Date: July 28, 2020
Which Civility do You Want?
In Western Europe, the 16th century Reformation and its long aftermath broke the Christian churches’ hope for concord in church and society, if by concord we mean peace based on […]
Category: Blog Posts
Date: July 21, 2020
It’s the Economy, Not the Children
What has the pandemic revealed about whom or what we U.S. Americans most value? Whatever the answer, it can’t be “our children.” In a “values clarification” exercise from many years […]
Date: July 13, 2020
Faith Based (and all other) Nonprofit Recipients Should Disclose Why They Applied and What They Received in PPP Funds
How do you feel about Edmond-based LifeChurch.TV receiving in the category of $5-10 million in taxpayer funds? How about the $2-5 million for the Hobby Lobby owner-supported Museum of the […]
Date: July 7, 2020
Negative Freedom is Killing the United States
In the first theology class I took in seminary, near the start of the course, the professor, lecturing on the Apostle Paul, said: “Christ sets us free. But there is […]
Date: June 30, 2020
What if Christians Hid Our Symbols from Public Life?
Leaders in Tulsa’s Black community used what I thought was a brilliant strategy during the president’s campaign rally. They did not think it was fitting for visiting dignitaries to appropriate […]
Date: June 23, 2020
Let’s Imagine a U.S. American Holy Week
What is the relationship between Juneteenth and the 4th of July? I’m going to address that question by referring to Christianity’s Holy Week. Church goers hear a combination of admonition […]
Date: June 16, 2020
The Lord’s Prayer is Christianity’s Most Dangerous Prayer
This past semester, I taught a class about the relationship between Christianity and democracy in the United States. Since there are multiple practices of both Christianity and of democracy, rooted […]
Date: June 9, 2020
The Term “Essential Business” is a Misnomer that Caused Unnecessary Suffering
In college, I took several sociology courses. I still remember the professor’s opening remark in the class Social Problems, “The most important part of a social problem is defining the […]
Date: June 2, 2020
An Open Letter to White American Christians
My fellow white American Christians: On the soil of indigenous people’s nations, our forebears planted a version of Christianity, and they planted the rhizome of racism. They brought that rhizome […]
Date: May 26, 2020
Religious Communities Could Help Us Develop the Power to Slow Down our Moral Responses
All religious communities are schools of moral formation and moral discourse. The work of defining the gap between “is” and “ought,” the difference between right and wrong, between the desirable […]