Over the past decade, our polarization—political, racial, religious—has grown exponentially. Vanderbilt University conducts surveys on American polarization, and in 2024, they released a study showing that both the right and the left continue to increasingly identify as “strongly” left or “strongly” right. Roughly 28% on both sides now identify as either “strongly” or “far” right or left ..read more

Addressing my fellow citizens of the United States: Let’s consider how our founding fathers understood happiness and the purpose and role of the federal government. And as we do, also consider how well the societies of the top 11 happiest nations correlate with the happiness understood by those founding fathers ..read more

As the actions of the Trump administration continue to generate waves of fear, uncertainty, and disbelief... it’s precisely in these kinds of moments when our every action becomes critical. History shows that over and over again, the most transformative changes come from those who are willing, as Robin Meyers implored last week, to stand up and say, “Excuse me?!” — especially when it feels like the world is pushing back ..read more

What is essential for civilization, and in particular for democracy, is not just slipping away.  It is imploding.  The plutocratic autocracy has arrived in the form of billionaires who eliminate programs that feed poor children while stuffing their pockets with billions in government subsidies ..read more

The “Nicene Creed” has been a foundation for Christian unity for a long time.  But the occasion raises some serious questions as well.  Does the Creed represent the marriage of empire and religion, Constantine and Christianity, that created a detour from the authentic teachings of Jesus for 1600 subsequent years?  ..read more

King would remind us that we cannot heal the world without healing ourselves. In light of King's teachings, healing ourselves is the greatest task and the most difficult work we must do. This work must be done in relation to our justice work in the world ..read more

it should be no surprise that the library of 66 books known to us as the Bible does not conform to current distinctions between fact and fable.  What opens to us between its covers is a window into eras long past and into the depths of our own souls in the present. A strong hint of the Bible’s nature is the uncertainty of the identities of its many authors.  ..read more

Sometimes, it feels like the whole world is burning, flooding, warring, and dying. Personally, these times are very ungrounding and fear-provoking ..read more

I love a good story, and the Exodus story is one of the best in the Bible!  ...What a story!  It’s filled with drama, violence, intrigue, unlikely heroes, and unexpected twists.  It’s fun to read, even though many of us know it well ..read more

Mythology is a way to tell the truth, and the Hebrew writings are a string of pearls, one myth after the other, one truth after the other, and the truths tell a grim story about who we are as human beings ..read more