In case you missed it, yesterday Texas gubernatorial candidate (and U.S. Senate candidate and presidential candidate and former Congressman) Beto O’Rourke disrupted Texas governor Greg Abbott’s press conference on the school shooting in Ulvade: Watch: In addition to Abbott, Lieutenant […]
Archives for May 2022
Nicholas Kristof: Gun reform that could save 15,000 lives
It’s pretty simple stuff, but don’t expect many GOP Senators to buy in. Here is a taste of Nicholas Kristof’s piece at The New York Times: Let’s just acknowledge that what we’re doing isn’t working, and we need new approaches. […]
Evangelical roundup for May 26, 2021
What is happening in Evangelical land? For some early responses to the Southern Baptist Convention sexual abuse report click here and here. Tim Alberta talks with Russell Moore about politics in the church. A Gospel Coalition author on “rights”: 10,000 […]
The Politics of Life
“Rights” language must, more often than not, give way to civic humanism
Congressional committee recommends new names for nine Army bases named after Confederates
Here is Helene Cooper at The New York Times: A Black sergeant who battled German soldiers during World War I. The Army’s first Hispanic four-star general. A woman who served as an Army surgeon during the Civil War. A commission […]
Why have conservatives remained silent on the Southern Baptist abuse scandals?
Here is Paul Waldman at The Washington Post: There are few things that members of the American right emphasize more often about themselves than their deep commitment to protecting children — particularly when it comes to the threat of sexual […]
“Are you going to put your own desire power ahead of our children?”
Steve Kerr is the head coach of the Golden State Warriors. They are playing in the NBA Western Conference finals right now. Kerr’s father, Malcolm Kerr, was assassinated by Islamic terrorists in 1984. He was the president of the American […]
Wehner: “No atheist has done this much damage to the Christian faith”
David August “Augie” Boto, a member of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, referred to outcries of sexual assault victims as part of a “satanic scheme” to “distract us from evangelism.” After reading the report, Boto may want […]
Why did Princeton fire Joshua Katz?
Princeton University just fired a tenured classic professor. Read about it here. And now read Katz’s view of his firing at The Wall Street Journal: Nearly two years ago, I wrote in these pages, “I survived cancellation at Princeton.” I was […]
Is College Really Worth It?
For those wary of macro-debt, a micro-college may be the way to go
“The gun is our Moloch”
My friend Christopher Jones just reminded me (via his Twitter feed) of this 2012 Garry Wills piece at New York Review of Books: Wills wrote in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting. It is worth revisiting today. 18 elementary […]
On “thoughts and prayers” and “God-given rights”
I know I just reposted this piece a few days ago after the Buffalo shooting, but it continues to represent my thinking about these mass shootings. Here is what I wrote at The Washington Post in August 2019: In the […]
What. Are. We. Doing?
At least fifteen kids dead. (Addendum: Now CNN is reporting 18 dead–mostly 2nd and 3rd graders). Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut speaks for many of us:
It’s going to be an “old school E Street band lengthy tour”
Get up to speed here. Springsteen describes it as a “full-tilt rock and roll show.” Here is Springsteen on E Street Radio:
A word to Southern Baptist culture warriors: Please shut your mouths and start dealing with the systemic immorality in your own house
I am guessing a lot of the Southern Baptist theobros and others will be upset with the title of this post. But it was all that came to mind after I received a note from an old friend from Bible […]
The roots of our school wars
Over at Politico, historian Joshua Zeitz traces the roots of our school battles to the 1925 Scopes Trial. Here is a taste: At first glance, today’s school wars seem like a cut and dried case of modernity versus tradition, secularism […]
More responses to the Southern Baptist sexual abuse report
We gathered some very early responses here. These are responses we have seen since Sunday night: JOURNALISM: Adelle Banks of Religion News Service has a timeline. Ruth Graham and Elizabeth Dias at The New York Times. Some nice context here. […]
Thursday night with the North Jersey Civil War Roundtable
Looking forward to this ZOOM talk. Request link by Tuesday, May 24 at NJCivilWarRT@aol.com This is a free event and open to the public. SPEAKER AND PROGRAM “BOTH PRAYED TO THE SAME GOD” PRESENTED BY PROF. JOHN FEA The Civil War […]
Controversial preacher Greg Locke gives up his church’s tax-exempt status
Some of you remember this from last week: This is a clear violation of the Johnson Amendment of the United States tax code. Clergy are not permitted to endorse candidates and still keep the tax-exempt status of their churches. Americans […]
Systemic immorality or just 700+ bad apples?
Shane Claiborne gets the tweet of the day: Context.