In Texas, a white adobe chapel built in 1899 on the banks of the Rio Grande sits in the proposed path of President Donald Trump’s border wall. A Border Patrol agent stands sentry yards away. A military helicopter—part of Trump’s troop surge at the border—drowns out Father Roy Snipes. It’s akin to “saying Mass in…
Faith
Faith, Politics
Who Said It Better: Falwell or Christ?
by JOHN ADAMS •
A poor person never gave anyone a job. A poor person never gave anybody charity, not of any real volume. It’s just common sense to me. — Jerry Falwell Jr. can’t imagine Trump ‘doing anything that’s not good for the country’. 41 He sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put…
City, Faith, Local Government
Humility in Discerning God’s Will
by JOHN ADAMS •
One hopes – sometimes in fulfillment, sometimes in vain – that the simple circumstances of a small town might encourage humility in discernment. In the course of listening to politics, one may encounter a local politics that is grandiose where it should be plain. Indeed, local claims of this kind may arrogate to people and…
Faith, Holiday
Happy Easter 2018
by JOHN ADAMS •
Embed from Getty Images Palestinian Christian youth carry candles during Easter prayers at the Church of Saint Porphyrius in Gaza City on April 1, 2018.
America, City, Culture, Faith, Local Government, Politics, School District, That Which Paved the Way, Trump, University
Rabbi Sharon Brous’s Advice for Small Towns (and Everywhere, Really)
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over at The Atlantic, there’s an interview with Rabbi Sharon Brous, the senior rabbi at IKAR, a non-denominational synagogue in California. See ‘I’ve Spent My Life Studying These Books That Say Decency Actually Matters.’ Rabbi Brous describes religious belief among progressives in contemporary America, and two of her observations are particularly suited even to Whitewater…
Faith, Holiday
Easter 2017
by JOHN ADAMS •
From Pope Francis’s Twitter account (@Pontifex) this morning — Happy Easter! May you bring to all the joy and hope of the Risen Christ! pic.twitter.com/SB50xA3Gp5 — Pope Francis (@Pontifex) April 16, 2017
America, Authoritarianism, Ethnicity, Faith, Law, Liberty
Against a Registry
by JOHN ADAMS •
Faith, Politics
The Rev. William Barber at the Democratic National Convention
by JOHN ADAMS •
I watched the national conventions of both major parties, although I am a member of neither. Of the many speeches over many days, some were exceptional. The one from the Rev. William Barber, for example, is worth watching, either for the first time or again. The Rev. Barber’s political views, to be sure, sometimes (but…
Animals, Conservation, Environment, Faith, Nature
The Nature Display at St. Peter’s Basilica
by JOHN ADAMS •
Adventure, Faith, Food
Dinner at Hogwarts
by JOHN ADAMS •
Faith, Film, Holiday
Happy Easter: An Easter Weekend in Rome
by JOHN ADAMS •
Faith, Gov. Walker, Government Spending, Politics, Science/Nature, State Government, Wisconsin
Budget First
by JOHN ADAMS •
Last week, Gov. Walker declined to answer Englishman’s question about whether he, Scott Waker, believed in evolution. Today, in the Journal Sentinel, one learns that Assembly Speaker Robin Vos does believe in evolution. (I’ll bite: I was raised in a liturgical, high-church tradition that taught that the theory of evolution was consistent with faith. I…
Faith, Politics
Presence Rather Than Partisan Answers
by JOHN ADAMS •
Years ago, during a controversy in Whitewater, someone told me a story about an official who, I learned, asked God’s help to relieve that official from a political burden. The official delivered his request, apparently, in blunt, specific terms. I don’t know whether the official received an answer to his prayers, or whether he believed…
Faith, Holiday
Merry Christmas
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Solemn Proclamation of Christmas, Midnight Mass 2011. Broadcast live from St George’s RC Cathedral, Southwark on 24th December 2011. Director of Music: Nick Gale, Soloist: Dominic Keating-Roberts. Text: New ICEL translation 2010.