Life is not easy, but my theological perspective on suffering has made it worse. My extremely religious Korean-American mother would try to find some theological explanation. As we grew older, she started explaining hardships as yeondan — the refining fire of a forge. Read more
What if we treated Martin Luther King Day as not a day off, but a day on? What if on this day and going forward we honored the father of twentieth-century American democracy with a day of reckoning to take a real look at whether or not we are making a real difference in our world. A Day of Reckoning! Read more
Children need their families. As a mom, my worst nightmare is losing my son. I would go to any lengths to protect him. A Pentagon spokesperson said that the U.S. is preparing to shelter as many as 20,000 migrant children on four American military bases. Images come to mind of Japanese internment camps in World War II. Of our turning Jews back by the boatloads to Nazi Germany. Religious women are mad as hell. So we are heading to... Read more
By Vicky Ness Lately we’ve been watching the awakening and passionate action of new generation of social activists who are coming into their own across the country. And we need them now more than ever. We hope to see not only a commitment to our country and community, we also depend on the gifts they offer: fresh eyes with which to see ourselves, a new voice that can speak the truth, and a passionate spirit willing to stand up to... Read more
Attorney General Jeff Sessions responded to pressure from religious communities who are horrified by his policy of separating children from families at the border. He tried to justify separating nursing babes from moms by proof-texting Romans 13, which says Christians must obey governing authorities as ordained by God. Sessions is lying when he says he is merely enforcing laws passed by Congress. Sessions himself originated the cruel policy of ripping children out of their parents’ arms in early May. Even... Read more
Watching Anthony Bourdain douse every episode of his hit show, Parts Unknown, in alcohol was always painful to witness. He spoke frequently and eloquently of his addiction, but always in the past tense, as if it was an historical event that happened to a person he used to be. But an addict’s addiction is never in the past. I have no idea what the toxicology results of his autopsy will eventually reveal; but I do know that Mr. Bourdain... Read more
Depression is real. Depression kills. And it doesn’t discriminate. “How could you get Kate and Anthony?” I ask in anguish, even though I know the answer. Depression came so close to killing me in 2016, I still feel its icy fingers clutching at my heart, my hands, when I read their stories of loss. I know how Depression spoke to Kate and Anthony, how it whispered lies to them in their own voices until it tore them... Read more
We must end any doctrine or practice that suggests men and women are “separate but equal,” including complementarianism. Read more
a guest-post by Shane McCormick How many religious leaders in 2018 support legalizing cannabis? Very few, but here is my take-away after an interview with one who does. I was inspired to conduct an interview with Reverend Capo after reading an article in the Chicago Tribune in which he was quoted as being in support of the legalization of the use of marijuana. The purpose of the interview was to educate myself and others about the fight for the legalization of... Read more
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