Hundreds of heavily armed men and women invaded Gettysburg, my hometown, on July 4. They occupied sacred land and patrolled battlefield roads seeking the enemy. When asked why they came, they readily claimed to be patriots who were preserving our heritage. In fact, they were responding to a social media post supposedly from ANTIFA that […]
The pandemic immediately revealed it is not realistic for our society to base all its decisions on the economic market. As soon as the crisis hit, we began talking about the right for all of our citizens to food, housing, medical care, and a basic income. Without much reflection, the government quickly sent emergency funds […]
As Dr. Martin Luther King maintained, you cannot deal with systemic racism without also addressing the economic and military problems smoldering in our society. All three exploded under the conditions of the present pandemic. Poor African and Hispanic neighborhoods were afflicted much harder than others by the COVID-19 virus. The George Floyd murder forced us […]
It has become evident that we are in the midst of a history-changing moment. Young people of all colors are demonstrating for Black Lives Matter. Adults are examining their naive belief that society has been improving steadily in spite of some minor setbacks. Many are opening their dictionaries to find out what “systemic” means when […]
It was a strange week for the online Church. Last Monday night, the symposium that normally gathers in my home discussed the relationship between church and state over Zoom. As we were winding down, a number of the members asked why most pastors refuse to speak truth to power. In the few minutes remaining, a […]
As I write, the relationship between church and government is being maliciously manipulated. Popular public figures on both sides are using each other to get what they want. And, the deals being made threaten our souls. In order to understand how we got to this place, I find myself recalling what I have experienced during […]
The pandemic has brought into focus all sorts of societal problems. The last lesson discussed only the large number associated with Smithfield Foods. Most of these have been festering for decades. The question is whether the pandemic will bring them to a head in a way that incites creative response. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in […]
In a time when the Christian voice in the public conversation is babel and even cacophony, those struggling to follow Jesus must strive to be radically realistic. Jacques Ellul often describes this as being decisively honest. That would involve acknowledging the lessons that the pandemic has taught us and then making appropriate changes in our […]
I really ended the series on world religions because I was getting all sorts of emails that implied it was a good subject, but somewhat irrelevant in the midst of the pandemic. Along with this, I kept feeling a need to recognize what is going on in Christianity during this crisis. In general, the situation […]
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