on TV

Classes begin on my campus in three weeks. That, in the middle of a pandemic,...

July 2020

July 16, 2020

Donald Trump, Roger Stone, and the Difference Between Pardoning and Forgiving

With Donald Trump’s commutation of Roger Stone’s prison sentence last week, we are reminded once...

June 2020

June 23, 2020

Does the Arc of the Moral Universe Really Bend Toward Justice?

Former President Obama loved to quote a hopeful statement from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:...

June 20, 2020

How to Avoid Being Stupid

Why do intelligent people believe lies that are easily exposed as lies? Why do intelligent...

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