My last column for BNG, “Covid Wars,” offered a lament over our divided nation. It did not propose solutions, only sorrow and grief. Of course, we must do better than that. We must try to understand how we got here and figure out what we can do about it, if anything. After my piece posted, I […]
Why the U.S. Is Uniquely Divided: Engaging a Scholar from New Zealand
I was talking with a senior Mercer University colleague yesterday about the divisions engulfing our nation over COVID vaccines and masks. Carl has served as a pastor, professor and politician. He’s a very wise man. I said: “Carl, two years ago, could you ever have imagined that we would be facing a situation like we are
COVID Wars: Lament over a Broken, Divided nation
A friend sent me this piece in Salon, posted under the provocative title, “How Evangelicals Abandoned Christianity and Became ‘Conservatives’ Instead.” I was not familiar with the author, Nathaniel Manderson, who identifies himself as an evangelical pastor trained at a conservative seminary but guided by liberal ideals. Manderson’s article basically argues that under the leadership of 40 years
On the Collapse of Christianity into Politics
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 …
When politics becomes religion
Religion News Service reporter Bob Smietana broke the story this week that famous Bible study leader Beth Moore is leaving the Southern Baptist Convention and ending the mutually lucrative publishing relationship with their Lifeway group. She claimed t…
Beth Moore and a lost Southern Baptist Convention