Common Life Politics

Dear friends— Here’s the short version: Essay 7 is about pride, but not the kind most of us were warned about. It asks whether pride might be a gift—not the hubristic drive to stand above others, but the courage to contribute from what we’ve received. What I learned in writing this is unsettling: my formation misunderstood both shame and pride in ways that still shape me. This essay goes back to A...

Dear friends , Here’s the short version: achievement can’t heal shame because they operate at different levels of the nervous system. You’re trying to update software when the firmware is corrupted. This essay traces how the body tells the truth about shame long before the mind can make sense of it, and why the kind of pride that actually heals can only grow once safety returns. If you’ve ever won...

In response to reactions to On the Strange Beauty of Ugly Legislation . The House just passed the legislation I analyzed in today's and yesterday’s essays by a narrow margin—making this theological critique of 'fiscal fundamentalism' more urgent than ever . I. The New Beatitudes™ Available exclusively from Trump Brand Theology, alongside the Trump Bible, Fight Fight Fight cologne, and other premiu...

Behold, the Senate has spoken with one voice—well, almost one voice, requiring the casting vote of the Vice President himself—and declared that beauty consists in transferring wealth from the widow's mite to Caesar's coffers. How the mighty have fallen, and how the self-proclaimed followers of the crucified Galilean have managed to craft legislation that would make Pontius Pilate blush with envy....

Christianity in America has long been suspiciously muscular. While Christ hangs naked, we clothe ourselves in certainty. While God becomes vulnerable, we worship invulnerability. While the Spirit moves across boundaries, we fortify them. This persistent inversion of divine revelation betrays something deeper than mere theological confusion—it reveals our collective flight from shame. The theologic...

Recently I made an error that led to an important correction. In discussing blasphemy and political power, I mistakenly referenced "Gott ist gut" on Nazi military insignia. Several thoughtful friends correctly pointed out that the actual phrase was "Gott mit uns" ("God with us") – a slogan with roots in Prussian military tradition dating back to the early 19th century. I'm grateful for the histori...

Introduction In October 2024, just before the presidential election, prominent figures in the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) stood before crowds of followers and declared the upcoming vote as "a critical moment of spiritual warfare where the forces of God defeat the forces of evil" in what they described as a battle against "satanic forces" for America's soul. This wasn't merely political rhetori...

Picture this scene from Mark's Gospel: Three terrified disciples on a mountain, watching their teacher transformed before their eyes, glowing with unearthly radiance while conversing with Moses and Elijah—figures from centuries past who suddenly appear in brilliant splendor. Peter, in that profoundly human way of responding to divine mystery with mundane practicality, suggests building three comme...

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Based on Mark 4:35-41 (Jesus Calms the Storm) My dear friends in Christ, "Peace! Be still!" These words of Jesus echo across the centuries to us today, in a time when many of us feel tossed about by storms of anxiety, division, and uncertainty. In today's gospel, we find the disciples crossing the Sea of Galilee when a sudden storm threatens to overwhelm their boat. Jesus, asleep in the stern, is...

"Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?" What looks like a simple tax question was actually a perfectly crafted political trap. Imagine religious leaders so desperate to discredit Jesus that they'd bring together groups that normally hate each other – just to set up an impossible question." The Pharisees and Herodians were religious and political opponen...

During my morning reflection today, one verse from Psalm 119:1-8 particularly resonated with me: "I will give thanks to you with a heart that does right as I learn your righteous rules" (v. 7). The poet highlights the challenge and necessity of integrating our emotions with reason. It's a learning process. We don't simply decide to "walk in the Lord's Instruction" and immediately know how to do it...

Welcome to the final part of my series on the Communism/Socialism/Marxism Dog Whistle. My claim is that the sounding of the Dog Whistle is immoral because we historically used it to sustain wealthy male domination over women and the poor. In a previous video, I explained how dog whistles work by covertly saying that we must hide from the light of day because it cannot be said aloud and subverts ou...

Let’s talk about dog whistles. Why? If we respond to them, we’ve forgotten who we are. We are less than ourselves. I will explain what I mean by that below. Let’s get started. My dog’s name is Sadie. After my wife, she’s my best friend. You likely get that because you may also have deep bonds with your pets. Let’s start with the obvious. Sadie is a canine, and I’m a sapiens. Scholars say canines a...

We’ve talked a lot about healthy and disordered nationalisms, but today, let’s talk about the American civil religion. Why? It’s the nationalism American children are taught, the means through which we embed our American identity in our citizens. We need to discuss it because there’s solid evidence that the American civil religion is at the heart of our divisions today. E Pluribus Unum, Our Civic...

This is the third video in a four-part series in which I present a framework for understanding several accounts of how America can flourish that compete for influence in our public square. This framework will prepare you for a subsequent series in which I will deep-dive into multiple disordered nationalisms we encounter on the left and right. In the first and second videos, I introduced the concep...

This is the second video in a four-part series in which I present a framework for understanding several accounts of how America can flourish that compete for influence in our public square. This framework will prepare subscribers for a subsequent series in which I will deep-dive into multiple disordered nationalisms we encounter on the left and right. In the first video , I introduced the concept...

This video is the first in a four-part series examining how American civil religion, once a unifying force, now contributes to our division. Let's talk about nationalisms. What are they? Why do they matter? I think the best way to understand nationalisms is to consider families. Think about a family with many children and the different stories that children, even as they grow into adults, may tell...

Let’s talk about the enablers of autocracy: those who accommodate the slide from democracy into autocratic, quasi-totalitarian states.  Who are the Accommodators of autocracy and why do they make this grave mistake? The Accommodators of autocracy tend to be highly successful, highly intelligent leaders in whatever they do. They tend to be upper middle class or lower upper class - wealthy enough to...

Let’s talk about the accommodators of autocracy. Why? Because history teaches us that, though enablers see themselves as protecting the American Way, future Americans will remember them as having failed our generation’s greatest test.  The history I allude to is that of populist movements that slid from some form of illiberal democracy into autocracy. In my lifetime, we’ve witnessed that more than...

Let's talk about Putinism. Why? For two reasons: First, Putinism is a form of politics that starts with a worldview that completely contradicts the world revealed through the gospel. Our worldview forms our ethics. Secondly, Russia is aggressively disseminating Putinism, much like the Soviet Union once spread communism. This should not only raise alarm but also prompt immediate action among Americ...

Does truthfulness matter in the public square? Is it true that we’ve entered a post-Truth era? How do Christians adapt? Whenever we turn from truth, we turn from God. Christians can’t claim to be following the Way of Jesus when we speak, promote, or tolerate the victory of falsehoods. We meet Jesus when our lives intersect with truth. Period.  Today, Christians are asked to sacrifice truthfulness...

Let’s talk about how to make up our minds.  If you’re like me, you have friends strangely calling everybody on the left simultaneously fascist and communist and friends on the left wrongly calling everyone on the right Christian Nationalists. There’s a lot of nonsense out there. And it’s easy to get seduced by it. If you have a passionate love for our America, you have to sort through a lot of cha...