As I write this, the world has been taken hostage by a high-stakes game of chicken between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un, two men whose insecurities and cults of personality depend upon projecting increasing levels of fierceness to each other. Neither of them can back down without losing face. The entire authoritarian edifice of North Korea is built upon the myth of the national hero who defends his people against the nation that carpet bombed their villages in the... Read more
I got in trouble this weekend for a Facebook post in which I expressed regret about having interviewed NT Wright after he called transgender identity a “fashionable fantasy.” It was very mild compared to other things I’ve said online, but it struck a nerve with a lot of moderately progressive white Christian men (they were literally all moderately progressive white Christian men). Apparently expressing regret about having done an interview is the same thing as refusing to talk to anyone... Read more
The Gnostics would be puzzled by Wright's attribution of their philosophy to transgender people. Read more
The entry in AA’s Daily Reflections for today says, “Our real purpose is to fit ourselves to be of maximum service to God and the people about us.” As I was contemplating this sentence, it struck me that this is one of the most pure and straightforward ways I’ve heard to define holiness: to be made fit to serve God and neighbor. Many people in our society like to volunteer for community service. It’s very common for college students to go... Read more
It’s official. The Princeton Review has declared Tulane University the #1 party school in the country. Our ministry building is located next door to a bar on a thoroughfare where many drunk students walk by on their way to and from the frat houses. Every Monday morning during the school year, I spend about half an hour cleaning up the cups and broken bottles in our front yard. Needless to say, it’s a unique context in which to do campus... Read more
Before Donald Trump became president, he promised that if he were elected, Americans would “win so much [they] would get tired of winning.” After the failure of US Senate to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, Trump chastised his fellow Republicans for failing to win, a win being defined as the passage of any bill that the Democrats opposed and the Republicans could get 50 votes for, even if none of the Republicans really wanted it either. In a... Read more
I’ve been to pools with black people before There were five maybe six not twenty And all of them teenagers pushing and running where are the parents Several white men sit in chairs avoiding eye contact I’m not racist I didn’t say you were I’ve got small children So do I There is nothing wrong here There is absolutely nothing wrong here Because teenagers push and do cannon balls and yell and taunt and scream I was a white teenager... Read more
I have been a gardener for many years. And I hate weeds. In Louisiana, the weeds are much fiercer than they ever were in Virginia. There’s one type of vine in particular that has enormous root systems deep underground. When you pluck this vine out, it’s almost impossible to get much of the root, so it always grows back quickly. Having been traveling the whole month of July, I’m not looking forward to the mess that will await me in... Read more
I just got back from the Wild Goose Festival. It’s a great experience every year, but it’s also a time in which I feel strangely conservative because of my relative location on the spectrum of Christian belief. I live my life in the intersection of two orthodoxies: progressive intersectional social justice and evangelical Christianity. Basically, I remain a evangelical who seeks a gospel that is decolonized and purged of the distorting idols of nationalism, capitalism, white supremacy, and gender normativity... Read more
Members of the Sanhedrin, I understand that the charges against me are quite serious. So I wanted to offer some clarifications and apologies for any confusion I may have caused. First, I want to remind you that I am absolutely 100% committed to every jot and tittle of the Law and the Prophets which I said very clearly in my Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:18). I realize that I also said a lot of hyperbolic things that might have... Read more
Mercy Not Sacrifice
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