Red Letter Christians

Frederick Douglass’ 1852 speech “WHAT TO THE SLAVE IS THE FOURTH OF JULY” Read By Christian Leaders from Around the Country

RLC Editor — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 10:00:46 +0000

Editor’s Note: the following was originally published on the RLC Blog on July 3, 2021.

A Christian nation? At 250, America is still fighting over what that means

RLC Editor — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 10:00:22 +0000

Editor’s Note: Previously published on Religion News Service on May 13, 2026. (RNS) — When people ask Holly Hollman if America is a Christian nation, she has a simple response. “What do you mean by that?” The longtime general counsel of the Washington, D.C.-based Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, which promotes the separation of church and state, Hollman explains that if the…

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“How Western Christianity Got It Wrong: Replacing the God of Fear with a Spirituality of Healing”, an excerpt

RLC Editor — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 10:00:35 +0000

Western Christianity has wreaked havoc on people across the globe. I have tried for so many years to speak truth to power—through my many books and other writings, through my talks, and through my lifestyle. Western Christianity has charted an unfortunate path. (When I write about Western Christianity, I define it as the movement affected by Jesus’s death, influenced in the second century and…

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These houses of worship are older than America. How they outlasted wars, schisms and lawsuits.

RLC Editor — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 10:00:43 +0000

Editor’s Note: Previously published on Religion News Service on May 28, 2026. (RNS) — On Ash Wednesday this year, about a dozen people attended a noon service at Boston’s Old North Church, founded in 1723. Two days later, a handful of worshippers took part in a Shabbat service at Newport, Rhode Island’s Touro Synagogue, dedicated in 1763. Congregations participating in sacred rituals — it is…

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Amid protests at Delaney Hall, a Catholic nun has been offering ‘radical hospitality’

RLC Editor — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 10:30:50 +0000

Photo Caption / Credit: Sister Susan Francois hangs a sign on her “Radical Hospitality” tent. (RNS image/Fiona Murphy) Editor’s Note: Previously published on Religion News Service on May 27, 2026. NEWARK, N.J. (RNS) — For five days, Delaney Hall, an immigrant detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, has been in the news for protests over conditions inside the facility.

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Bothering with Politics, excerpt from “Reimagining Biblical Politics: What Scripture Says About Public Life and Why It Matters”

RLC Editor — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 10:00:22 +0000

What’re you teaching on at church this week?” my dad asked. “We’re starting a series on the Bible and politics,” I answered. “Yikes! Couldn’t do that series at our church.” Maybe you can relate to my dad. I certainly knew what he meant. Just ask yourself: What do you feel when you think about politics? I guarantee those feelings aren’t all positive. Nothing is more likely to turn a family…

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The Only Road to Peace: Why Loving Our Enemies Is the World’s Last Hope

RLC Editor — Tue, 23 Jun 2026 10:00:02 +0000

On the morning of October 2, 2006, a man walked into a one-room Amish schoolhouse in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, sent the boys and adults outside, opened fire on ten little girls, and then killed himself. Five of them died. It was the kind of atrocity that hardens a community for a generation, the kind that ordinarily begins a long winter of bitterness. What happened next is why anyone outside…

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We’ve Been Here Before: How Rebellion and Activism Have Always Sustained America, an excerpt

RLC Editor — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 10:00:52 +0000

When former Vice President Kamala Harris stepped on stage to accept the prestigious Chairman’s Award at the NAACP Image Awards program only a month into the second presidential term of Donald Trump, she reassured the audience that our nation was not only up to the challenge of resistance but had also survived worse: This organization came into being at a moment when our country struggled with…

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Celebrate JUNETEENTH Like This…

RLC Editor — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 10:00:31 +0000

The first Juneteenth celebration on June 19, 1865 in Galveston, Texas, wasn’t solely a celebration of physical freedom. Juneteenth celebrated economic freedom. The freedom for Black folk to earn money from their labor and their intellectual capital. As a result, it’s only fitting that all Juneteenth celebrations support Black labor, Black entrepreneurship, and Black intellect. Here’s some info…

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The Gospel According to Project Hail Mary: Loving the Alien Other

RLC Editor — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 09:30:10 +0000

Project Hail Mary is a stunning masterpiece of visual storytelling based on the equally stunning book by Andy Weir. Starring Ryan Gosling as the sarcastic, reluctant hero Ryland Grace, the film tells the story of a desperate, last-ditch attempt to save planet Earth from a sun-eating organism that threatens to extinguish all light and life. Scientists have discovered that the organism is not just…

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Red Letter Christians

Frederick Douglass’ 1852 speech “WHAT TO THE SLAVE IS THE FOURTH OF JULY” Read By Christian Leaders from Around the Country

A Christian nation? At 250, America is still fighting over what that means

“How Western Christianity Got It Wrong: Replacing the God of Fear with a Spirituality of Healing”​, an excerpt

These houses of worship are older than America. How they outlasted wars, schisms and lawsuits.

Amid protests at Delaney Hall, a Catholic nun has been offering ‘radical hospitality’

Bothering with Politics, excerpt from “Reimagining Biblical Politics: What Scripture Says About Public Life and Why It Matters”

The Only Road to Peace: Why Loving Our Enemies Is the World’s Last Hope

We’ve Been Here Before: How Rebellion and Activism Have Always Sustained America, an excerpt

Celebrate JUNETEENTH Like This…

The Gospel According to Project Hail Mary: Loving the Alien Other

“How Western Christianity Got It Wrong: Replacing the God of Fear with a Spirituality of Healing”, an excerpt