Happy Independence Day to the REAL Americans!
Y’all know who that is? Every dadgum one of you, from NYC to California to the heartland to the rural South, Alaska to Hawaii to Maine and all the places in between.
Whether your ancestors were here for thousands of years or came on the Mayflower or a slave ship or through Ellis Island or are more recent immigrants.
Whether you go to work in a high rise or on the farm.
Drive an F150 or, yes, even a Prius.
Whatever your background, wherever you were from, every single one of my brothers and sisters who

I’m not in favor of being soft on gang members or criminals who are in this country illegally. Quite the opposite. Let’s get that out of the way.
With regard to Trump’s desire to round up and deport over 10 million illegal immigrants - I absolutely oppose this on moral grounds. For those who think it sounds like a good idea - please stop and think what it would look like to round up 10 million people (most of whom are harming no one). Ripping families apart (many are married to citizens or have children who are citizens). Taking folks from homes and

Trump has done grievous damage to America in many ways, but perhaps these three are the worst:
(1) coarsening of the rhetoric - things that would have previously been unthinkable for a POTUS or other top leader to say are now commonplace. In the long term nothing - not even tanks - is more powerful than language. This coarsened rhetoric has a deeply corrosive effect on the nation’s unity and psyche.
(2) he has convinced a significant portion of the population that the outcome of presidential elections is rigged. That our democracy is a sham. This “big

At the risk of entering into an arena where reason does not usually prevail,re: abortion:
(1)Abortion is the ending of life. Those who want to equate an abortion to something like having your appendix removed are dead wrong. Abortion ends life and as such is a serious moral issue (2)Abortion is not murder. Those who shout that are also dead wrong. Murder has a very specific legal definition. There are many different ways that human life is taken. The law treats these in different ways. For example, the killing of an enemy soldier in combat is not murder.

Maybe I’ll make both sides mad.
Some of my liberal friends view the trans issue as the next great civil rights crusade. I don’t think it’s that.
Some of my conservative friends view it as an attack on God and family. I don’t think it’s that, either.
It appears to me that there is a small number of people who struggle with gender identity. Generally I favor a laissez faire approach. Let them alone to work out their issues. I do see reasonable arguments in favor of restricting biological men from women’s sports and protecting minors from unnecessary

Ezekiel chapter 37 is such a breathtaking passage, a work of art and literature unto itself, and full of deep spiritual truth.

It’s what I turned to today while the pastor at my parents’ church we visited for Easter launched into a full on diatribe about “Joseph Robinnette Biden” and the trans day proclamation issue.

It was so inappropriate. On Easter Sunday. Before a full church of some 800 people. Including families (like ours) nearly ripped apart by the politics of these past 8 years.

I wanted to walk out. But I didn’t want to give offense.

Imagine being a grandparent, a devout Christian with conservative views on a variety of social/moral issues (there are devout Christians who have very liberal views on these issues but I’m assuming a conservative background).
Now imagine you have a grandchild. A grandchild you have loved from birth, have watched grow up, have had the joy of spending time with.
Now in your elderly years, the grandchild is getting married. It is not a marriage you agree with because it is a same sex marriage.
But you do love your grandchild. You don’t want your final

Today I believe more strongly than ever that the best way forward for the human race is liberal democracy.A respect for the sacredness of each individual human life. A liberal (I do not speak in terms of US politics but of a deeper meaning) mindset that allows for the flourishing of education, of commerce, of the rule of law, of individual liberty. Democracy that allows self-government and gives we the people the tools to create laws and rules that bring about the best life and the most opportunity for the most people. While I have personal faith, I

Just finished reading and marking up the indictment. 130 paras over 45 pages. Thoughts:
This is a “speaking indictment” alleging, in plain terms, a conspiracy to fraudulently overthrow the results of the 2020 election by preventing Congress from certifying the results.
The indictment is clear and it is detailed.

The indictment is NOT focused on the speech of 1/6 or solely on the events of 1/6.Anyone who tells you that Trump is being prosecuted for giving a speech on 1/6 is lying. The statements made in the speech are discussed in one para (#104)

The Indictment. I’ve read it; encourage everyone to read it.
The charges are serious, 37 counts naming Trump, carrying max penalties of 5 - 20 years each.
There is no indication, from the facts laid out, that Trump sought to sell or give the info to any foreign country. I’ve always doubted that as motivation, and doubt it more now, for at least two reasons: (1) it’s not charged or mentioned; (2) most of the documents seem to date from 2018-19, many relate to military capabilities and plans. I’m no intelligence expert but it seems like such documents

At Independent Presbyterian Church, Savannah. It is a fine day for a wedding.

The Framers surely did not intend to create a country where citizens would be routinely massacred at churches, schools, and on shopping trips. That is not “life, liberty, & the pursuit of happiness”. Can all Americans agree on that much?
I believe they would have acted to protect the liberty of citizens to go about their daily lives in peace.
Better gun regulation is not the sole answer to what ails our society. But it must be part of the answer. In a society awash in guns and no shortage of people willing to use them for criminal or psychotic

I went down a bit of a rabbit hole this morning and violated one of my rules - you’ll never debate anyone out of their position. You’ll only harden their position. So I’d like to approach this issue in a bit different way. Rather than debating it, I’d ask folks to consider this: Try to put yourself in another person’s shoes. Imagine that you are a young person, or any age person, and all your life you have felt same sex attraction the same way the vast majority of us feel opposite sex attraction. Now imagine you are a Christian, raised in the church,

Just listened to this Grammy winning song. Wow.
“Just like that”. We had an event happen on January 22d that I haven’t talked about here. Not yet. It was one of those “just like that” moments. Could have been. Anyway this is extremely moving. Just to follow up. 1/22 I was maybe five miles behind our son the junior golfer caravanning back from a golf tourney - when a call came in from his best friend’s mother in tears telling me her son called and they were in a terrible wreck and might have killed sometime. In shock

I’ve stated repeatedly my belief that Trump should be indicted over 1/6. I know folks get frustrated over the slow pace of things. I offer two rejoinders:
(1) We must be careful not to overestimate what the legal system is capable of doing. The system is strained to the maximum when the highest elected official whose very job it is to see that the laws are faithfully executed is, himself, a criminal. I don’t know of any better legal system than ours and I don’t know of any legal system anywhere in the world that wouldn’t struggle to deal with that basic

There are communities of very progressive Christians on Twitter and of very conservative Christians on Twitter.
Here’s what I’ve observed, as a general rule: the very progressive Christians here tend to be kind, understanding, humble, and very in tune with following Jesus (I’m referring specifically to progressive Christians, not to progressive political partisans); while the conservative Christians tend to be harsh, cruel, judgmental, and more interested in fighting culture wars than following Jesus. I’ll be honest, most of my life I was one of

We (died in the wool Baptists)have been visiting an Episcopal church off/on for a few months now. This was after a long season of not attending anywhere. After years and years of being there every time the doors opened. Some general observations: (1) coming from a non-liturgical tradition, I envisioned the liturgy being rote and dry. We have found it to be just the opposite. (2) after a lifetime of church where the focus was on the sermon & the man giving it - it has been an interesting change to participate in a service where the focus is on communion.

Are we in the last days of Twitter? Could be.
Here’s what I think is great about Twitter & what I’ll miss.
It is a very democratic 21st c. public square in which everyone can participate in the great debates of the day. Like all democracies it can be messy at times. But it is also a place where like minded people can meet up. It is a place where race, sex, social status matter less. We don’t necessarily even know those things about the people we meet. We are engaging more on the level of the mind. It is a place where the greatest writers & thinkers

Another election thought: I’ve always maintained that Trump is sui generis. Without him, MAGA fades away. While there is some grumbling here & there, without Trump in this election we are seeing a reversion to norm where losers concede and no one is threatening violence or storming state capitols. There will be an exception or two around the country but this is not going to be a repeat of 2020. I generally agree with @BeschlossDC but I disagreed when he said we could see violence around this midterm. That stuff happens b/c of Trump and doesn’t

I get asked (or, sometimes, accused) if I’ve become “more liberal” on social issues. I think the answer is “yes”. Not that I’m some raging leftist. Hardly! Still drive a truck. Still own guns. Still lead a pretty traditional lifestyle. But in terms of being more tolerant & inclusive of everyone in this experiment called “America”, yes. In terms of rejecting the right wing politics of fear & paranoia, yes. In terms of being more accepting of those who are different, yes. Now, I believe strongly in the word “balance”. My friends on the left can get

It is looking more & more certain that Trump will be indicted. Sometime after the midterms, perhaps by year’s end, if not then early next year.
Folks should start thinking hard about what that will mean.
Seeing Trump arrested will be a shock to the system like none other. Would he quietly turn himself in? Unlikely. He’ll want a spectacle. So we’ll get Trump in handcuffs on TV. I cannot overstate the effect this will have on the country. The MAGA crowd will come unglued. Where a lot of us live that means a lot of people. Families & friendships that have