The White religious right rest their theology on an ideal of moral “cleanliness” that is, if challenged, to be defended violently. There is nothing new about ugliness in a very dressed-up place. It is endemic in some ways. That is something you must understand. Perhaps you remember from lessons of the civil rights movement that the White citizens’

hat if the government revokes our tax-exemption? What if youth sports take over Sunday morning? What if non-Christians get to pray before city council meetings? The inherent fragility of our churches, ministries, and schools helps explain, at least in part, why so many Christians carry so much anxiety today, and why we’re conditioned to see a threa

We have to stop assuming that everyone who believes in Jesus also shares our political views. Otherwise, we will increasingly end up with churches that are more united around political convictions than shared biblical truths. No matter what side of the political aisle you’re on, that’s a downward trade.