Anti-Christian Biases and Hot Accessories In Trump’s America

Last updated on: April 29, 2025 at 8:13 pm By Melanie Springer Mock

On April 22, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi hosted the first meeting for an anti-Christian bias task force, convened to “eradicate anti-Christian biases” from the federal government. To celebrate the first 100 days of President Donald Trump’s reign, faith leaders gathered to worship near the president, gushing on social media posts about the White House becoming a “house of prayer.” The New York Times recently published an article about crosses becoming a “hot accessory” among Trump’s staff, “the jewelry of... Read more

Protesting, and Praying With My Feet

Last updated on: April 14, 2025 at 5:46 pm By Melanie Springer Mock

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On April 5, I joined people around the nation for a “Hands Off” protest, demonstrating against the current administration in the United States, and the many, many actions they’ve taken to harm humans. While crowd estimates are difficult to come by, some reports put the number at five million who participated in the United States, and in locations worldwide. Since the January 20 inauguration, I’ve felt a certain sense of angst and despair about the cruelty perpetrated on everyone from... Read more

The Truth That Really Matters

Last updated on: March 27, 2025 at 5:11 pm By Melanie Springer Mock

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Another week, another scandal, another cascade of lies from the current administration, for whom the truth doesn’t always seem to matter. The revelation that United States administrators, including the Secretary of Defense, were sharing war plans through an unsecured app, and invited a journalist to join in resulted in more spin, and spin, and spin. This includes the president’s press secretary, a professed Christian who stands behind a briefing room dais, where a giant golden cross around her neck, and... Read more

As Goes My Town, So Goes America

Last updated on: March 10, 2025 at 12:14 pm By Melanie Springer Mock

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Two weeks ago, the Department of Education launched a portal where concerned parents, students, teachers, and community members could report “divisive ideologies and indoctrination” happening in public schools. From the outset, the intent was clear: the site essentially hosted a snitch form, welcoming people to inform on their neighbors for transgressing the edicts of President Trump, who has demanded that public schools be whitewashed (literally) of any instruction that smacks of diversity, equity, and inclusion. By the time I tried... Read more

Beware the Dehumanizing Impact of “Audits”

Last updated on: February 16, 2025 at 1:28 pm By Melanie Springer Mock

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Just now, on social media, I read comment strings on my local community pages cheering Elon Musk for taking a wrecking ball to our federal government. While reading the news these days makes me sick and anxious, few stories made me so nauseous as my neighbors, celebrating a billionaire’s seeming ability to wreck institutions that provide international aid, educate children, and protect our national parks. The comments seemed giddy, as if these folks don’t care for the thousands of federal... Read more

Reading as Resistance to Chaos and Rage

Last updated on: February 5, 2025 at 11:29 am By Melanie Springer Mock

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Like so many others in my community and elsewhere, I’ve been spinning out with anxiety about the state of our country. Each day’s news cycle brings more chaos and uncertainty and rage-inducing headlines. For the first week (or so) of a new presidency, I was doing okay, holding on to hope, certain that the country’s guardrails would hold, if only barely. But then came the plane crash in Washington, D.C., and President Trump’s inference that women and minorities were to... Read more

The Threats and Promises of Religious Freedom

Last updated on: January 14, 2025 at 12:33 pm By Melanie Springer Mock

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This week I begin my 48th semester as a college instructor at a faith-based institution. (I also taught as a graduate student at state schools, so my total teaching tally is nearer to 60 semesters.) At George Fox University, we are encouraged—required, even—to bring our Christian faith to the classroom, and I have cherished the opportunity to openly express my love for Jesus in the vocational space I’ve inhabited for several decades now. The integration of my faith with learning... Read more

Choosing Jimmy Carter and His Model of Faith

Last updated on: December 30, 2024 at 9:15 pm By Melanie Springer Mock

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In my first election, I chose Jimmy Carter. I was in seventh grade, so my vote didn’t count. But at Hillsboro Middle School in Kansas, a friend and I were vocal supporters of Carter, fighting against the many Mennonite Brethren in our classes who campaigned for Ronald Reagan in our school-wide mock election. We were Mennonites too—seemed like almost everyone in Hillsboro was—but of a different type, and because our parents were Democrats, we vehemently advocated for the Democratic ticket,... Read more

This Weary World

Last updated on: December 19, 2024 at 3:45 pm By Melanie Springer Mock

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For all of my vocational life, Advent season arrives just as another semester is concluding, and the run-up to Christmas always accompanies the run-down of my courses, with final exams and projects, last-minute meetings, and grading all the things. By the time I close the books on another semester, address any student complaints about grades, and finish projects I’ve put off, I’m wiped out, as are most of my teacher friends. Advent is wound up in weariness for me, every... Read more

Quitting X and Fighting Disinformation

Last updated on: December 4, 2024 at 10:02 am By Melanie Springer Mock

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Like thousands of other X Users, I recently deactivated my X/Twitter account, migrating to Threads, and then to Bluesky, to get my social media fix. This weekend, NBC reported that many journalists are quitting X as well, especially after X owner Elon Musk admitted to deprioritizing posts that included links, thereby limiting the ability of reporters to reach readers seeking more than a sound bite of information offered by Tweets. And herein resides a significant problem: too many of us... Read more