Carl Krieg

What I have described previously as The Simple Truth is also the simple message of Jesus, and it is a tragedy that what, in essence, is so simple has been made so alien and convoluted that it makes no sense.

When JD Vance denounces childless cat ladies, he represents the heart of fundamentalism, all those white Christian nationalists who define a man by the size of his gun collection and a woman by the number of her offspring. Jesus is/would be horrified.

Thoreau’s exhortation about how to achieve a happy life- Simplify! Hemingway wrote short sentences with a minimum of adjectives and adverbs. I have here tried to follow this advice, communicating as concisely as possible what I see as basic human truth.

A decade of planning a coup has taught the greedy, super-rich, and powerful that the immigration card trumps everything. They’re coming for your job, taking aim at your family, your home, your religion, your country, and you need a strongman to protect you. Trump uses this fear all the time.

The fourth part of a seven-part series that looks at the life of Jesus.

This is where we are, and it makes me very, very angry. The Jesus fabricated by evangelical politicians and billionaires is everywhere, an “awesome god” who really, really loves America and free enterprise. But this is not the real Jesus.

The third part of a seven-part series that looks at the life of Jesus.

This question may be the number one ethical issue after the upcoming election. Walking a mile in another person’s shoes does not mean following them off a cliff.

How have we come to this? Is the American social conscience so malleable and impressionable that we so easily turn from believers in democracy to proponents of dictatorship?

The little community of 25 that Jesus gathered had equal numbers of women and men, had no slaves, shared what they possessed, and cared for one another.

Baffled though we may be, we Americans want to believe that in drafting the Constitution, the “Founding Fathers” exhibited unparalleled wisdom in creating the bedrock of our society, our law, and our democracy.

In the academic comfort of a library study alcove, I look out over the central green at Dartmouth College, where one week ago storm, troopers in full riot gear armed with batons moved across this space in the eerie hours of post-dusk darkness, forcefully breaking up a small, peaceful gathering of students and faculty supporters and tearing down a six tent encampment prohibited by college rules.

Christian nationalism that had led to the first world war, was now leading to the second. Almost all of the 60 million Germans in 1933 were Christians. The country was suffering in the aftermath of WWI, and it was ready for a new “Leader” who would restore the economy and national pride.

For the first time in my life, I decided it was time to find out firsthand what the mega-church experience was all about. That’s mega, not maga. I half expected that the two might have merged into one, but was pleasantly surprised that politics was not mentioned at all.

The fact is that civil-minded folk outnumber the forces on the other side. There are just more of us than there are of them. The problem is that we have not recognized the current existential threat. We slide along the path we are on, pretending as though next year will be the same as this year. It will not.

The message was simple. Love God. Love your neighbor. Join hands in a fellowship of peace and justice. It was an invitation to fulfillment, accepted by many.

Patriarchy probably started about 12,000 years ago. If you google the word, there’s a good chance that you will be more confused than before you started.

If one searches the origin and history of Valentine’s Day, one finds clouds and legends mixed with a bit of history.

Lent is not about giving up chocolate. It’s about uncovering the blindness in our perception and being open to what others have to share with us.

We recently celebrated the life, faith and non-violence of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The moment triggers within us a host of emotions-thankfulness for heroes such as he, distress about the state of our country, anxiety about the future, and fear for the present.

Neil deGrasse Tyson is reported to have said that “the universe is under no obligation to make sense to you.” No doubt true, but how about the inverse: are we under any obligation to make sense out of the universe?

The second in the series that looks at the life of Jesus.

This is the first in a series that looks at the life of Jesus and contrasts the story that has come down through the ages with what probably really happened.

How about the “me” that I think I am? Is that a constant? Not really. The person that I thought I was a decade or two ago, is not totally the person I think I am today.