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Fundamentalism and the Fear of Being Wrong
We keep hearing about how divided we are. That we’re more polarized and uncivil than ever. That we hate each other more. But this isn’t the whole truth. Our division doesn’t come from a common rejection of the common ground. It stems from fundamentalism, which is a fundamentally divisive ideology. Because fundamentalism has to be…
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Come Sunday and Our Cynical Response to Preaching
The Film, Come Sunday shows what happens when a pentecostal preacher gets a message from Jesus about Hell and how the people refuse to take responsibility for their cynical response. [This is a reflection on the church through the lens of the film Come Sunday. If you are not familiar with the story of Carlton…
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Beyond Guns
Mike Pesca seems to think Charles C. W. Cooke would make an honest argument against gun reform. Here’s why I don’t. I’ve gotten pretty tired of arguing about guns. Not because I don’t like arguing or that I don’t have any good ideas, but it’s more that I don’t think we’re having an honest conversation.…
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White Nationalism and the Limits of Free Speech
White nationalism wants you to treat it like an honest ideology. It wants you to debate it, honor it, privilege it. But it isn’t yet another source of water flowing into the well, it’s poison. A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a piece on white nationalism. Specifically, I wrote about the challenge in responding…
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The Problem Is We Treat White Nationalists Like They Are Honest
We seem to treat White Nationalists like their hate is normal. Like they’re the obnoxious kid we have to tolerate. Even after they’ve proven they’re more likely to be the sociopath threatening our community. A few years ago I was concerned by a growth in cyber-bullying. And at the time, it seemed like there was more to…
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This Got Me Thinking About Our Society
Cynicism is destructive. And it’s turning our society into something we don’t want. But solutions are all around us. We just need to listen to the voices which help us see them. Listening to podcasts is like research. Most of the time, you get what you expect and it informs your worldview. But then there…
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Love Awakens
Another shooting, further proof of the dangerous social pathologies in the American body politic, could be just a number. But instead, it’s awakening the spirit of love long dormant and suppressed by fear and a narrow understanding of freedom. Last week, I had to write a new sermon. The gospel was about the beginning of…
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The Frightening Case Of a Coming American Collapse
The United States is in the midst of a social collapse. That’s the claim Umair Haque makes in an electric essay. Here are his three main takeaways. If the United States were to collapse, how would we know it? We think we’d know, right? Structures would fall, the banks would run out of money, and…