There is now a strong and perplexing dichotomy in American Christianity: the Social Justice Christian and the Libertarian Christian. Both have been formed and strengthened by the politics of the last 10 years. They are polars, they wage against each other, yet both ideologies base their belief in...

My grandfather just de-friended me on Facebook. He didn’t have a moment of confusion or senior dementia (he is annoyingly savvy with the computer for a 75-year-old), but he did it intentionally and with a touch of snark – writing “bye” on my wall right before electronically disowning me....

I love the USA.  I love everything about it.  I love the Constitution (and ALL of the amendments) and the Declaration of Independence.  I love the Founding Fathers – those who “pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.”  I love my country as a parent loves a child...

SB 1070, the immigration reform bill Arizona governor Jan Brewer signed into law last week, is awful. Feel free to read it yourself (it’s not an overly difficult law to understand), but here are some important excerpts: “Requires a reasonable attempt to be made to determine the immigration...

I was driving Nathan to an appointment yesterday. Along the way, we passed a Catholic church with a large sign in the yard thanking a local bishop for serving the parish. This confused Nathan. “What war did he serve in?” “Bishops don’t fight in wars, Nathan. They oversee priests.” “Then why...

I watched with fascination and concern this week as shockwaves from the health care reform (HCR) law rippled through the national conversation. Most of the grumbling I heard on talk radio the day after the bill passed was about how insurance companies could no longer deny coverage to individuals with...

Dear G.O.P., You probably don’t know this but you and I haven’t been on speaking terms lately. The last Presidential Election rattled me hard. I had genuine interest in McCain until I realized that 2008 Candidate McCain had little in common with 2000 Candidate McCain. The stunt of  suspending...

January 20, 2009 was a day that I’ll always remember.  We brought up a TV so everyone—from the library patrons to the staff—could watch the inauguration of Barack Obama.  Despite a heated and sometimes vicious election season, we watched the inauguration not as Democrats and Republicans, but...

I recently drove from Los Angeles to Portland with my friend and her two small children.  We sang silly songs, ate snacks and read a stack of children’s books.  It was a fun adventure, until we were about 300 miles from home, and her son informed me that it was “taking too long.” “Are we there...

In middle school, my favorite book was Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse. The book is more or less a history of one of Clancy’s recurring characters, a special operative known as John Clark. One of the book’s storylines follows a pilot shot down over Vietnam, a devout Mormon named Robin...