“I get that slavery was bad, but it’s in the past. Why can’t people just get over it? And why do I have to do something about it? I never owned any slaves.” Those comments shocked and unsettled me then and have remained with me ever since. Implicit in her dismissal of historical offenses was […]
Is Tolerance Enough?
The world is still reeling from President Trump’s recent comments about whether we really need more Haitian immigrants and how African nations are “s***hole countries (1). Perhaps even more shocking than his abhorrent comments is the fact that there are people who continue to adamantly affirm his rancor, revealing the heart of a nation that […]
God’s Heart for Individuals with Disabilities
I want to tell you a little story of the beautiful impact that we can have on other people. I vividly remember standing at this past year’s graduation for Next Steps, Vanderbilt’s college program for individuals with intellectual disabilities. Tears streamed down my face as the five graduates walked across the stage. I do not […]
The Power of the Gospel: Experiences of Christian Slaves In the Antebellum South
There is no denying that America’s slaveholding past still weighs heavily on the nation’s conscience. About 388,000 Africans in total were abducted from their homes and subjected to the horrors of the Middle Passage before being sold into bondage in North America. Through natural increase, the number of enslaved persons in this country reached 3.9 […]
What is the body?
She steps out of the shower, frigid. She stands in front of the fogged up mirror, slowly lifting a frail arm to wipe away the steam. She drops her towel, grabs her stomach and turns side to side, her hands touch protruding bone after bone, as finger meets rib with unsettling ease. Hot tears well […]
Living in a Secular Age
The term ‘secular’ has become almost synonymous with progress, Westernization, and democracy. It often stands in contrast to the religious, the traditional, or the authoritarian. It is a beacon of hope in a world tied down by its past superstitions and stains of ignorance. Secularity, it seems, is a very good thing indeed. But what […]