In the uproar over the leaked opinion of Justice Alito—a potential seismic shift in public policy—I fear a most critical issue is being overlooked. Justice Alito reasons that abortion is a moral issue and moral issues should be left to legislatures, not to courts.  The latter may be correct, but is he right that abortion is a moral issue?  I contend that his premise is wrong and abortion...

Preface: The Register Guard reports this morning that the family of Annette Montero has filed a lawsuit against Sanipac and the driver of their truck that crushed Ms. Montero in her sleeping bag on the morning of Aug. 26, 2019. Below is the piece I wrote about this tragedy and printed in the church newsletter a few days later. We held a memorial service for Ms. Montero at First Christian Church...

Just a few weeks ago I was concerned about the survival of democracy in this country, now I am concerned about the survival of democracy in the world, if not of the world itself. Not to be alarmist, but this is some serious shit! (Not a word I normally put in print, but that just underscores how serious this is!) Like so many others, I have been incredibly impressed and moved by the comedian...

“Image is everything,” asserted tennis heartthrob Andre Agassi in an ad campaign for Canon’s cameras in the early 90s. The importance of image is evident in the very first story told in the Bible when God proclaims at the climax of creation, “Let us make human beings in Our image.” St. Francis of Assisi is reported to have said, "Preach Christ at all times, and, if necessary, use...

The killing of 10 civilians in Afghanistan, seven of them children, on the penultimate day of the war, should serve as a lasting symbol not of the chaotic exit of the United States from the country, but of the fallacy of U.S. foreign policy in particular and the folly of war in general. I wonder, will anyone remember the name of the man who was the target of that deadly mistake years from now?...

Address to the 240th Interfaith Prayer Service in Eugene on the Twentieth Anniversary of 9.11 On one hand, it is good to be together even if virtually and once again to connect as people of many faith traditions. On the other, I just want to acknowledge the ongoing pain from not being able to gather in person in that sacred space where we can see and interact with one another.  For what...

Most citizens of this country could probably cite a phrase or two from the first two amendments to the Constitution (e.g “freedom of speech” or “the right to bear arms” to name one from each), but beyond that, not so much. Most would recognize the famous phrase from the Fourteenth Amendment even if they couldn’t tell you a wit about it’s origin. “Equal protection of the law”, the...

You cannot judge a politician by their party, tempting as it might be. Tennessee pastor Greg Locke made national news for pronouncing judgment on “godless Democrats” (nothing new there) and promising to kick anyone out of church who dared to show up wearing a mask. Yeah, because as Jesus said, “You have heard it said, ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,’ but I say to you, kick...

As a matter of practice, I learned long ago that a basic principle of interfaith dialogue and understanding is to “stay in your own lane” when critiquing religious beliefs and traditions. Perfectly fair for one to scrutinize the beliefs of their own tradition, it is a whole other thing to scrutinize the beliefs of someone else’s tradition. It is the old story of taking the log out of your...

If you had asked me a year or two ago about “Critical Race Theory” (CRT) or the massacre at Black Wall Street, I might have thought you meant strategies for winning the Indy 500 and a really bad day on the stock market. (It was a Friday, right?) Of course my ignorance of the latter is indicative of the former. In the wake of the centennial of that very bad day, actually two days, in Tulsa...