I wonder: what’s it like to be Pope Francis, waking up each morning in the Vatican knowing he’s surrounded by people praying fervently, and that many of them are begging God to make him die before noon?
Not everyone around him wants him dead, of course. Francis has fans and supporters too. And even some harsh Continue reading Pope Francis: Wanted Dead, Or If Alive, Then Retired & Silent
Anti-Gay? Anti-Science? Antisemitic? Run for Governor of North Carolina!
Reflections on the mess (and magic) of politics and life.
The 2024 governor’s race in North Carolina just got underway. You care.
Not because this state is the nation’s ninth most populous, though that’s reason enough. But because what happens here is a referendum on how low Republicans will sink and how far they can nonetheless get.
Attorney General Josh Stein of North Carolina announced his candidacy last week. At present he’s the likeliest Democratic nominee
Continue reading A Jaw-Dropping NC Governor’s Race Has Begun!
“Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism and What Comes Next” and author Bradley Onishi. Photo by Rudy Meyers
Continue reading Breaking from Evangelical Quakerism/Christian Nationalism: Two Survivors’ Stories
I missed a significant anniversary last month, on December 7.
No, not Pearl Harbor Day, December 7 1941, when a deadly Japanese surprise attack on American bases in Hawaii pulled the U. S. into World War II.
Nor was it December 7, 1973, my son’s birthday. Continue reading Pearl Harbor, Pope Benedict & the Contested Catholic Discovery of Religious Liberty
[NOTE: The ominous — oops, I mean Omnibus, heh-heh— bill passed by Congress Friday was 4100-plus pages. Mostly it was about money, which of course is important but I won’t focus on that here.
What I searched for, amid the chatter about cash, was whether the completed bill included reforms to the Electoral Count Act (ECA) of 1887, which had been fingered by pro-democracy advocates as the Coup Assistance Law; and if so, what those reforms turned out to be. Continue reading Big Deal: Omnibus Bill Reforms Electoral Count Act