Up on a deck overlooking a river in Idaho with a Music Teacher/theologian/philosopher
Category: politics
What, or Who, is Truth?
John’s dramatic re-enactment of the trial, including the tragic misdirection at the heart of the gospels; most blatant and disruptive here at the conversation with Pilate. Our trouble with religion allowing itself to be co-opted by the State is more than a year old….
My Pres(by) Trump
At 100 days I am finally (!) developing some compassion for our beleaguered President. It has taken me a while. Trump has been caught off guard by the complexity of NAFTA, Healthcare, international relations… and now this week he has confessed the job is far more difficult than he thought it would be. I get it. That can happen to Presbyterian pastors too. Millions of us knew he was not prepared to be President, and he has shown it in dozens of appalling and reckless ways. Our least equipped of…
Advent II: Jesus Our Black Peace
Repentance, prophet Joel, and Ta-Nehisi Coates’ “Between the World and Me” Don, reluctant to speak regarding the experience of People of Color, but unable to remain silent about race.
Defensive Christians
These feel like hard days to be Christian, what with culture pushing against us and changing the rules. Church influence is on the decline everywhere, people are making laws about religious rights, and we really need to redefine ourselves. But then I put my big boy pants on and realize hey! It’s actually pretty nice outside.
Israel Living By the Sword
So, that didn’t take very long did it? Within days, even hours of accomplishing some sort of peace with the Palestinians and Hamas the government of Israel declared another illegal land grab of territory that doesn’t belong to them;the largest such criminal (and recurring) action in 3 decades. The timing was telling and obvious; a chest thumpingly aggressive taunt.
Freedom
Freedom to do just anything at all is not our goal. Freedom to act more humanly, more humanely, to act better, is. Freedom is only freedom when it doesn’t create more captivity somewhere else (like in another’s life). Freedom to do anything is mere anarchy, which takes too lightly our ties to one another and the allegiance we pledge to something larger than ourselves.
Can We Be “Chosen” without Being Jerks?
Benjamin Netanyahu is angry with you. The Israeli Prime Minister considers the vote last week at the PCUSA’s General Assembly “disgraceful.” (this was a vote to stop investing in companies making money off Israel’s continued settling in territories reserved for Palestinians.) He said anybody with morals should recognize it as such and at the very least shouldn’t call themselves “Christian.”