Over the past few days, since the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, I have seen a number of conflicting posts on social media. First, there were those who claimed she would soon be with God, telling her to “rest in peace.” Then there were those who claimed this was disrespectful, because Jews do not have a heaven, and “rest in peace” is a Christian tradition. Then there were those who pushed back, saying many Jews do believe... Read more
for Aloma In the 1989 animated film, All Dogs Go to Heaven, the age old question is answered by a whippet angel who explains that because the essential character of any dog is good and loyal, then of course all dogs go to Heaven. Until very recently this explanation was good enough for me. But last week a friend of mine asked me—as a seminarian and budding chaplain—if it was true. A young person close to her had lost a... Read more
You are a person of color. You live here. You have always lived here. A white man, armed, with the force of law behind him, gives you an instruction. You may not understand it. It may not be in your language. You may be scared, and try to run. You may comply, but not fast enough. Someone shouts, “Stop resisting!” And then you are dead. Sound familiar? It’s not what you think. Requerimiento The year is 1513. The white man... Read more
For progressive Christians, Christ is easy. The Beatitudes. The Golden Rule. Love, grace and acceptance. Feed the hungry. Heal the sick. Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. Any of us can see our best selves in the Gospel stories, and everything we know about love and justice and speaking truth to power follows. But God—God is hard. God can be jealous, and vengeful. God commands genocide. God condones rape, and slavery, and all manner of crimes against humanity. God... Read more
If you are reading this “Progressive Christian” blog, chances are you already know that Christianity is not a homogenous family. There are deep disagreements. Some of them, like whether or not we actually eat Christ at the communion table, end up being a distinction without a difference, and have no impact whatsoever on the lives of anyone outside the church. Others, like whether Black Lives Matter or whether LGBT+ people have the right to exist, do impact the real world,... Read more
“What does it profit a great nation to conquer the world, only to lose its soul?” -Rev. and Rep. John Robert Lewis There is no doubt that John Lewis was a deeply religious man. An ordained Baptist minister, Lewis was publicly vocal about his faith throughout his long and storied career, which famously began as a child, preaching to the chickens at his rural Alabama home, working desperately to overcome his shyness and his stutter. But Lewis was never one... Read more
for Aloma In the 1989 animated film, All Dogs Go to Heaven, the age old question is answered by a whippet angel who explains that because the essential character of any dog is good and loyal, then of course all dogs go to Heaven. Until very recently this explanation was good enough for me. But last week a friend of mine asked me—as a seminarian and budding chaplain—if it was true. A young person close to her had lost a... Read more
You are a person of color. You live here. You have always lived here. A white man, armed, with the force of law behind him, gives you an instruction. You may not understand it. It may not be in your language. You may be scared, and try to run. You may comply, but not fast enough. Someone shouts, “Stop resisting!” And then you are dead. Sound familiar? It’s not what you think. The year is 1513. The white man is Pedrarias... Read more
For progressive Christians, Christ is easy. The Beatitudes. The Golden Rule. Love, grace and acceptance. Feed the hungry. Heal the sick. Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. Any of us can see our best selves in the Gospel stories, and everything we know about love and justice and speaking truth to power follows. But God—God is hard. God can be jealous, and vengeful. God commits genocide. God condones rape, and slavery, and all manner of crimes against humanity. God... Read more
I woke up today to see a friend had shared yet another account of a priest sexually assaulting children. It has been almost two decades since the first wave of sex abuse scandals broke, and not only are reports still coming in—they are actually surging. And it is not just Catholics. In the decades since these first cases came to light, we have learned a lot about pastor-perpetrators. We know they aren’t any more likely to be gay, mentally ill... Read more
The New Paraclete
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