Red Letter Christians

Faithfully Dissident

RLC Editor — Thu, 24 Sep 2026 10:00:33 +0000

In the fall of 2014, I sat in the lobby of my White evangelical megachurch and handwrote the opening words of the Nicene Creed into my journal. Five minutes earlier the band started up in my weekly moms group and I fled the room. I didn’t understand why, but I couldn’t sing the words “I believe in God the Father.” So, I wrote them down instead and asked myself what was happening to me…

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What Two Ancient Rulers Can Teach Us About Power and Conscience

RLC Editor — Wed, 23 Sep 2026 08:30:22 +0000

As the leaders of the United States and China prepare to meet, two rulers from the ancient world offer a different vision of what it means to wield great power. The ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius believed that the character of a ruler mattered profoundly. A government could have armies, laws and wealth, but ultimately, Confucius taught, leadership began with the virtues of the person who…

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What Exactly Are We Following?

RLC Editor — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 10:00:13 +0000

Originally published September 17, 2026, at echoesofliberty.org (Echoes of Liberty, the author’s own site) I was raised Catholic. I know enough about Christianity to know that Christians sin. That isn’t exactly breaking news. Christianity is built around that recognition. We fail. We hurt people. We become selfish. We lose our tempers. We put ourselves first. We do things we know we…

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Henri Nouwen the Peacemaker

RLC Editor — Mon, 21 Sep 2026 10:00:00 +0000

In the early 1980s the Reagan Administration was waging a brutal war on the impoverished people of Nicaragua that left tens of thousands dead. In the center of it all stood the archconservative Cardinal Archbishop of Managua, Miguel Obando y Bravo. The cardinal railed against liberation theology and steadfastly opposed those who advocated for justice and peace. During those grim days the Managua…

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My Disability Is Divine: A Joyful Witness That Defies Ableist Nonsense, an excerpt

RLC Editor — Thu, 17 Sep 2026 10:00:14 +0000

It’s not until the fifth person calls me “blasphemous” that I put down my phone. It turns out people don’t like it when I describe my experience of God as disabled. A sound bite of a podcast where I talk about my experience of God quickly amassed more than fifty thousand views, more traffic than a California freeway at rush hour. Never mind that Scripture tells us in Daniel and Ezekiel that God’s…

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Why White Christians Love James Talarico, and what they’re missing

RLC Editor — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 09:00:52 +0000

Suddenly commentators act like they’ve discovered a brand-new species: the Christian who actually sounds like Jesus. David French wrote that James Talarico is “one of the few openly Christian politicians in the United States who acts like a Christian.” You can really only write a sentence like that if you have one kind of Christian in mind. Because if the Black church is in your imagination…

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Wendell Berry’s radical lesson for Christians: Live what you believe

RLC Editor — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 10:00:39 +0000

Editor’s Note: Previously published on Religion News Service on September 3, 2026. (RNS) — I was graced just once in my life by the presence of Wendell Berry, the farmer-poet who died earlier this week at age 92. Over 20 years ago, I heard Berry speak at the annual conference of the largest professional association for my academic discipline. I was intrigued that someone known for…

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Would You Vote for Jesus? Rethinking Power, Leadership, and the Ideals We Claim to Hold

RLC Editor — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 10:00:52 +0000

I often wonder if Jesus suddenly appeared on the modern political scene, would we recognize him as a leader—or would we reject him because he did not look like the leaders we are accustomed to? The question itself reveals something important about how we understand power. Every political campaign begins with someone seeking authority, influence, and the ability to shape the future.

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How 9/11 Radicalized a Christian Soldier for Peace

RLC Editor — Sat, 12 Sep 2026 02:45:03 +0000

You never know the day your life will change—or the person who will change it. For me, her name was Om Hassan. I was alone. She was alone. Her rusty metal door creaked open. She stood behind it in a black chador, her eyes twinkling above a smile. Then she motioned for me to come inside. Every alarm bell in my military training told me to turn around and leave fast.

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“Democratic Space”, an excerpt from “Wake Up Running: Building Democratic Space at the Crossings”

RLC Editor — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 10:00:21 +0000

It was Martin Luther King Jr. who, in 1963, spoke to “the fierce urgency of now.” Now more than then, we need to heed his grandiloquent call “to make real the promises of democracy” in this nation and beyond. Like my predecessors, we need to create communities of discourse and practice that acknowledge our real and distinct differences and yet seek ways to adapt and, if possible…

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