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What Jesus and Donald Trump Have in Common

Apart from the fact that they share a common humanity, Jesus and Trump are—for most people anyway—incomparable on every measure. Nonetheless, it is neither a religious sacrilege nor a political mockery to ponder the degrees to which they share some notable characteristics that reflect both their circumstances and the contexts in which they emerge as players in the public arena. Let it be noted right up front that, though both have upset the apple cart, they have done so in inordinately different ways and for incredibly divergent reasons. This is not to suggest that merely upsetting the status quo, albeit in different historic periods, puts these two figures on the same plane. Neither does it suggest for a millisecond that Trump can or should be viewed as a sort of Jesus-figure or analogue to the man from Nazareth. Quite the contrary, by any criterion these two figures are to each other as unequal and unmatched as is socioculturally and religiously possible—except for their commo

Faith and Public Life, Revisited

It has been three years since I last posted to this site. Much has happened since August of 2014, but I continue to reflect on my continually-evolving theological convictions and the ways in which they effect my views on public policy. I now resume regular postings to this blog, so I want to take a moment to think through again this matter of faith and public life. Bear with me… From the beginning, this blog site has been about faith and public life. The fundamental contention that has informed the reflections posted here has to do with the intersection between faith as a mode of human existence in relation to a religious tradition on the one hand, and the public as the venue where our lives and well-being are situated and expressed in such a way that we affect—and are affected by—our manner of living among others. As a mode of human existence, faith occurs in public; indeed, though it is often regarded as (merely) private and personal, inward in its location, it nonetheless

A Spark of Madness

I am stunned by the death of Robin Williams. I am only slightly less stunned by my reaction to his death. I have known persons who have taken their own lives, and I have known the darkness that descends on those they leave behind. I too have struggled with depression, that pernicious consumer of emotional, physical and spiritual energy. Perhaps only those whose melancholy and despair have moved them to the boundary where life can morph into death by one’s own hand can truly understand the unreasonable weight of the burden of living. Surely we know that there are many in the spheres of our lives who are at, or moving toward, that boundary. Mr. Williams once said, “You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it.” Aye, it is a spark of madness that gives birth to genius, but it is also a spark of madness to give birth to death , when we who are the beneficiaries of the gift of Life and Love overlook and ignore or simply discount the road signs along d

Changing Church

“The only thing that is constant is change; nothing endures but change.” So wrote the Greek philosopher Heraclitus in the sixth-century B.C.E. Supposing him to be correct in this observation, I find it strange indeed that so much of our outlook and activity is premised on the permanence of things, as though the status quo of the present has always been the case and can be expected to endure indefinitely. If Heraclitus is right, it is odd indeed that we should expend remarkable energy in preserving what is. I thought of Heraclitus’s comment when I found myself seated among a group of friends one recent morning, engaged in delightful conversation on matters both trivial and profound. I listened carefully as the conversation turned to how difficult it is for the church to change. I must say, I was fully awake at that point, my attention focused and undivided. “Why is it so hard to get the church to change?” one of the interlocutors asked, expressing both a thinly veiled criti

Too Much of Guns

Yet again, the nation has been subjected to the horror of a mass shooting. The tragedy that occurred September 16 at the Washington Navy Yard left thirteen people dead (including the shooter) and three others injured. This latest incident of gun violence picks up the narrative we left last at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. As brutal and senseless as this latest shooting is, we should not be surprised by it. Rather, what should be surprising is the notable absence of concern and remedy from our elected officials. In the wake of Sandy Hook, the number of federal bills passed to bring some measure of control to the proliferation of guns is exactly zero. While a small number of states have passed gun control measures, these pale in comparison to the number of laws adopted by certain states to ease existing gun restrictions. New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and I have something in common. It seems we both have a strong aversion to guns and gun violence. Both of us
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Rich and Poor, Richer and Poorer

It is unfortunate that so many have taken Jesus’ words, “For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me (Mt 26:11 nrsv ), as an explanation for why there are poor people, as a rationalization for their permanence, and as a justification for indifference and inattention to them. They’re here – always have been and always will be – and since there is little that can be done to change the unchangeable, we should just accept it and get on with our own lives. Or so the conventional thinking goes. In the meantime, the factors that contribute to maintaining the state of poverty and the fall of many into it go unchallenged in this wealthy country by the rulers and ruled alike. But the flip-side of rationalizing poverty turns out to be a justification of wealth; the poor have only themselves to blame for their condition, just like the wealthy have only themselves to laud for their fortunes. So, just as the factors contributing to poverty go unchecked, so, too, t