David Gushee | David P Gushee

Love him or hate him, but at least Joe Biden has returned us to a ‘normal’ presidency; can it last?

Christianity and Politics / By David Gushee

It has been a wonderful relief to many of us to encounter the sheer normality of the Biden presidency, which is now six months old. This is a president who proposes actual policies to address obvious public needs, negotiates with both parties in Congress about the details, and uses social media only in the carefully bland …

Love him or hate him, but at least Joe Biden has returned us to a ‘normal’ presidency; can it last?

White hysteria, Critical Race Theory, and eyes that dare not see

Evangelicalism, Justice, Racial Justice / By David Gushee

The hysteria over Critical Race Theory right now means many things. Most immediately, it means that the relationship between skilled right-wing demagogues and their audience in the U.S. these days is positively Pavlovian. Stimulus-response, stimulus-response, rinse and repeat. If Tucker Carlson says over several nights on Fox News that Critical Race Theory is a huge threat …

White hysteria, Critical Race Theory, and eyes that dare not see

For universities, when it comes to LGBTQ issues, focus on student well-being

LGBTQ Solidarity / By David Gushee

Let’s say you are on the trustee board of a Christian-affiliated university and you are trying to figure out what your school should do about its policies related to LGBTQ students. You have two conservative voices in your ears, one…
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Ethics at the end of life: Which moral vision shall govern at the end of life?

Sacredness of Life / By David Gushee

This is the final in a four-part series on ethics at the end of life. German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche had this to say about the end of life: Why, aside from the demands of religion, (is it) more praiseworthy for…
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Ethics at the end of life: The ultimate ethical issue is whether we wait for death

Sacredness of Life / By David Gushee

This is the third in a four-part series on ethics at the end of life. The ultimate ethical issue at the end of life is whether we wait for death or instead hasten it. A massive and sometimes confusing vocabulary…
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Ethics at the end of life: The first ethical issue is not who decides but who accompanies

Sacredness of Life / By David Gushee

This is the second in a four-part series. Secular Western medical ethics tends to be principlist and procedural. Two crucial core principles in medical ethics are autonomy and informed consent. The affected persons (often shorthanded as “patients,” alt…

Ethics at the end of life: How medicine and technology have changed the context of dying

Sacredness of Life / By David Gushee

As the school year ends and I try to process the many agonies of the annus horribilus COVID year of 2020-21, I will remember many deaths, but most especially the death of my father in late December 2020. These posts,…
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When politics becomes religion

Christianity and Politics, Truth and Truthfulness / By David Gushee

Politics sometimes becomes religion for people. This is a fact. It is dangerous when politics becomes religion for people. This is my conviction. This phenomenon seems most likely to happen when a culturally established religion fades to become merely …

Let us all now pray to the Almighty Gun (COMMENTARY)

Gun Violence / By David Gushee

(RNS) Some will find this column sacrilegious. What is truly a sacrilege is our devotion to an Object that keeps killing us and our children. Early in the morning we rise to greet You, O Gun Almighty. With all due reverence we bow before You. You alone are great. Mighty are Your deeds. Awesome is Your …

Let us all now pray to the Almighty Gun (COMMENTARY)

A Holy Week reflection on justice and the Cross

Justice / By David Gushee

On Palm Sunday in my Bible study class at First Baptist Church of Decatur, Ga., I was slated to teach this parable of Jesus. It is one of my favorites. Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to…
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