Author's note: I've decided to write my review of the film, 'The Right to Love: An American Family,' in the form of a letter to a friend who, because of his religious convictions, does not support marriage equality. The letter is written not to any particular friend, but...

My children are victims of a socialist plot. So are yours, and so, probably, were you if you grew up in the United States after World War II.

Each morning, with their hands piously placed over their innocent hearts, my children are more or less forced to recite a...

I first heard about Frank Schaeffer's newest book, Sex, Mom, and God: How the Bible's Strange Take on Sex Led to Crazy Politics -- and How I Learned to Love Women (and Jesus) Anyway (Da Capo Press, May 2011) a year ago when my wife, Anne,...

I don't know what its like where you live, but in my neck of the woods -- the San Francisco Bay Area -- we've witnessed a proliferation of billboards announcing: "Cry Mightily Unto God! Judgment Day is Coming on May 21! The Bible Guarantees It!" Apparently someone read...

This piece first appeared on the Thoughtful Christian's Gathering Voices blog.

By now you may know that Ron Schiller, a fundraising executive for National Public Radio, said a few things that got him into trouble. He suggested that the right flank of the Republican party, particularly that which...

My denomination, the Presbyterian Church (USA) currently is engaged in a church-wide discussion about whether or not we will allow local congregations and regional governing bodies -- called presbyteries -- the freedom to ordain gay men and lesbians as lay leaders and as ministers. Our highest governing body,...

In the days since Jared Loughner carried a concealed Glock into a crowded Tucson parking lot and unloaded an oversized clip of bullets into the crowd, killing six -- including a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge -- and wounding 14, including a congresswoman who, apparently, was the deranged young...

In my family we have a new holiday tradition. On the evening of Dec. 11 we go across the street to the neighborhood Catholic church -- called "Our Lady of Guadalupe" -- to celebrate the feast of the patron saint of Mexico, the same Lady of Guadalupe for whom the...

Like a lot of folks around the world, as Jon Stewart announced his "Rally to Restore Sanity" I let out a hearty and appreciative laugh when the comedian/commentator introduced the sort of signs he expected his followers to bring to the Rally. The funniest -- and most famous...

Last July I was in Córdoba, Spain doing research for a book I am writing about the relationship between Islam and Christianity. It was hot. The thermometer on a bank said 42 degrees Celsius, and I'm not sure how hot that is in Fahrenheit, but let's just call it "Africa...

Perhaps you've heard by now: the Republican candidate who hopes to be the next governor of California (my fair state) employed an undocumented housekeeper for nine years. This is the same candidate, Meg Whitman, whose official campaign website contains the following policy statement about employers who hire undocumented...

On a beautiful morning last week after the kids went off to school, I sat out on my back patio with my coffee and half of a mysterious melon that my wife picked up at the farmer's market. On the outside it looked like a cantaloupe, but inside it was...

In the last few weeks, a lot has been happening in the great American conversation around immigration. A federal court struck down SB 1070, Arizona's "get-tough-on-immigration-because-the-Obama-administration-won't-do-diddily" law. Several prominent Republicans have started campaigning against the 14th amendment to the United States' constitution, which, among other things, grants citizenship to any...

Provided it is not blocked by a federal judge, Arizona's tough and controversial crackdown on illegal immigration -- officially called the "Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act," but usually referred to as "SB 1070" -- is set to go into effect on July 29. The law...

It's nighttime in Jerusalem, the Holy City, the monotheistic hub of Abrahamic traditions, the very footstool of the Divine, and, as I am still a little bit jetlagged, I go out for a stroll in the cool of the evening. I'm staying on the Mount of Olives at a hotel...