The death knell of Evangelicalism

When president Trump was elected, he had the support of the majority of evangelical Christians in the USA. President Trump was the most unchristian president the USA had ever seen.

In Brazil, Bolsonaro has the support of most of the evangelical Christians. He is the ‘Trump of the tropics’. He is on his way to destroying the environment and has the support of the ruling class of Brazil’s billionaires.

What is happening here? I believe that this is what is happens when one worships Jesus and then does not pay attention to what he said.

Jesus, on the rich and the poor

We are living in difficult times. The divergence between the rich and the poor is huge and increasing. Rising inequality as registered by all indicators is as high as it has ever been since the great depression. Many have warned that such inequality will spawn a raft of severe social problems (the book, “Spirit Level”, Joseph Stiglitz, Pikett). Even some of the rich themselves have alerted us and said that this trend needs to be reversed (Warren Buffet, Bill Gates).

Facts and Emotions

The world is heading into a climate crisis. The overwhelming majority of the world’s scientists have warned us that as fossil fuels heat up the environment, global temperatures will rise – and then extreme weather events ( wildfires, hurricanes, droughts and floods ) will soar. It is already happening.

Reflections on “Convictions

I have just finished reading the book, “Convictions: How I learned What Matters Most” by Marcus Borg. This is labelled as ‘A manifesto for progressive Christians’. There is much that is commendable here. As the book cover shows, Borg goes back into Christianity’s roots so that he can better garner the outgoing fruits that should emerge. This is a call for the prophetic role of Christianity in its struggle for social justice. It is also a reminder of Christianity’s initial stance of non-violent resistance and confrontation of the world’s many evils.

Vietnam Trilogy

During the 60s and early 70s, the war in Vietnam was tearing apart US society. Resistance to this war was also creating a whole generation of anti-war activists. The following three articles reflect my thinking at the time.

Religion: Reflections on Jesus

The parables, sayings and teachings of Jesus are moving and penetrating, but if it were not for the way that Jesus died we would probably not be still reading these stories today. There were many wisdom teachers wandering about the Middle East in his day. Much of his sayings and teaching can be found in other sources. He was also not unique in being a wisdom teacher with a band of followers, though the manner in which he put the old stories together and presented them was obviously forceful. He was also a healer though even in this he was not unique. Many healers plied the land, for organized medical services were rare then and people had to rely on itinerant healers when they passed by.

Religion: Conversations with God

Been thinking about Jesus lately. He was a Jew wasn’t he? Pity that the Jews don’t like him much anymore. Some of us think that he was one of the finest gifts that Judaism gave to us. He must have been quite a guy. Really dropped some pearls of wisdom along the way. Seemed to be quite helpful to people in need also…

Religion: The unholy alliance between religion and state power

Earlier this year I was in Peru for three months evaluating water supply and sanitation systems for small towns (< 30,000 people) throughout Peru. My work brought me to many different areas of Peru. One of the most fascinating visits was in Cajamarca.