From supporters of President Obama to Tea Party activists Americans agree that we live in a time of deeply polarized politics. There are numerous explanations but I suspect it comes down to bad theology. I should know. I was my evangelist father’s (Francis Schaeffer) sidekick on the religious/political circuit in the 1970s and 80s. We did our bit to launch the religious right. Then I changed my mind and fled. One thing didn’t change when I changed sides: My slash... Read more

Is anyone who doesn’t already hate Obama for the usual right-wing reasons really going to believe the new Romney ad, that Obama’s health-care law wages a “war on religion”? I doubt many people will. It’s just right-wing fever-swamp rhetoric that I think your average person will, in his or her bones, recognize as such, because we’ve now reached the point in history where we’ve heard a lot of this, and it no longer shocks or traduces the way it once... Read more

In the last few months, considerable attention has been devoted to Mitt Romney’s tax returns and his former company’s “job-creating performance,” but there has been insufficient discussion about what arguably has had the greatest role in shaping who he is and how he views the world: his Mormon religion. Despite his reluctance to address the subject directly, public interest in Mormonism remains at historic levels. His “Mormon Moment” is laden with obligation: never in the history of the United States... Read more

Confession time: I am an Anabaptist. Not just a cradle Menno/Brethren, but also an Anabaptist of the Neo kind. So when James Davidson Hunter called out the Neo-Anabaptists in his recent book To Change the World, I bristled a bit. In each of the other chapters on Evangelicals and Liberals I found myself in the Amen corner. Yet, I recognized the fault lines he named in his section about “me”. See, I do ascribe to the alternative definition of politics... Read more

“Michelle and I are shocked and saddened by the horrific and tragic shooting in Colorado. Federal and local law enforcement are still responding, and my Administration will do everything that we can to support the people of Aurora in this extraordinarily difficult time. We are committed to bringing whoever was responsible to justice, ensuring the safety of our people, and caring for those who have been wounded. As we do when confronted by moments of darkness and challenge, we must... Read more

“Our most saddening and sobering finding is the total disregard for the safety andwelfare of Sandusky’s child victims by the most senior leaders at Penn State. The most powerful men at Penn State failed to take any steps for 14 years to protect the children who Sandusky victimized. Messrs. Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley never demonstrated, through actions or words, any concern for the safety and well-being of Sandusky’s victims until after Sandusky’s arrest.”-Louis Freeh, From the Freeh Report, July 12,... Read more

In 2011, I attended Shimon Peres’s Presidential Conference, “Facing Tomorrow,” in Israel. Headliners included Tony Blair, Benjamin Netanyahu, Natan Sharansky, Sarah Silverman, and Shakira. Blair and Netanyahu were predictably fiery and challenging — Netanyahu almost had me believing. Silverman, note to future organizers, was surprisingly unfunny and uninteresting. Shakira was equally surprisingly articulate and passionate about the need to educate poor children; she also gracefully resisted her interviewer’s awkward insistence to shake her hips. Dr. Ruth also gave some talks.... Read more

The most dangerous enemy is the one who most resembles you. That is why the danger of white supremacy is so underestimated as a severe domestic terror threat. White supremacy is the true “homegrown” terrorism, dating back to the 18th century in the United States. White supremacy is the greatest danger we as Americans face as a source of domestic terrorism, and one of the least recognized. It is difficult for law enforcement, as well as ordinary white Americans, to... Read more

The other day, one of those Internet memes was making the rounds, this one lamenting the focus on Chick-Fil-A when there are just so many other, more pressing problems, such as the price of gas, the lack of jobs, the ongoing cost of wars abroad, and the federal deficit. I couldn’t help but see the common thread. The same people who are all hoo-rah over Chick-Fil-A’s five million dollar contributions to anti-gay causes are, by and large, the same ones... Read more

Pastor Rick Warren has over 600,000 followers on Twitter. Warren’s Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California has over 20,000 “likes” on Facebook and a sophisticated website where visitors can check the events calendar, watch streaming video of sermons, and post comments. Warren, however, seems to be the exception rather than the rule. Although a few churches are using social media to connect with their congregants quite effectively, most places of worship have sparse online offerings and few Americans report using... Read more