The Hostility Between Us
Column by Rev. Brandan Robertson on March, 13 2025Over 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.
The Politics of Happiness: The Least Christian Countries are the Most Christian – Part 1
Column by Rev. Roger Wolsey on March, 6 2025Addressing 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.
Illegitimi non carborundum!
Column by Rev. David M. Felten on February, 27 2025As 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.
Excuse Me?
Column by Rev. Dr. Robin Meyers on February, 20 2025What 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.
The Big Hole in the Nicene Creed
Column by Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox on February, 13 2025The “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?
Embodying MLK’s Dream Today
Column by Rev. Irene Monroe on February, 6 2025King 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.
The Emergent Bible
Column by Rev. Jim Burklo on January, 30 2025it 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.
Surviving the Terrifying Future
Column by Rev. Deshna Charron Shine on January, 23 2025Sometimes, it feels like the whole world is burning, flooding, warring, and dying. Personally, these times are very ungrounding and fear-provoking.
Getting Over the Grand Narrative
Column by Rev. Dr. Caleb J. Lines on January, 16 2025I 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.
Give Us a King!
Column by Dr. Carl Krieg on January, 9 2025Mythology 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.
The Rise of Hate in Post-election America
Column by Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Frantz on January, 2 2025As the reality of this “hate language” settles in, imagine if you are a person of color in this country. My spouse is Hispanic, from Panama. Both she and her younger sister, who lives with us, say they no longer feel safe here.
Liturgy in a Living Tradition
Column by Brian McLaren on December, 26 2024In a living religious tradition, participants have, not simply permission, but more: a moral responsibility to adapt and innovate in an attempt to improve the truth, goodness, and beauty of the version of the tradition they received from their ancestors.
Such a Strange Way to Save The World
Column by Rev. Dr. Mark Sandlin on December, 19 2024When it comes to “saving the world,” I am much more interested in the life and teachings of Jesus than I am in any divinely ordered sacrificial actions that humanity has overly burdened the stories with. Even in the stories themselves, we see signs of the importance of his life and teachings.
Now Is The Time To Be Prophets
Column by Rev. Brandan Robertson on December, 12 2024Biblically, there’s no indication that prophets necessarily have supernatural powers. Occasionally, prophets hear the voice of God and communicate it to their people, but more often, prophets are simply those who perceive the actions of their communities and deduce the likely consequences.
It’s Time to Get Weird
Column by Rev. Roger Wolsey on December, 5 2024Donald Trump is returning to office. The part of me that majored in Political Science wants to remind us of how political pendulums tend to swing back and forth over the years, and even so, general progress has been taking place for humanity. This part wants to join St. Julian of Norwich in saying that in the big picture, “all shall be well.”
No More Easy Fixes
Column by Rev. David M. Felten on November, 28 2024In order to push back, in both religion and in politics, we have to get over our addiction to the “easy fix.” It’s not only a lie, but in the case of November 5th’s election, it’s straightforward escapism — evading the real issues at hand in order to avoid any personal responsibility.
Where Have All the Prophets Gone?
Column by Rev. Dr. Robin Meyers on November, 21 2024We are living in a post-truth, post-trust, post-rational world divided by fear and deception. How did we get here? By incremental acceptance of the unacceptable until it seems normal.
Gustavo Guttieriez, Liberation Theology and Creation Spirituality: An Appreciation
Column by Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox on November, 14 2024In honor of Gustavo Guttieriez’s recent death, I found myself thumbing through some of his works in my home library and my eyes especially fell on his Conclusion to his fine study On Job: God-Talk and the Suffering of the Innocent.
Embracing Apocalypse
Column by Rev. Lauren Van Ham on November, 6 2024In Hebrew scriptures and repeated in New Testament teachings, G-d assumes all authority in the practice of vengeance. If, after thousands of years, we truly trusted this to G-d, how might we face this moment we have co-constructed? The wars, the biodiversity loss, the assault weapons, the changed climate.
It’s Kamala’s Time!
Column by Rev. Irene Monroe on October, 31 2024When I heard the news of Harris running for President, I immediately thought about how my deceased Brooklyn Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm would be proud of this moment. Chisholm was the first African American woman to campaign for the presidential nomination in 1972 on the Democratic ticket.
Founded on Love
Column by Rev. Jim Burklo on October, 24 2024It is much worse to wreck the law’s foundation, which is perfectly legal to do, than it is to break the law, which can land you in jail. Unless Americans understand this, and vote accordingly, we’ll lose our democracy on November 5.
Politics, Religion, & You
Column by Rev. Dr. Caleb J. Lines on October, 17 2024American Christians often wonder exactly how their faith and politics ought to intersect. It’s an understandable confusion, especially for those who value freedom of belief and religious diversity. I often hear that we should “keep politics out of the pulpit,” but doing so is a theological impossibility for those who take Jesus’ teachings seriously because Christianity is inherently political.
Dying As An Invitation To Intimacy
Column by Kevin G. Thew Forrester, Ph.D. on October, 10 2024Our ego approaches life as if there were too little time to overcome the breach of space that separates us from one another. The fuel propelling our drive is the thoughts littered like kindling across the landscape of our mind as we have struggled to construct a seamless forever bridge from our heart to another’s.
Filling the Void with White Pseudo Christian Nationalism – Election 2024
Column by Dr. Carl Krieg on October, 3 2024White, Christian, and nationalism are three words not to be taken lightly, three kairotic words that demand explanation and understanding. So here is our question: why does a movement describe itself as white, Christian, and nationalist?
The Dystopian Vision of Project 2025
Column by Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Frantz on September, 26 2024At the heart of Project 2025 is an aggressive and ambitious policy agenda for a vast expansion of presidential power. In spite of Donald Trump’s endless denials that he knows anything about the project, the leaders of the project are virtually all close associates of the former president.