According to the Christian tradition, ingesting consciousness expanding plants is the original sin. If this is so, I must admit, I’ve sinned more than once—twice to be exact. So, I’m … Continue reading Peyote in the Pulpit: What the Plant Spirits Have Taught Me about Preaching

If we have a moral obligation to consider the consequences of our actions, especially regarding how they might impact others, then the term, “thoughtful,” is a good one for describing … Continue reading Being Thoughtful: A Functionalist Approach to the Mind/Heart Duality

I keep hearing things like, “Global warming is a hoax,” “Obamacare is a disaster,” “Protecting the Environment will cost jobs,” “Government is the problem,” and so on, most of which … Continue reading The Naked Emperor: Exposing Some Lies that are Taken as Truth

There is certainly grave reason to be worried about the current state-of-affairs in our world, from the rise of authoritarian governments to the devastating impacts of global warming, but there … Continue reading The Best of Times. The Worst of Times: Keeping Hope and Making Progress Today

Why should imaginary borders be considered sovereign, protecting the right of different regimes to govern their territories, especially those that regularly violate the human rights of their own citizens? In … Continue reading The Sovereignty of Persons: Better Borders for a Bigger World

Under Current Immigration Policy, churches are unlikely to be raided by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), making them safe places for those seeking to avoid deportation. This is why the … Continue reading Making Room at the Inn: The Sanctuary Movement Today and What It Means for our Church

Despite the puritanical approach to morality so often demonstrated in our society, ethics is a complicated subject and determining what’s best to do is seldom simple. Nevertheless, given what’s passing … Continue reading Dumbing it Down: A Little Black and White Thinking to Make Understanding Ethics Easy

We call ourselves “human beings,” but, given certain biological and psychological realities, perhaps it would be more accurate to consider ourselves, “human becomings.” Nature has made ours an unusual species … Continue reading Becoming Human: The Animal that Never Stops Growing

We tend to think of fascism and groupthink coming from the far Right, but today an increasing number of those professing Liberal values are working to silence others with whom … Continue reading Chilled: PC, Misappropriation, Microaggressions, and Other Forms of Neo-Fascism