Chick Fil A is known as much for the CEO’s Christian beliefs as its chicken sandwiches. In-n-Out Burger has Bible verses printed on their cups and bags. Nearly every storefront window in my college town displays a pride flag or “Free Palestine” message. At some point, it gets a little exhausting. Do I really need… Continue reading This is the new purity test of our era
Tag: social justice
The vibes are off, time to get on a boat
I saw a meme recently about the Jewish propensity for anxiety: “Of course Jewish people are anxious. The non-anxious ones didn’t survive. Every Jewish person alive today is here because some ancestor, at some point in history, said ‘Hey listen up! The vibes are off; time to get on a boat.’” I feel that. It’s… Continue reading The vibes are off, time to get on a boat
The answer to “What would you have done?” isn’t that simple
Normal people perhaps don’t grow up thinking what they would have done had they lived in Nazi Germany, but I did. The answer was simple: good people helped hide Jews, or otherwise volunteered their skills to the Resistance. Bad people looked the other way and did nothing, or worse: reported their neighbors who did those… Continue reading The answer to “What would you have done?” isn’t that simple
“Joyous despair” is a real thing
The social media algorithms want me to be angry, and there’s certainly no shortage of things to rage over. Headlines are purposely alarmist to get clicks: I know this. I used to be in that line of work. I used to live in a place of perpetual anger, and while I made decent money doing… Continue reading “Joyous despair” is a real thing
To rebuild or not to rebuild
I remember going through my Facebook friends list in 2016 and removing everyone I knew who voted for the candidate the media said was a Nazi. Their reasons for their vote didn’t matter: they supported Hitler 2.0, and therefore they were a threat to my very existence. Most people in that cut were acquaintances I… Continue reading To rebuild or not to rebuild
“If you’re voting for XYZ, swipe left”
Once upon a time, we went years without knowing our friends’ politics. We could attend their birthday parties and holiday dinners and never once bring up who we’re voting for. That era is long dead. I’ve wondered whether it’s better that way. What if, after years of playdates with your kids as you sip coffee… Continue reading “If you’re voting for XYZ, swipe left”
Ta-Nehisi Coates and moral relativity
Did you hear about the interview with writer Ta-Nehisi Coates on the Trevor Noah podcast, in which he admits that if he had grown up in Gaza, he might have joined in Hamas’ massacre of Israelis on October 7th, 2023? Publicising his new book, The Message, on Trevor Noah’s podcast, US writer Ta-Nehisi Coates –… Continue reading Ta-Nehisi Coates and moral relativity
An uncommon pariah in an unsafe world
There’s a line from my memoir that goes like this: “Christians are called to be pariahs, to go against the ways of this world. But I am a special kind of pariah.” It refers to the biblical mandate that Christians are to be “not of this world.” Gospel values are always going to make us… Continue reading An uncommon pariah in an unsafe world
Grieving antisemitism as a Jewish-born Christian
There’s a strange irony in being a Jewish convert to Christianity. The former community no longer considers me a member, yet the Nazis would. And now, more recently, so would the terrorist group Hamas. I struggled for years with needing external validation for who I am and where I belong. Though accepting it from hate… Continue reading Grieving antisemitism as a Jewish-born Christian
The Church needs the questions that progressives are asking
Books introduced me to Christ, and it was books that led me back to him after deconstruction. But it wasn’t the writings of C.S. Lewis or Charles Spurgeon or any of those “spiritual giants.” I was re-introduced to Christ through Rachel Held Evans and Peter Enns and Sarah Bessey, leaders of progressive Christian thought whose… Continue reading The Church needs the questions that progressives are asking