This year, let’s keep one resolution when we talk about religious people, let’s never again refer to them as literalists. That’s because they aren’t, and no one is. No one takes all their scriptures, tradition, or even their natural laws literally. They all pick
Picture this: The scene is Des Moines, Iowa, 2011. A joyous and excited engaged couple, in preparation for their upcoming nuptials, entered Victoria Childress’s home bake shop for a taste testing appointment for their wedding cake. The tradition of the wedding cake dates back centuries.
In the desert Southwest, the rhythm of life is the reverse of what it is in most of the country. Unlike Minnesota, for example – where my Nordic relatives hibernate the winter away – here it is summertime that puts us in the doldrums. We
It’s an important point that right-wing propagandists get, but again and again I hear so many of us miss. As a result, our words and actions often fall ineffectively on deaf ears and closed minds. We keep trying to understand how those opposed to human
A few years back there was a TV show called “In the Heat of the Night”. It was a spin-off of the movie by the same name. The TV series starred Carroll O’Connor as Chief William O. ‘Bill’ Gillespie and Howard E. Rollins Jr. as
O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths. (Isaiah 3:12) Such statements as the above verse of Scripture show why very few prophets of God ever died in their sleep! Tradition has it that Isaiah
The small Alabama town of Bay Minette has come up with a rather peculiar plan of giving convicted non-violent offenders a choice between incarceration and paying a fine or attending church every week for a year, what some are calling choosing between “lockup and the
There might actually be politicians who are sincerely religious – think Jimmy Carter – but I wouldn’t trust the words of any of them when it comes to describing their religious faith and what it has to do with their stand on national issues. They’re
The very first thing that caught my eye as I entered the grounds of the Iowa Republican Party Presidential Straw Poll were three young children, I would guess between the ages of 4 -7, wearing day-glow orange baseball caps with “NRA” scrawled atop, and round
There are thousands of same-gender-loving people within the congregations of black churches. Because I have ministered from their pulpits for more than 40 years, I am very aware of how these churches’ refusal to address issues such as HIV/AIDS has gravely crippled us. But there