The time for the followers of Jesus to publicly protest injustices such as wealth inequality is at hand, argues retired Baptist minister Rev. Howard Bess.
Tag: Howard Bess
In Case You Missed…
Some of our special stories in December looked at the new propaganda war against dissident news outlets, the nasty fallout from the U.S. presidential election, and the bleak winter for neocons.
Christmas and Endless War
There is a profound contradiction for Christians who celebrate the “prince of peace” at Christmas and then return to the business of endless — and expanding — war the rest of the year, as the Rev. Howard Bess observes.
MLK and the Curse of ‘Moderation’
From the Archive: When Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. went to jail to focus national attention on the injustice of segregation, he was stung by criticism from Christian clergy who feared upsetting the status quo and urged “moderation,” prompting his historic rejoinder…
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Some of our special stories in June focused on the bloody crises in Ukraine, Syria, Libya and elsewhere in the Middle East — and on propaganda’s harm to democracy and fairness, from war to Tom Brady.
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Some of our special stories from May focused on powerful institutions abusing their authority by making exaggerated, dubious or false allegations to justify punitive actions from the U.S. government to the mainstream media to the NFL while often covering up their…
An Urgent Reassessment of Jesus
Many Christian churches opt for comforting their parishioners with reassuring ceremonies, banal sermons and even appeals to popular nationalistic sentiments rather than challenging them with the tough calls from Jesus for social justice, a grave failure, says Rev. Howard Bess.
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Some of our special stories in April examined the expanding conflicts in the Middle East, the prospect of a peaceful nuclear agreement with Iran, and the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.
Letting Scientific Knowledge into Religion
Ancient religions used myths to explain the mysteries of the universe to primitive people, making up stories that modern humans know to be imaginative but false. The problem, however, is that many people still anchor their world views in these old…
Misunderstanding Jesus’s Execution
From the Archive: In Holy Week, many Christians celebrate what they regard as God’s sacrifice of his Son and the Resurrection. But some scholars see another narrative in which Jesus, a rural rebel, brings his critique of the Jewish-Roman power structure to Jerusalem and…