Impeach or wait? It’s an oath-of-office question
Some things have time limits. Constitutions, the rule of law, and democratic republics can disappear in the twinkling of an eye. This is no time to blink.
Rev. Gordon C. Stewart
It’s not a caravan
Words like “caravan” have overtones and undertones. They allude to things that awaken hope or fear.
The president’s body language, post-Charlottesville
I’ve been watching the president’s hands lately. He’s doing something different with them.
Recalling Narcissus — and the roles of Echo and the pond
We hear a lot about Narcissus. Less attention has been paid to the details of the myth and their currency in the U.S. political scene: the roles of Echo and the pond that confirm Narcissus’ claims for himself.
Reframing the gun conversation
The way we understand “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” is shaped, to some extent, by different cultural experiences.
A glaring omission: Pollsters’ choice of questions shapes the political conversation
Polling and news institutions not only measure public opinion; they shape public discussion by the choices they make about which questions to ask.
Homeland militarization — tanks in Ferguson, Blackhawks in Minneapolis — must be stopped
When did a city of civilians become the training grounds for the U.S. Army, and why has there not been a louder outcry against the intrusive military presence?
Irony of ironies: Honoring King, then entertaining a potential strike on Syria
King was as deeply committed to peace and to nonviolent, nonmilitary solutions to global problems as he was to ending racism.
Deepwater Horizon’s effects, three years later: Things are not fine
“There are no oysters. There are no shrimp,” said Albert Naquin, chief of the Isle de Jean Charles Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw.
Marriage, or not? One more state where gays can choose
My son doesn’t want to get married. He just wants for anyone who chooses the covenant of marriage to have that choice.
In the 2012 race for the White House, is religion fair game?
The idea of keeping politics and religion separate is based on a shallow definition of religion as a professed creed rather than beliefs one practices daily in personal and public life.
Navy sonar testing program: Biting the hand that feeds us
Even the Navy estimates that increased sonar training will significantly harm marine mammals more than 10 million times during the next five years off the U.S. coast alone.
Current church debates are enough to make a pastor feel sad — and angry
I’m embarrassed by how ridiculous the church debate is and how absurd this church family feud looks to the world.
The American dream is rising across the Arab world, but it’s on the ropes here in America
“Sometimes I feel like a motherless child a long way from home.”The homeland I mourn is the world I once thought I knew. It was far from a perfect world, by any measure, but its ideals seemed intact.
In this era of incivility, messianic nationalism strides to the fore
“The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” (Letter of James)America’s civil discourse is in a sorry state.
Dealing with the prison of deregulated capitalism
We’re back in the Roman Empire, where Paul and Silas were thrown in prison because they dared to interfere with the free market. They freed a young slave-girl who had been put on the street corner as a fortune teller.
As Copenhagen Conference nears, mallards offer lesson in shared responsibility
The leaders who will fly to Copenhagen this December for the U.N. Climate Change Conference might learn something from the mallards on the pond behind my home.
How appeals to fear — and misuse of Scripture — dampened a chilidog celebration
I’ve just come from a great annual physical. I’m rejoicing in the low pressure (100/52 — I’m almost comatose) — and the loss of a whole pound. I go into the Dairy Queen for a cheese chilidog.