Brexit, Trump/Sanders and the UMC: time to say “good-bye”
I can’t stop seeing the parallels: 52% of voters in Great Britain voted to leave the European Union, surfacing the deep unrest about politics and economics and threatening the fragile union that holds...
View ArticleThe TP ticket, law and order and the UMC
Well, the UMC just consecrated its first lesbian Bishop–that one even made the New York Times! What, of course, also made the national news is the Trump/Pence ticket (which shall probably always be...
View ArticleWhen an “anyone but Hillary” is married to an “anyone but Donald” part five
We have a 2 1/2-year-old granddaughter visiting for a while with her parents. Keep in mind that this blended couple claims eleven children and twelve grandchildren, so having relatives visiting is a...
View ArticleThis is not harmless locker room talk: Time for women to say NO MORE
My husband and I are currently in Europe. I was seriously hoping to be away from all political talk during these weeks away, but it cannot happen. The 2005 audio of the Despicable Donald crowing about...
View ArticleThe church then and today: the need to exclude defines us
Saturday was Sicily. We wandered in the small villages that Francis Ford Coppola inadvertently made famous by filming parts of The Godfather movie series in them. We were making our way to a church...
View ArticleI am a dangerous woman: a fight against unbridled capitalism
I want to be a dangerous woman. I made that decision after reading this opinion piece recently published in the New York Times. There, a philosophy professor, George Yancy of Emory University, speaks...
View ArticleAsk the Thoughtful Pastor: Can I give silently or must I mention my faith?
Dear Thoughtful Pastor: In this season of giving, which is really an all year affair, it is ok to love and help people, even to save their physical lives, without urging them to become Christians? Is...
View ArticleWhat religion does to women
I am republishing the article below as one example among many about the ways religion is inappropriately used to oppress women. Christianity has an equally bad track record. May 2017 be the year when...
View ArticleWalking, weight loss and wishful thinking
These shoes have seen at least 800,000 steps since September of this year, probably more than a million steps in the two years I have owned them. I recently took them in to get new soles after I...
View ArticleChurch: take notice–people are leaving and not coming back
We all know the church ship is rapidly sinking. What fascinates me about the United Methodist Church is how little we seem to care. Instead, we wasted at least a generation and a massive amount of...
View ArticleAsk the Thoughtful Pastor: what about Israel?
Dear Thoughtful Pastor: What is your view on the US supporting Israel? I am often fascinated by what appears to be unqualified support given to the nation Israel as though its leaders can make no...
View ArticleDebating the mission statement: a revealing moment at General Conference
At about 5:10 pm on Thursday, May 19, Rev. Bill Arnold, Chair of the Faith and Order legislative committee brought the report from that committee. The first item was a petition to amend the mission...
View ArticleTheological Education and the Spread of the Gospel: Antithetical?
This morning at General Conference, we saw a heated debate about providing much, much more money for theological education in Africa. The statement kept coming up about how fast the church is growing...
View Article“Twenty Minutes of Action”–the new definition of rape
By now, I would guess that most have heard about this privileged Stanford student who brutally raped a young woman and then was sentenced only to six months in jail. The young athlete’s father wrote to...
View ArticleLord and Lady Peter and Marriage Equality
The long-pursued Harriet speaks with Lord Peter, the man who loves her and now wonders if he has done good for her by finally convincing her to marry him. From this conversation comes my favorite...
View ArticleBrexit, Trump/Sanders and the UMC: time to say “good-bye”
I can’t stop seeing the parallels: 52% of voters in Great Britain voted to leave the European Union, surfacing the deep unrest about politics and economics and threatening the fragile union that holds...
View ArticleHelp! What is a theocracy?
As messy as these multiple forms of beliefs have become, a theocracy would insist upon one, and only one, of those as the “correct” belief system. Dear Thoughtful Pastor: What is a Theocracy? Does our...
View ArticleThe Shack: a journey into grief and the questions of good and evil
That the love of God means the freedom for people to make their unimpeded choices for good or evil permeates The Shack. [Note: The Shack, based on the book by William P Young, is about to be released....
View ArticleRight-handers=Good; Left-handers=Evil
The dominant world enriches itself endlessly when it makes room for the less-dominant to have a voice. Those on the margins: left-handed, minority, poor, mentally and physically challenged,...
View ArticleHypocrisy, shame, politics and religion
Hypocrisy is the ultimate death blow, whether it be politics or religion. And in the US, the two are inextricably linked together. Shame on us both. From the full article reprinted below, this comment...
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