In the wake of the events in Charlottesville, Virginia, recently – not only the gathering of Neo-Nazi and other white supremacist groups, but also the murder of an innocent woman, President Trump’s various comments on the situation, the memorial service for Heather Heyer, and candlelight vigils and rallies for peace around the nation – it […]
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Democrats Running – for Office
One good thing has been birthed by the Trump Presidency: droves of Americans have been moved to “resistant” action in the form of running for office. The Daily Kos reports that Democrats have filed paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission to run in 385 House districts out of 435 total nationwide. Furthermore, “of the 241 […]
Congressional Movement to Repair the ACA
Now that the Republicans’ attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) have gone down in flames (as long as other attempts are not somehow resurrected …), it is important that our elected officials work seriously to improve this health care system, which is, after all, the law of the land. Two Representatives from the […]
The Wheat and the Weeds: The Law of Cause and Effect and Christian Judgmentalism
Traditional Christian judgmentalism – the notion that only those who believe in Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior will go to heaven when they die – originates in part from the New (Christian) Testament lesson that was read in many churches on Sunday, July 23, 2017. The lesson is from the Gospel of Matthew, […]
Exploring the Influence of Salome in Early Christianity
Once in awhile, it’s an interesting exercise to explore the more obscure characters in early Christian literature. For moderns, an obscure character in an ancient religious document might seem far from important; she or he might well be the figment of someone’s imagination and the surrounding story a complete work of meaningless fiction. Here I […]
How Archaeology Can Assist Early Christian Studies and Why it Matters
In recent years, scholars of the New (Christian) Testament of the Bible – comprised of documents composed between 50 and 150 of the Common Era (CE) – have begun using the tools and interpretations of archaeologists in our quest for the context in which the earliest Christians lived. Since the apostle Paul (a Jew, let […]
Positive Fallout: A Flurry of Women Interested in Running for Office
One major result of the election win of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton’s loss is the widespread activism that has erupted all over the country. Millions of Americans are marching, demonstrating and attending their elected representatives’ Town Hall meetings to “resist” – to make it known in no uncertain terms that the regressive, misogynist, anti-democratic […]
The Financial CHOICE Act, Predatory Lending and the CFPB
On June 13, 2017, the US House of Representatives passed the so-called Financial CHOICE Act. According to an alarm sent out in early June by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), this Act “would strip away safeguards needed to stop predatory lenders from trapping low-income people in an endless cycle of poverty and debt.” Some “choice,” […]
Resurrecting Deleted Climate Change Pages Around the Country
I wanted to make sure that everyone knows that, despite the Trump Administration deleting climate change pages of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), some cities have resurrected those pages so that the American public can still have access to them. (The current home page of the EPA can be found here). Burlington, Vermont, introduces its […]
Southern Baptists in Congress: Examining the Biblical Mandate to Care for Widows and Orphans
It would be an interesting exercise to hold up the votes of legislators on certain bills against what both Jewish and Christian Scriptures say about supporting widows, orphans and other vulnerable people. It’s an illuminating exercise. Let us look at what two of the world’s major religions say about caring for vulnerable people. The Hebrew […]