Women of faith ready to dump Trump

July 20, 2020 By Rev. Jen Butler

From day one of his political career, President Trump’s rhetoric and policies have harmed women. We know very well his greatest hits of misogyny. Granting a broad “religious exemption” from contraception coverage in employer-provided health insurance, gutting sexual assault prevention programs, and ripping toddlers away from their mothers at the border are just a few examples of his anti-women policies. And his pattern of degrading women who challenge him — from journalists to Congresswomen — attacks our dignity. In 2020,… Read more

DACA: A Dream Endures

June 19, 2020 By Rev. Jen Butler

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The struggle over legal protections for young immigrants is a proxy conflict about our nation’s future. Our debate over the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program pits the Statue of Liberty versus the wall, human dignity versus nativist anger. As demagogues have driven our nation’s immigration, asylum and refugee policies since day one of the Trump administration, young immigrants and allies have refused to back down. Homes and jobs, hopes and dreams, all hang in the balance. The long… Read more

Black Lives Matter to God

May 28, 2020 By Rev. Jen Butler

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Racist violence is swirling in the air this week, telling us to sit powerless in its presence. We must defy it. In Minneapolis, a white police officer pinned his knee to the neck of George Floyd, a black man who died pleading for breath. A day earlier in Central Park, a white woman threatened a bird-watching black man by whipping out her phone and saying “I’m going to tell them there’s an African American man threatening my life,” because he… Read more

Religious liberty isn’t a license to kill

April 29, 2020 By Rev. Jen Butler

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Debates about church and state have never been for the faint of heart. Whether the issue is school-sponsored prayer, or conservative Christians asserting a right to discriminate against LGBTQ people, or the Trump administration’s Muslim ban, the stakes cut to the heart of our nation’s values. What happens when religious conscience and civil rights collide? Is it ever permissible for one person’s faith to proscribe another person’s rights? Are we pluralistic or theocratic? Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re on the… Read more

Addressing the moral pandemic at Easter

April 9, 2020 By Rev. Jen Butler

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Most of us are closing our church doors to the virus. Will we open our minds to a new politics? Don’t let the news stories about pastors refusing to cancel in-person services give you the wrong impression. While some are making this unconscionable choice, the overwhelming majority of us have closed our church doors to the virus, and we’re working to meet our congregations’ needs via FaceTime, Zoom and Facebook Live. Loving our neighbors as we love ourselves remains our… Read more

Revisiting the Cross During a Pandemic Holy Week

April 8, 2020 By Rev. Jen Butler

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This week I’m going back to Mary Oliver’s poetry collection called Thirst. It is a great read for Holy Week. Today’s poem is “The Uses of Sorrow.” Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand That this, too, was a gift. Today we have inherited a box full of darkness. It may take us years to understand it. While the pain is not in itself a good, perhaps the understanding that… Read more

Tell President Trump: No Easter Massacre

March 28, 2020 By Rev. Jen Butler

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We’re all frightened of the COVID-19 pandemic for very good reason right now. But, like you, I’m doing my best to love my neighbors. Washing our hands frequently, staying home except for absolute necessities, and communicating with our loved ones are essential steps. Keep it going. Listening to public health professionals’ guidelines right now is critical, but President Trump has disregarded their expertise by calling for an end to social distancing by Easter – which could lead to horrific deaths…. Read more

You can’t beat evil with a stump speech

February 14, 2020 By Rev. Jen Butler

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After more than a year of campaigning, Democratic primary voters are finally winnowing the field for the 2020 presidential election. After just two contests, we have only five major candidates left. Compared to previous election cycles, Democratic contenders have connected their policies to religious values and reached out to communities of faith. In New Hampshire, Bernie Sanders spoke profoundly about how his Jewish faith shapes his world view. In Iowa, Joe Biden spent time with Catholic nuns who serve undocumented… Read more

#WomenLead at Faith in Public Life

January 29, 2020 By Rev. Jen Butler

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Defiant women change history. From the women putting their bodies on the line during the Suffragist movement to the Women’s Marches today, we’ve proven that our voices shake the world. And when women lead companies, governments and nonprofits, we all benefit. But according to a recent 2019 study of 329 organizations employing 13 million people, only one in five senior leaders is a woman, and just one in 25 is a woman of color. These numbers are shameful for our… Read more

Muslim Ban 3.0: A Racist Attack on Religious Liberty

January 27, 2020 By Rev. Jen Butler

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As the 2020 election season begins, President Trump’s evangelical endorsers are touting his record on religious freedom to shore up his support among their base. Their strained reading of the issue — for example, citing the First Amendment to justify denying adoption services, health care and public accommodations to LGBTQ families — stands in stark contrast to the simple moral clarity of the gravest threat to religious freedom in the United States today: the Trump administration’s discrimination against Muslims on… Read more