Brett Kavanaugh just claimed, in the Judiciary Committee hearings on his nomination to be a Supreme Court judge, that "a good judge must be an umpire." No. Not even close. That’s the typical conservative dodge to avoid talking about their approach to interpreting the law. I was an expert witness in John Roberts' confirmation hearings, where he compared his way of interpreting the law to that of an “umpire calling balls and strikes.” It has not worked out that way. Read more
The United States doesn’t have a president any more, we have an “Abuser-in-Chief.” The policies and practices of this administration are modeled on domestic violence. We can effectively subvert this and reject it, but first we have to respect that the abuse is real and the pain it causes is real. Read more
Religious liberty is rightly called “the first freedom” and it has defined us as a nation. At least up until the Supreme Court decision in "Trump v. Hawaii." Nominees for the Supreme Court should be asked if they agree with George Washington’s "Letter to the Jews of Newport, Rhode Island" (1790). Read more
Jesus of Nazareth publicly shamed those leaders he saw were committing injustice in his time, calling them out (Matt. 23:13). Jesus didn’t hesitate to be confrontational. "You hypocrites!" he cried out. Members of this current administration have recently been publicly shamed, and also denied service at a restaurant, to call them out. I believe these are justice actions. Read more
By Dan Haseltine There are few areas of life where a man should feel as slippery-footed as when he is discussing topics related to women. Men, historically, even with an abundance of resources—from tabloid magazine articles to physiological and psychological books—have been utterly confounded. The task of writing about women is {such} a scary one that {in trying to} help us understand the role we play in serving vulnerable women and children around the world, I am going to attempt... Read more
There is an image the Southern Baptist Convention cannot afford to have taken at their annual meeting this year. It’s the image of Southern Baptist men denying access to a Southern Baptist pastor because of her female skin. The denomination officially apologized in 1995 for its history of discrimination and segregation based on the color of one’s skin. But they staunchly reserve the right to this day to discriminate based on gender. The Tennessee Baptist Convention (TBC) exercised this religious... Read more
This month’s Met Gala broke the internet, as intended. This time with celestial, papal, regal flair. But beyond the outrageous red-carpet sequins—the sexy angels and coquettish monks—the theme of the costume exhibition inside the museum, bridging the sacred and the secular, is the real provocation. Read more
Spirituality beyond religion is not an empty position for those preoccupied with believing niceties; it's a necessary step toward more coherent and plausible spiritual worldviews. Read more
Embed from Getty Images What can we possibly do in the face of evil? Why does God allow bad things to happen, like the shootings in Texas and Las Vegas, and multiple others? As I sit here and read about another senseless tragedy and all the prayers being offered for those lives taken too soon by the horrific circumstances that have occurred, I am reminded that the enemy is hard at work creating an atmosphere of fear, anxiety, and dread... Read more
In fundamentalist Christian circles there is an approach to the world known as ‘secondary separation’. While the Bible notes Christians are not of this world, there is tension when Jesus says they are also in this world, and should not expect to be removed. Fundamentalism is one expression of this tension, that leans in the direction of withdrawal. A key verse is II Corinthians 6:17, “Come out from them and be separate,” quoting an Old Testament passage focusing on holiness.... Read more
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