How Eric Ruined your Cinco de Mayo

It’s Cinco de Mayo and so, like every stereotypical White person in America, I am thinking about Tex Mex.Maybe I’ll go get some at one of my favorite places… Maybe we’ll head over to “Acapulquena.”Oh RIGHT…they CLOSED… Well then, maybe we’ll walk over to “Matt’s Lakewood.”Oh RIGHT…they CLOSED… Well, then, maybe we’ll jump over to […]

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Open Letter to Gov. Abbott (re: Cleveland shootings)

Dear Gov Abbott, I am writing you as a Christian pastor, and calling out your inclusion of the phrase “illegal immigrant” in your tweet regarding the senseless murders of five innocent people in Cleveland, Texas. I would remind you how our common faith in Jesus Christ insists that “In Christ there is no Jew or […]

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What Cornered White People Sound Like

Everyone needs to hear this leaked video. It reveals several things about America, all at once. It highlights our polarized and racialized politics… It could have been recorded in any statehouse in the old Confederacy, as a conversation White men have when they think nobody is listening. There is no question that it reconfirms every […]

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“Drag Bunch” and what REALLY “Grooms” Our Children

Why are we not asking about the “grooming,” —the disturbing messages of sexually gendered roles— these shows reinforce for humans of all orientations….for little girls, for little boys, for mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters?

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Catfishing Bots, Fentanyl, and Deeply Frayed Community

I’m simultaneously deeply annoyed and deeply saddened by the vast number of Bot-led catfishing proposals I get these days via social media. It started out as just annoyance. And then, as a way of dealing with that annoyance, I decided to save a week’s worth…not to read them…just “screen shot and save”…then come back later. […]

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Uncomfortable Metaphors

It’s now Monday, and to my amazement, my hastily dashed-off post “Good Friday” —about the original meaning of the crucifixion in Jesus’ time— continues to be shared at a stunning pace.It’s now approaching 3,000 Facebook shares, and thousands of remarkable and kind comments. My best guess is: it’s still being shared around 100 times an […]

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Good Friday

“Um…so what’s that interesting necklace you’re wearing?” I am at the Kerrville Folk Festival, on a sweaty May afternoon. I’m with a group of fellow musicians, and one has again asked me a question I’ve been asked many times before. She’s asking about the necklace I wear every day. “It’s a ‘Lethal Injection Crucifix,’” I […]

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Reflecting on “The Whale”

Is it possible to have differing, but equally valid, moral and ethical positions on the film “The Whale?” I sure hope so. I could be about to test this in what follows. Whatever your views on the film, on food, on obesity, on “fatphobia,” —that entire constellation of issues— I invite you to read this […]

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Texas Independence Day

Today is Texas Independence Day. As a student at UT Austin, I remember celebrating this day with all the pride I could muster.Today, years later, I’m thinking about what I didn’t know then, what I do know now, and the significance to all of us Texans today. If like me, you took “Texas History” in […]

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