Being Podcasted

One of my good friends, Rocky Supinger, has a podcast, in which he talks to people about the things they do that are interesting to him. The link to the podcast is here. We talked about my political advocacy and how that fits with my pastoral call. We talked about my experience meeting President Reagan…

The Problem with Exceptionalism

Lawmakers in Oklahoma are seemingly in the process of enthusiastically banning Advanced Placement US History classes in Oklahoma schools because they don’t teach American “exceptionalism”. As reported in the Tulsa World: “Rep. Dan Fisher, who has been active in a church-and-state organization called the Black Robe Regiment, said the AP U.S. history course framework emphasizes…

Reluctant Pen Pal

I haven’t written about my birth family discoveries lately. Partly because the Christmas season is a bit busy in my profession. Also because there hasn’t been much news. I’m totally fine with this being a slow process. I’m still in touch with my family members on my birth father’s side, and I was able to…

Miracle Denied

Today the House State Affairs committee voted, on a straight party line vote, to keep the Add the Words Bill from progressing to the full house for debate. It should not have come as a surprise, I suppose. But as I kept listening to the 21 hours of testimony, it was clear that the voices…

The Bible as a Weapon

I’ve spent much of the week listening to testimony for and against House Bill 2, which would Add the Words “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to the Idaho Human Rights Act. My testimony to the House State Affairs Committee is here. There were some beautiful stories shared, particularly when parents of trans children spoke of…