Posts

Born on the Farce of July
F*ck the fireworks and flip the flags. For actual patriotic Americans, this isn’t a party, it’s a funeral. There is nothing to celebrate here. We shouldn’t be singing right now;

I Miss Having a Human President
I can remember when we had a human president. It was only a few months ago, but it may have been a lifetime. Watching President Biden at the memorial service

Hey, America, You Look Like You Need a Hug
My country is hurting. We, the People, are hurting. The hurt shows up in so many ways, ways that surprise and distract and confuse us, ways that don’t always look like

So, Kamala Harris May Have Won, Huh?
For a brief moment, watching Donald Trump and Elon Musk in a petty, posturing social media catfight was amusing; a welcome bit of schadenfreude seeing the unholy marriage of two

This Pride Month Requires Stronger LGBTQ Allies
To all those who imagine themselves to be friends, allies, and advocates of the LGBTQ community, As we enter PRIDE month, I think it’s important to say something to all

I’d Lost A Few Things. ‘No Kings Day’ Helped Me Find Them Again
Photo by Travis Long tlong@newsobserver.com Sometimes you don’t notice attrition when it happens. When you lose elemental parts of you, they don’t all depart at once, and since you’re inside yourself

To Americans Still on the Sidelines, on the Eve of ‘No Kings Day’
Dear Friend, Sometimes I wonder if you’re seeing everything I’m seeing, if you still watch the news or hop on social media anymore. Perhaps you checked out somewhere along the

Donald Trump’s Presence and Presidency are a Middle Finger to Those Who Died Serving This Nation
Picture someone you love who died serving this nation, or even someone you’ve never met. Imagine them wherever they took their final breath on this planet: jumping into churning, frozen

Stop Waiting for America to Look Like What You Think Fascism Will Look Like
America is tragically deceptive right now. You can go out today in your local community, and everything looks perfectly normal: the sun is shining, pickleball courts are packed, people are

No, the Right Doesn’t Hate the New Pope. They Hate His Jesus.
The Catholic Church chose Robert Prevost as its new pope in the wake of the recent passing of Pope Francis. And let’s just say, there was no joy in MAGAville

Silence is a Statement Now, and Here’s What It’s Saying
The volume of the monsters is unavoidable right now. Their vitriol is everywhere: pouring into comment sections, flooding school board meetings, arriving unannounced in neighborhood gatherings, and littering the White

If Your Church Won’t Speak Out About Unlawful Deportations—It May as Well Cancel Easter
As a former pastor of over two decades, I could seriously throw up right now. The Trump Administration wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a father of four, to a brutal

I Just Got Back From Europe. They All Know That America’s a Mess and That He’s Nuts.
My family and I had barely been in our Lisbon Uber for ninety seconds when our gregarious driver Nuno, recognizing our accents asked, “So… are you pro-Trump or anti-Trump?” For

Dear GOD…WTH?
Dear GOD, I’m not sure where to start here. Originally, I was going to try easing into this with some small talk, but then I realized with You being GOD

To President Zelenskyy, From an Embarrassed American
Dear President Zelenskyy, As it is likely that our paths will never cross in person, I could not let this day go by without trying to reach you here. I

The American Dream of Being an Expat
I confess that I’m a little lost presently. I’ve become a restless, reluctant nomad moving tentatively through familiar places with a lingering emotional dissonance. I am a lifelong American who

Our New Cold War: We May Need to Cut Ties With Trump Supporters
I really hate this. I mean, I really didn’t want to be here, to be feeling this, to be writing it, to be saying it. I’ve always believed in meeting people where

MAGA Christianity is Anti-Jesus. Just ask Jesus.
Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde’s compassionate sermon at the National Prayer Service in DC perfectly exposed MAGA Christians’ hateful heresy. The immediate flood of vitriol directed at the Bishop by Trump

I Do Not Obey in Advance
I do not obey in advance. I did all I could over the past year to avoid our nation winding up here in this sad and sickening place, and since

Dear Carrie Underwood, (From a Former Pastor and Father, Regarding The Inauguration of Donald Trump)
Dear Carrie Underwood, I hope this finds you well. I’m writing because I’ve heard you speak eloquently about your Christian faith in the past, watched you perform a song about

The United States of Embarrassment
Lately, I confess that I’ve been imagining myself in a way I never have before in over a half-century of living here in America: I’m imagining myself as an expat.

Christian, If You’re Celebrating Deportations, You Shouldn’t Be Celebrating Christmas
Christian, Maybe you can help me here. I’m trying to reconcile two things I’ve seen. On one hand, I’ve seen your house: carefully strewn with glowing lights, fragrant boughs of

MAGAS Lost the Election, Too. They Just Don’t Know it Yet.
There is joy in MAGAville right now. They’re arrogantly reveling in a euphoric moment they’ve been lustfully coveting for the past four years: their mobster messiah has risen from the

What The Hell Just Happened, America?
This is probably a really bad idea. Writing while grieving deeply is like drunk-tweeting: it’s likely not going to come out well or effectively convey anything helpful. I don’t feel

Born on the Farce of July
F*ck the fireworks and flip the flags. For actual patriotic Americans, this isn’t a party, it’s a funeral. There is nothing to celebrate here. We shouldn’t be singing right now;

I Miss Having a Human President
I can remember when we had a human president. It was only a few months ago, but it may have been a lifetime. Watching President Biden at the memorial service

Hey, America, You Look Like You Need a Hug
My country is hurting. We, the People, are hurting. The hurt shows up in so many ways, ways that surprise and distract and confuse us, ways that don’t always look like

So, Kamala Harris May Have Won, Huh?
For a brief moment, watching Donald Trump and Elon Musk in a petty, posturing social media catfight was amusing; a welcome bit of schadenfreude seeing the unholy marriage of two

This Pride Month Requires Stronger LGBTQ Allies
To all those who imagine themselves to be friends, allies, and advocates of the LGBTQ community, As we enter PRIDE month, I think it’s important to say something to all

I’d Lost A Few Things. ‘No Kings Day’ Helped Me Find Them Again
Photo by Travis Long tlong@newsobserver.com Sometimes you don’t notice attrition when it happens. When you lose elemental parts of you, they don’t all depart at once, and since you’re inside yourself

To Americans Still on the Sidelines, on the Eve of ‘No Kings Day’
Dear Friend, Sometimes I wonder if you’re seeing everything I’m seeing, if you still watch the news or hop on social media anymore. Perhaps you checked out somewhere along the

Donald Trump’s Presence and Presidency are a Middle Finger to Those Who Died Serving This Nation
Picture someone you love who died serving this nation, or even someone you’ve never met. Imagine them wherever they took their final breath on this planet: jumping into churning, frozen

Stop Waiting for America to Look Like What You Think Fascism Will Look Like
America is tragically deceptive right now. You can go out today in your local community, and everything looks perfectly normal: the sun is shining, pickleball courts are packed, people are

No, the Right Doesn’t Hate the New Pope. They Hate His Jesus.
The Catholic Church chose Robert Prevost as its new pope in the wake of the recent passing of Pope Francis. And let’s just say, there was no joy in MAGAville

Silence is a Statement Now, and Here’s What It’s Saying
The volume of the monsters is unavoidable right now. Their vitriol is everywhere: pouring into comment sections, flooding school board meetings, arriving unannounced in neighborhood gatherings, and littering the White

If Your Church Won’t Speak Out About Unlawful Deportations—It May as Well Cancel Easter
As a former pastor of over two decades, I could seriously throw up right now. The Trump Administration wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a father of four, to a brutal

I Just Got Back From Europe. They All Know That America’s a Mess and That He’s Nuts.
My family and I had barely been in our Lisbon Uber for ninety seconds when our gregarious driver Nuno, recognizing our accents asked, “So… are you pro-Trump or anti-Trump?” For

Dear GOD…WTH?
Dear GOD, I’m not sure where to start here. Originally, I was going to try easing into this with some small talk, but then I realized with You being GOD

To President Zelenskyy, From an Embarrassed American
Dear President Zelenskyy, As it is likely that our paths will never cross in person, I could not let this day go by without trying to reach you here. I

The American Dream of Being an Expat
I confess that I’m a little lost presently. I’ve become a restless, reluctant nomad moving tentatively through familiar places with a lingering emotional dissonance. I am a lifelong American who

Our New Cold War: We May Need to Cut Ties With Trump Supporters
I really hate this. I mean, I really didn’t want to be here, to be feeling this, to be writing it, to be saying it. I’ve always believed in meeting people where

MAGA Christianity is Anti-Jesus. Just ask Jesus.
Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde’s compassionate sermon at the National Prayer Service in DC perfectly exposed MAGA Christians’ hateful heresy. The immediate flood of vitriol directed at the Bishop by Trump

I Do Not Obey in Advance
I do not obey in advance. I did all I could over the past year to avoid our nation winding up here in this sad and sickening place, and since

Dear Carrie Underwood, (From a Former Pastor and Father, Regarding The Inauguration of Donald Trump)
Dear Carrie Underwood, I hope this finds you well. I’m writing because I’ve heard you speak eloquently about your Christian faith in the past, watched you perform a song about

The United States of Embarrassment
Lately, I confess that I’ve been imagining myself in a way I never have before in over a half-century of living here in America: I’m imagining myself as an expat.

Christian, If You’re Celebrating Deportations, You Shouldn’t Be Celebrating Christmas
Christian, Maybe you can help me here. I’m trying to reconcile two things I’ve seen. On one hand, I’ve seen your house: carefully strewn with glowing lights, fragrant boughs of

MAGAS Lost the Election, Too. They Just Don’t Know it Yet.
There is joy in MAGAville right now. They’re arrogantly reveling in a euphoric moment they’ve been lustfully coveting for the past four years: their mobster messiah has risen from the

What The Hell Just Happened, America?
This is probably a really bad idea. Writing while grieving deeply is like drunk-tweeting: it’s likely not going to come out well or effectively convey anything helpful. I don’t feel