I was recently asked what I would do about the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinians given that Israel is in a fight for its life and has been under near constant attack by Hamas in the Gaza Strip…
Category: Politics
There is just so much of popular politics, especially within the Christian Right, that is informed by theology. Sometimes bad theology. I find most Christians don’t think theology really matters, but it seems to me that with regard to politics, especially our nation’s foreign policy, theology matters a lot and has critical importance to what people support politically. Our theology has life and death implications for millions of people around the world and I think that is something that does matter, wouldn’t you agree?
Peace With Islam: Chapter 1
From my upcoming book Peace With Islam: CHAPTER 1 America Meets Radical Islam, Our New National Enemy – My first encounter with Islam was America’s introduction to Islam during the 444 day hostage crisis that began in 1979 when Jimmy…
We Should Have Listened to the Libertarians About the Middle East
Saddam Hussein gassing Kurdish villages, al-Qaeda attacking the US on 9/11, and ISIS killing just about anybody who isn’t ISIS isn’t a good thing, we can all agree to that, but it seems only the Libertarians have any objections to…
Peace With Islam: Chapter 2
From my upcoming book Peace With Islam: CHAPTER 2 9/11 Gives Shape to our National Narrative – After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor someone congratulated Admiral Yamamoto on his victory. His response was, “I fear all we have done…
Standing With Israel: How Bad Theology Duped Us Into Supporting Terrorism and Oppression
From Benjamin Corey’s blog: Not many days go by without seeing some sort of “Stand with Israel” image pop up into my Facebook news feed. And, each time it does, my heart grieves over the fact that so many of…
Resources for Understanding Islam and Middle East Conflicts
These resources weigh heavily toward politics rather than theology to explain Islam and the Middle East. I have discovered that trying to understand Middle East conflicts and radical Islam from a purely theological perspective leads one to many wrong and…
Our Presence in the Middle East Really IS About Oil
For years I thought our use of military might was about humanitarian concerns, about being the world’s police force. That WAS the topic for debate, after all, wasn’t it? We couldn’t possibly be sacrificing the lives of our youth and…
Is There Any Relation Between Religion and Terrorism?
The old saw, “Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims” simply isn’t true. Given the right political situations, people of any religious, philosophical, or political persuasion will produce terrorists. If you survey world history you will find…
Why I Miss the Draft, Anti-War Protests, and Woodstock
I wish we had the draft right now. Not because I really want to send anyone to the Middle East who doesn’t want to be there but because of what our country has been doing to the Middle East since…
To Congress: Cut Military Budget in Half
Here is my letter to my Congressman asking to cut our military spending in half. Feel free to copy any or all of it (change the names at the top and bottom). You can find your Congressperson here and your 2…