The past, memory, and who we really are

I realized I lost a lot of my personal pictures today. It struck me really hard as I come to grips with knowing a lot of the tangible reminders I have of a period of time in my daughter’s life and a handful of wonderful trips I’ve taken may be gone for good. This comes […]

A word on Confederate monuments

There is an important difference between remembering and honoring. With great hesitation I am submitting my thoughts on the primary motivation for a recent gathering of white supremacists in Charlottesville: the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. My hesitation stems from a desire not to get caught up in any of […]

The story of who I am

My grandfathers As I’ve sought to understand myself and heal from the particular broken places within me, I’ve learned that the journey to knowing myself doesn’t stop with me. Family accounts for far more than our genetic mixture. It also of course establishes the way we perceive ourselves and the world via the environment in […]

The problem with Pax Americana

[Caveat: the following criticism of American military policy is not a reflection whatsoever on the men and women who serve or have served in the military] As a lover of history, I can’t tell you how disturbing the parallels are between the U.S. and the Roman Empire. It’s uncanny. Rome was built on the strength […]

Death to the idea of “Christian America” – ending our civil religion, Part I

There is a thing in all cultures known as a civil religion, and this does not refer to Christianity or any particular “organized” religion. It is the collective beliefs that a particular culture disseminates, and it typically borrows heavily from organized religions. Defining what, exactly, the breadth of American civil religious belief covers is a […]

The wrong side of history?

Why do we find society’s narrative of morality, meaning, and human identity compelling? I think there are two primary reasons. The first is that it encourages one of our basest temptations – selfishness, which speaks to us in a deep way. If you doubt this is the core of the narrative, think of what so […]

Christianity in brief, Part I

Christianity is easily and frequently misunderstood (especially by Christians). I hope to quickly demonstrate that being a Christian does not necessitate being naive, irrational, or ignorant of history. From that foundation I want to paint a portrait of what human identity can look like and show that said portrait can be accepted regardless of your belief system. But it will […]