thoughts and prayers

I had some finessing to do on Sunday. I filled in for a colleague the morning after the attempt on former president Donald Trump’s life, you see. Just about everyone in the congregation had heard…

It’s a story that can inspire even the most cynical among us. A person endures some difficult trial, such as an illness, injury, or other calamity. At their lowest point, they call to the divine. And…

In the wake of every mass shooting in this country, we have a brief moment where we talk about the guns used and the need for gun control. And then rapidly, the gun lobby, conservative politicians…

More times than I can remember, I’ve had to ascend the minbar and address a Friday congregation reeling. Many Imams will do the same painful work this week. But for many American Muslims, Buffalo and…

Earlier this month Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke announced to the world that he had contracted Covid-19 in a strangely triumphant August 10 tweet “Praised be Jesus Christ! I wish to inform you that I…

Let me state for the record. There is no moral obligation to wish Trump a full recovery from Covid-19. I certainly do not. Even the Bidens, Kamala Harris, and Rachel Maddow seem to feel that hoping…

A plague is upon us. And white evangelicals, naturally, are on the scene— theologizing the COVID-19 outbreak, praying, scolding, and generally being counterproductive. Unfortunately, the Trump…

This story should sound familiar, especially given the blame thrown at godlessness in the wake of mass shootings and the “thoughts and prayers” offered as a “solution.”

In order for the GOP leadership to continue to do nothing on guns they need loyal foot soldiers to deliver messaging that appeals to their base. What this messaging, familiar to those of us who grew up in the Christian Right, tells us about the “soul” of the Republican Party is not pretty.

I’m a preacher and I can say with near certainty that 99% of the sermons preached yesterday morning didn’t get close to the level of truth-telling that’s needed. Nor will the compulsory “thoughts and prayers” pronouncements, nor the words spoken at memorial services over the next days and weeks.