Let it begin with me.

I didn’t watch the President’s speech last night.
In fact, while President Obama was addressing the nation, I was meeting with a couple to plan for their wedding at the end of this month. He’s in the military, and preparing to deploy to Afghanistan, and wants to be sure that his fiancee and their daughter are [...]

Praying for the President

(a bit belated, with apology, but I was asked for a response)
I prayed for George W. Bush.
Now, most of you know that I have never been a big fan of the man. I think he was not a good leader, he made horrific blunders that cost thousands of lives, and his policies did damage to [...]

I’m not ready to *not* make nice…

Howdy, y’all, from down here in Nashville! I’m attending the United Methodist Association of Communicators’ Annual Meeting (about which I will say more later), where this blog, that’s right, this very one, has been awarded Best in Class for non-fiction in the local church category.
No pressure there.
So, on to being relevant. Today, my inbox was [...]

The assurance of things hoped for

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)
President Obama today won the Nobel Peace Prize.
I am surprised, and very proud of him and of our country, to be sure.
I also wonder a little bit about what it means to award a Nobel Prize to someone who [...]

That Old Time Religion Ain’t Conservative Enough

So my friends lists on Facebook, and on my blogroll, and even on my television (good Lord, do I love Rachel Maddow) are all talking about the same thing this week.
The Conservative Bible Project.
Like Rachel Maddow, like many of my friends when we first emailed this around, I was convinced this had to be satire. [...]

Why I didn’t ignore them.

It’s a fair question, and one I’ve wrestled with a lot, as you know if you’ve been reading. I found myself articulating it pretty well to a friend who’s keeping me honest about my motives. What I said, in part, was this:

I do think that ignoring the Westboro Baptist Church is the best approach. Unfortunately, [...]

Love is louder (and a lot more fun) than hate.

I was not as silent as I thought I’d be.
I really tried, but it was just too much fun to sing happy songs and laugh along with the clowns (who insisted they weren’t the biggest circus in town). The ignoring-them idea is good in theory, but would only work if everyone does it; as long [...]

The silent NO.

Tomorrow is the day that Montpelier anticipates the arrival of the Westboro Baptist Church picketers, and our local paper is abuzz with letters to the editor and articles arguing for various responses (in addition to the GLAD donation program, which you can read about on my blog or visit at facebook here to learn about [...]

News again

This time, I think even my staunchest, most conservative colleagues and friends can’t argue with the position I’ve taken. Barre/Montpelier Times Argus: Montpelierites (including one Methodist pastor) debate whether to protest Westboro group. I do think I said pray and puzzle; I remember the alliteration. Other than that, a great article that points out the [...]

What’s a Christian to Do?

Back from a lovely family vacation, and I learn online and from local media that the Westboro Baptist Church (no, I will not plug them with a link!) plans to visit my fair city next week. On September 1, Vermont’s equal marriage bill goes into effect, and so the hate-sign toting anti-gay ignoramuses from the [...]