I’m sick and tired of being guilted by conservative Christians for having empathy and compassion. I’m just over it. Every day, I’m confronted with political memes from right wing Christians implying that if I vote for a Democrat, I’m on the fast train to hell. Every damn day. This particular meme has been popping up a lot on my social media feed lately… It addresses the usual topics that right wing Christians hide behind as an excuse to show... Read more
The other day, President Trump stood in front of a bank of microphones and said that, if elected, Joe Biden would “hurt God”, “hurt the Bible” and basically implied that Liberals want to kill Christianity. As sophomoric and ridiculous as that claim sounded to most Americans, Trump knew what he was doing. He was sounding yet another in a never ending series of dog whistles to his most adamantly supportive base, the far-right evangelicals. Say what you will about the... Read more
Yesterday was our first day back to school in almost five months. As is normally the case, our school doesn’t jump right into our regular curriculum. We spend the first few days of the school year getting to know each other and trying to build a foundation for a positive school culture. Teachers are given “canned” lessons (produced by outside companies) to help get our students off to a good start. There is value in these lessons, but I normally... Read more
Mr. President, A few days ago, you stood on a stage in front of Mount Rushmore and made some comments that can only be described as a direct attack upon public schools. In that speech, you claimed that America’s public schools teach students to “hate America” and insinuated that the indoctrination modern students recieve in schools is at the root of much of the current movement to bring drastic changes in American society, such as the removal of monuments that... Read more
The other day, I was blindsided by a thread on a Facebook post. The experience really illuminated in mind a very large problem we are facing in our nation. The post was shared on large Facebook group for teachers that I belong to. This group tends to focus a lot on social justice and progressive causes, which makes it right down my alley. But this particular post and the comment thread that followed, which I became entangled in, quickly escalated... Read more
I haven’t been able to bring myself to write much for weeks. Throughout much of this time of the Covid-19 quarantine, I’ve just been sitting around looking at the television–not watching really, just looking–or doing yard work, or walking the dog, etc., and ruminating on what’s happened to our nation. I haven’t been particularly angry, sad, agitated, or anything like that. Mostly, I’ve been numb. I guess that’s why I’ve found it difficult to write much. But I have been... Read more
As the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown drags into it’s second month, the country is getting restless. That’s pretty understandable, this is uncharted territory for all of us and patience does tend to wear thin. After a honeymoon period where most of us were pretty much resigned to the fact that we were going to be hunkered down for a good while, there is now a growing movement of folks pushing to end the lockdown in order to get the economy back... Read more
In 1987, Donald Trump published a book (written by Tony Schwartz) called The Art of the Deal. Unlike many of his actual deals, the book was an enormous success. Trump made his reputation as someone who is skilled at negotiating big real estate deals. The fact that he has had to file for bankruptcies for his businesses six different times seems not to have had too much of an impact on that reputation. Whether he is truly a great businessman or... Read more
Some of my earliest memories are set in the small town church in which I grew up. Like most small town churches, ours was pretty conservative. I don’t remember a lot of politically divisive messages delivered from our pulpit but, as I think back, all the trimmings of political conservatism were present if you were paying attention. My parents were pillars of the church and community at large; respected educators and stalwart church members. My mom was a regular on... Read more
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Conservative Christianity Keeps Rhyming History
Trigger Warning: This article is not meant to be a condemnation of all who claim to be conservative Christians. It is simply an historic account of things done under the banner of conservative Christianity. These things cannot be denied; at least not by anyone with the slightest education about our national story. Draw your own conclusions. Mark Twain is credited (rightly or wrongly) as having once said, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes.” There is so much truth... Read more