A month or so ago I wrote a post about a book that I read and have really taken to heart: Dolly Chugh’s The Person You Mean to Be. As I described in that post, she describes a growth mentality, which basically means adopting the disposition and attitude of someone who is always learning, always…… Continue reading It’s OK to be Wrong
Category: Ethics
Make America Safe
As most Americans know, former president Donald Trump’s campaign catchphrase was “Make America Great Again.” It is catchy, right? And compelling. Who doesn’t aspire to greatness? Who doesn’t want to live in a great country? World War II veterans and their peers were honored with the title “The Greatest Generation” by Tom Brokaw, who wrote…… Continue reading Make America Safe
The Importance of Disruption
If you are like me, you probably have been to at least a few different anti-racism training workshops. And, if you are like me, you probably have had mixed reactions to them. Well, on Monday afternoon, here at Wartburg Seminary, I was fortunate enough to have participated in one of the very best I have…… Continue reading The Importance of Disruption
The Holy Innocents, Wounded Knee, and Fear
Yesterday was the Festival of the Holy Innocents, the day the Church commemorates the murder of all the boys two years old and younger in and around Bethlehem, at Herod’s order, once he realized that the magi had deceived him and Jesus–infant threat to his power–had escaped. The children are memorialized as the first Christian…… Continue reading The Holy Innocents, Wounded Knee, and Fear
Choosing Love over Contempt
I just finished a great book that I have been wanting to read every since I heard a podcast about it a few weeks ago. The title is Love Your Enemies, and it is by Arthur Brooks. The gist of the book is very simple: we live in a culture of contempt that is destructive…… Continue reading Choosing Love over Contempt
Fareed Zakaria and a Post-Pandemic World
Have you been thinking about what it’s going to be like to come out of the pandemic? I have, but I admit that I have been thinking about it really on a very microscale: I’ve been thinking about what it means for me personally, and my ability to travel and get together with friends and…… Continue reading Fareed Zakaria and a Post-Pandemic World
The Criminal Fallibility of the Death Penalty
Where do you stand on the death penalty? Many people have very strong opinions about it, and it can be a controversial topic of conversation. I am a long-time opponent of the death penalty, for theological reasons; and, while many people do still support the death penalty, in the United States, opposition is growing. I’m…… Continue reading The Criminal Fallibility of the Death Penalty
Mitch McConnell and the Importance of Timing
Today, Mitch McConnell learned the importance of timing. As shocking, horrific images of insurrection in the Capitol building fill the news, my thoughts keep turning to Mitch McConnell, and I wonder if he regrets his actions in the weeks following the election–actions, which, I believe, have contributed to the rioting that took place in Washington…… Continue reading Mitch McConnell and the Importance of Timing
Being Good in 2021
What is your reaction when someone tells you to “be good”? If you are like me, you sort of recoil a little bit and have a visceral negative response. Often, an external exhortation to goodness comes across as a demand for obedience, or adherence to someone else’s standards of morality, or a veiled accusation that…… Continue reading Being Good in 2021
The Cost of Demonization
Perhaps you are familiar with one of Shakespeare’s more famous sonnets, “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun.” In that sonnet, he repeatedly violates our expectations of love poetry by rejecting traditional–and exaggerated–claims of loveliness in describing his beloved: “If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; if hairs be wires, black…… Continue reading The Cost of Demonization
Happy Lutheran 