It is worthwhile to step back for a moment and take stock of what has unfolded just in the last week. On Thursday, June 30th a woman stood up at a Trump rally and asked Trump to remove all the “heebie-jobies” (an apparent reference to Muslim women who wear hijabs) from the TSA and replace them with […]
politics
Another reason to be disgusted by politicians
This morning I started reading an article at CNN titled “Is Donald Trump hurting himself?” I’m not sure what piqued my interest. After all, everybody but Donald Trump already knows the answer. (Well, maybe Trump and that fawning sycophant Corey Lewandowski who seriously stated last week that Trump may be the most eloquent orator ever to […]
The Trump Bible
My friend David Marshall (author and blogger at Christ the Tao) emailed me this morning to let me know he had just published a new book. David began his email by writing: “Hi, Randal. We don’t seem to often agree on politics, so I thought I’d take advantage of one of those times when I […]
Bernie’s Biggest Blindspot? The problem of advertising in democratic elections
Bernie Sanders’ campaign has generated a lot of excitement. Who could have foreseen last May that the awkward campaign launch of this stern septuagenarian with the dandruff and wild hair would erupt into one of the biggest political stories of the last year? While Sanders has attracted many followers with his promise of universal health […]
Why Christian presidential candidates need more Christianity in their campaigns
If you’re following the American race for the White House, you might be excused for mistaking the candidates for itinerant preachers. And I’m not just talking about Mike Huckabee. Even Donald Trump has taken to waving a Bible as he publicly mulls over the profundity of Two Corinthians. This kind of behavior has led to many […]
My Suggestion for Bernie Sanders’ New Campaign Slogan
When Bernie Sanders declared his candidacy last spring, few anticipated that this relative unknown, who was polling at a meager 3%, would make much progress against The Hillary Machine ™. But now that he’s a real possibility, he needs a campaign slogan. This morning it occurred to me that the perfect song would be Megadeth’s […]
Only One Savior: politics and religious exploitation
Thursday’s Fox News Republican Debate may have lacked Donald Trump, but it more than made up for it with some refreshing moments of political discourse, the high point being John Kasich’s bold call to help the mentally ill. And then there were the low points. Among the lowest was Marco Rubio’s exploitation of religious belief […]
Should a Christian support Donald Trump for President? Of course not. Can they? I don’t think so.
Donald Trump raised eyebrows today with his statement that several black pastors were supporting his candidacy for the Republican nomination to run for president. It turns out that those pastors were not in fact endorsing Trump. They were just meeting with him. The eyebrow raising seems to have been largely directed at the fact that […]
Politicians, fascists, and used car salesmen
In the last two days Donald Trump has “crossed a new line” by endorsing the suggestion of a reporter that the government should begin to compile lists of Muslims living in the United States. Here is a transcript of one of the relevant exchanges courtesy of MSNBC: NBC: Should there be a database system that […]
Jesus was a conservative, wasn’t he?
I was recently accused of evincing “typical left-wing thinking.” Kaboom! No need to consider what I say anymore. It’s been labelled “left-wing.” Let me try to convey the shock to you. Compare: “Careful! He’s evincing signs that he’s been bitten by a zombie! He could become a frothing soldier in the army of the walking […]