I’m bone tired of being told why I should fear the other guy. Not because I’m not afraid—Lord help me, I’m terrified—but because fear will never move hearts and minds like an appeal to who could become.

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.

Once you understand the agenda of Christian nationalism, ask yourself: What Christian nationalist ideals and beliefs do I put up with on a daily basis? These ideals and beliefs are everywhere in our culture. All we have to do is pay attention. Every day in a thousand little ways, you and I participate in and give power to a Christian nationalist belief system – no matter how covertly or unconsciously we may do it.

I call on every Christian, wherever they are in the world, to say a simple prayer when they hear the siren. It might help people in some way that we do not understand. It might influence the thinking of the first responders in a positive way.

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.

A national Zoom call from the D.C.-based Black women's organization "#WinWithBlackWomen"  had over 40,000 sistahs in attendance. In three hours, these women raised over $1 million to support Harris, which T.V. personality Star Jones, the campaign chair, spearheaded.  "#WinWithBlackWomen" is a national intergenerational and intersectional sisterhood of black diasporic women who leverage talent, influence, and networks to support Black women.

Biden's stature as a patriot and a statesman blew off the charts.  While pressure to step down has been building since his disastrous debate performance on June 27th, it is still most unusual for someone to walk away from what is generally regarded as the most powerful position in the world.

In honor of Independence Day 2024, we should celebrate the dedication of the deep bench of public employees who serve everyone competently and without partisanship, representing in person the values of human equality and compassion. Without specific religious motivation, these public servants exemplify key principles of the Beloved Community.

The crucifixion is the central point in the Christian story, but it makes no sense unless it is explained by his followers that Jesus believed that his suffering had a purpose, that he would save many people.

And I’m puzzled about how we got to a place in this nation’s story in which an 81- year-old president and a 78-year-old former president—a convicted felon—are on that debate stage together and we somehow did not expect what happened.

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.

This July Fourth, for the 248th time, America celebrates independence from British rule. But after President Joe Biden signed into law Juneteenth as a federal holiday, Americans are also forced to take a closer look at what this July Fourth represents.

Joy doesn’t exist when we are in shame or guilt. Joy exists only when we feel light, forgiven. Open.

I invite you individually, your cooperation circle, and your congregation to pause for a moment around August 6 or the surrounding days to let the fire of the Spirit of life come to flame in your hearts.

Have you ever spent time watching dog owners in action? They only notice goodness. They ignore or forgive most, if not all, of their dog’s annoying behavior.

Blending insights from philosophers, poets, scientists, and theologians, Life After Doom explores the complexity of hope, the necessity of grief, and the need for new ways of thinking, becoming, and belonging in turbulent times. If you want to help yourself, your family, and the communities to which you belong to find courage and resilience for the deeply challenging times that are upon us — this is the book you need right now.

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 great prophet and mystic of the middle ages, Meister Eckhart (1260-1329), devotes an entire treatise to the “Noble” or “Aristocrat” that resides in each of us. Following are some observations he offers on the nobility we carry within us.

There is a unified field in the cosmos that holds everything together, and every discipline is a portal to it. Science calls it a field of fundamental forces and elementary particles. Religion calls it God and accepts it by faith as an impenetrable mystery.

Paul Levy is one of our greatest evolutionary mystics and someone whom I believe understands deeply and precisely our current extreme situation.

The wars in Ukraine and Gaza, along with the suffering of international immigrants, are reflecting a deadly clash of values within Christianity in the United States.

People enter the Kingdom in an existential and emotional way. Christians are with Christ existentially because each human being is an independent conscious entity.

When I was young, had anyone suggested that I spend most of my life being “a minister,” I’d have smirked, thought about it, and then laughed right out loud.

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.

The issues I’ve uncovered are not the same. They are more subtle, but the result is the same. These defensive parts of my ego cloud my awareness with self-centered concerns.

Our next-door neighbor has a butterfly sanctuary in her backyard, where monarchs come to lay their eggs

This is a plea for Christians to realize the significance of Isaiah 53 for their understanding of who Jesus was and what he did. I believe that he was motivated by love to take on the role of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53.

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.

The RBC’s meeting wasn’t, apparently, about the conversations that could be had at the TCC. To avoid any unexpected conversations, in fact, the bank blocked access to the meeting to any but shareholders, a practice that, I’ve been told, is relatively new.

Christian Nationalism presents an existential threat to both Christ’s church and American democracy. Now is the time — before it is too late — to reckon with all the places its pernicious influence arises. On full display in recent elections, Christian Nationalism also exists in sanctuaries where an American flag has been displayed for decades, when we pledge allegiance to one nation “Under God” or when the U.S. is called a Christian nation.