Despite all the damage we have tried to inflict upon ourselves over the course of human history, we can’t hold a candle to the destructive strength of microscopic organisms. We’ve tried to kill ourselves off in many devastating wars. We’ve had inquisitions where we have rounded up and killed thousands of people who didn’t see fit to worship in the same manner as us. We’ve been caught up in the mass hysteria of witch hunts. We have seen genocides which... Read more
I write to you from my home when I would ordinarily be at work. But all the school districts in my immediate area are closed until April 6th. Indianapolis Mayor, Joe Hogsett, ordered all of the schools in Marion County (home to million people) closed and has banned any large gatherings. Our state’s fabled high school basketball tournament has been canceled. When the state of Indiana cancels our high school basketball tournament, you know it’s serious! So here I sit... Read more
Born in Simpler Times March 16, 1967: That’s when I became a U.S. citizen. I didn’t enter the country after a long ocean voyage. I entered after a short trip through a birth canal. That makes me special. That means I didn’t have to do anything to earn my freedoms here. They are my birthright because I won a race to an egg that happened to be inside an American woman. But it’s more than that. In... Read more
Political division is nothing new. We’ve been a divided nation since Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson began to bicker in George Washington’s cabinet meetings and planted the seeds of our first two political parties. Some political division is healthy in a Democratic Republic; it assures a platform for other ideas and keeps us from running off too far in one direction. But something has changed. Today, we’ve become a nation of cannibals as we continually eat our own. Yes, Republicans... Read more
Bernie Sanders’ campaign seems to be picking up momentum. Before I go on, let me say that Bernie isn’t my first choice among the Democrats, but I’m not scared of him like a lot of people are. Sanders is certainly a polarizing figure, even among Democrats and especially among Christians. Sanders’ biggest support base seems to be the younger voters. I think it’s great that he has captured the imaginations of a generation of young adults who otherwise tend... Read more
Believe me, I’m as guilty as anyone on either side of our current civil war of getting completely transfixed with doing my part to win it. It just kind of comes with the territory of caring about your country, I guess. We are all concerned with the question; who will win the war? But from time to time, I touch base with another question that is at least as important, if not the most important: Who’s going to win the... Read more
On any given day, I probably get asked at least once or twice, “how are you?” My answer is always the same, and it is an automatic response, “I’m doin’ ok.” I must confess, for quite a while now, my response has been a lie. I’m not ok. I’m pretty damn far from ok, actually. I’m not lying on purpose. Saying “I’m doin’ ok” is as involuntary as a heartbeat or taking a breath, it just comes out as a... Read more
It was all over my social media feed last night. I saw dozens of conservative Christians up in arms about the sexually suggestive nature of the halftime performances of Shakira and J.Lo. I saw the halftime show and, in my opinion, it was fairly tame. Yes, the singers and the dancers wore skimpy outfits and yes, the dances were, at times, somewhat suggestive. However, none of it was over-the-top. It was no different than a performance you might see on... Read more
It’s been a weird week in conservative Christendom. We saw pastor Rodney Howard-Browne step up and claim that Jesus Christ would take a whip and “beat the crap out of” former National Security Advisor John Bolton for blowing the whistle on the president. We’ve seen Pastor Howard-Browne before; he was one of those who gathered in the Oval Office for the beautifully awkward photo-op where all the spiritual leaders laid hands on the president in prayer. Howard-Browne’s insistence showed very... Read more
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Someone to Look Down On
That quote in the image up there is one of my favorites of all time. President Johnson encapsulted America’s biggest problem so succinctly that they should have been the last words ever spoken on the subjects of income inequality and racism. But they weren’t. Half a century later we are still caught up in the same mess. We haven’t really learned anything, and I’m really getting tired of it. The thing that sickens me the most is reading the things... Read more