At first glance, Mother’s Day appears a quaint and conservative holiday, a sort of greeting card moment, honoring 1950s values, a historical throw back to old-fashioned notions of hearth and home. Let’s correct that impression by saying:  Happy Radical Mother’s Day.  In May 1907, Anna Jarvis, a member of a Methodist congregation in Grafton, West…

So, Governor Rick Perry blamed the Gulf oil spill on an “act of God.”  Of course, “act of God” is a phrase used to describe something beyond human control, an unavoidable event.  But isn’t it also the case that the words convey theological meaning as well–implying that the Gulf spill was somehow predestined or ordained…

This morning on MSNBC in a discussion on Arizona’s new anti-immigrant law, Tamron Hall asked her viewers, “Is Arizona the most conservative state?”   Arizona is not really the most conservative state.  But it may well be America’s most schizophrenic one. Certainly, when people think of Arizona they think of Barry Goldwater and John McCain, both…

I’m on my way to New York today to speak at Middle Collegiate Church on the subject of “Congregations in the Public Square,” the sort of topic socially aware Protestants like to discuss.  When I learned of the topic, I thought, “That won’t be too hard.”  But, the more I stew on it, the more…

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