I have an idea: let’s reinstate the death penalty nationally—but there’s a caveat! I concocted this brilliant idea after Robert Bowers, age fifty, was sentenced to death on August 2, 2023, for murdering eleven innocent Jewish folks and wounding six others at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on October 27, 2018. This … Read more
This week’s blog post is the preface to my new book, How to Make Love (the Agape Kind) with Jesus, available now. As always, let me know what you think. God is the same as nature. —Sister Julian of Norwich A six-year-old girl stood in front of her parents and emphatically stated, “Why should I … Read more
It look me ninety years to write my newest book, How to Make Love (the Agape kind) with Jesus. It started on October 28, 1932, when I entered the world, son of Ham, an Episcopal priest, and Pearl, my mom and a saint. As a PK (Preacher’s Kid), I fell in love with the Episcopal … Read more
Someone sent me a cartoon showing a little boy asking his teacher in Sunday school, “Why did God have to send himself down to earth to become his own son to sacrifice himself to himself just to convince himself to forgive us?” This is my exact feeling about the theology of the church. It just … Read more
My personal deconstructing process has spanned sixty-five years. For much of that time, the journey wasn’t necessarily a conscious thing but instead happened through a series of smaller events. Here are some examples: Because of my motorcycle accident, I had to wear a full leg cast for a year and stay close to my orthopedist … Read more
I started my deconstructing process in September 1957 on my first day in seminary when the professors started eradicating my Sunday school thinking, which went something like this: God was like Santa Claus, except a little meaner. He and his Son were perfect and lived in heaven. God was a Master Puppeteer who made everything … Read more
I have banned the Bible from our home. It is full of lies. The violence is horrendous. The contradictions are unacceptable. The racism is inexcusable. The sex is filthy. Many claim God wrote the Bible. That’s a total lie. It was written by lots of different men over a 2,500-plus-year timespan. At times, people are … Read more
In my ninety-one years, I have never seen someone running to be the dictator of our country. I thought we were a democracy. This dictator, Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, promised to destroy leftism and “leave woke ideology in the dustbin of history.” That would include me, most of the folks in our church, and … Read more
Are pro-lifers actually pro-life? My short answer: no, and for several reasons: If the pro-lifers truly cared about the life of fetuses and newborns, they would be advocating daily for the best maternity and childcare system in the world. In reality, the United States has one of the worst records for prenatal care and childcare … Read more
Our new neighbor is very friendly, but she has a bumper sticker that reads “Jesus died for our sins.” She has Jesus stuff all over. Why does the phrase “died for our sins” irritate me so much? The idea that a young first-century charismatic Jewish itinerant preacher from the tiny town of Nazareth could be … Read more