“Give a man a fish and feed him for a day, but teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime.”   So goes the familiar proverb. It is one that has become deeply entrenched in our national ethos, and lately, the pithy maxim has found its way into our political discourse in a troubling way.   Why raise taxes on the poor and middle class? Why repeal Obamacare? Why cut the tiny amount we spend on foreign... Read more

This post is a response to Professor Barbara Dianne Savage’s "The Myth of the Black Church." For those unfamiliar with this excerpt from Your Spirits Walk Beside Us: The Politics of Black Religion, Prof. Savage reflects on the lineage and diversity found in the "Black church". She characterizes the compilation of the many denominations and religious institutions that make up the black church as "a political, intellectual and theological construction." She grounds this conclusion in what she describes as the decentralized and... Read more

By Bishop Elias Taban, President of the South Sudan Evangelical Alliance We all know the massive damage that a tank or fighter jet can do.  When people visualize the devastation of violent conflict, our minds go to the big guns and bombs.  But I have spent over 40 years of my life at war.  I became a child soldier at the age of 12, and I know firsthand that the weapons that can do the most harm – small arms... Read more

Guilty as charged. I did what every feminist theologian has been criticized for. I wrote from only one woman’s perspective. In the attempt I made last week to bring a Christian voice to the “Why Women Still Can’t Have it All” conversation, I wrote from the perspective of and responded very much to wealthy, educated women of privilege. So here I am one week later, saying, “There are more feminist Christian voices than I may have let on…” Don’t get... Read more

By Maggie Thornton Jesus made it clear to his disciples that “to whom much is given, much is required” (Luke 12:48). This commandment haunts me when I think about all the material goods with which I have been blessed. Sometimes I wonder if to be a “real” Christian I should just sell everything, give the money to the poor, and live in a box or convent. I know that living such a life would actually deprive me of the opportunity... Read more

  In the coming days, the headlines will assign blame and credit for today’s historic ruling by the Supreme Court. The pundits on cable news will continue to peddle the rat race of modern presidential campaigns, turning every minute and meaningless poll result into a sound bite for who’s ahead and who’s behind.    Before we get too carried away, let’s remember what today truly means:   More than 30 million Americans will now have access to health insurance.   ... Read more

One of my favorite quotes is FDR’s famous line, “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”  This moral and economic principle is at the core of what it means to be a Democrat/progressive.  And it is a test we are failing miserably. How did we get to this point? We can and should blame Republican political... Read more