The Alternative Mainstream

Maybe Democrats should fill-in donation checks if they defeat the GOP in November 2020 — to two cadres of expat Republicans, no less. And send them sappy, hand-written thank-you notes for good measure.

One organization, Republicans Voters Against Trump, has uploaded testimonials from lifetime party loyalists. All say they’re voting for Democrats this year, often for the first time. Another, T…

Beauty in the Storm

Photo by Charles Redfern

It seems America is zig-zagging on a freeway lane called “bizarre,” with a maniacal clown behind he wheel. The clown blares: “Crazy is good! Thoughtfulness is bad! COVID’s a hoax and masks are for commies! And sick the woke inquisitors on the heretics! And don’t say black lives matter ‘cause that means you hate white people! And holler everything with exclamation…

Timothy Keller’s Prayer Request

Timothy Keller

The Rev. Timothy Keller has been a voice of sanity in America’s turbulent religious world. The 69-year-old founder of Manhattan’s Redeemer Presbyterian Church has written a slew of books, all of which have evaded political partisanship and the culture wars while remaining firmly biblical.

Many are now in fervent prayer. He notified the public that he’s undergoing treatment…

Asking The No-No Question

Theologian John Jefferson Davis asks the question few dare ask — “Is the COVID 19 virus a judgement from God?” — with at least two twists.

First, he refuses to shame the curious. He even says: “That’s a fair and appropriate question.” How novel. Many supposedly sophisticated Christians — including evangelicals — poo-poo…

Religious Leaders Blast Racism & Despotism

Religious leaders are like the rest of us. They’re wearing the who-would-a-thunk-it look. It turns out 1968 was a rehearsal for 2020 – or, George McKinney put it in a Facebook reply: “Not sure what to do when 1918 (the year of the killer flu epidemic) + 1929 (the market crashed) + 1968 = 2020. Laws of the universe seem askew.”

Those laws were especially frayed on May 25th, when America’s…

When Fear Is Good

Imagine you’ve achieved the American dream and you’re wandering your middle-class castle, chomping an apple. Suddenly, you smell that tell-tale smell as the smoke alarm blares. Your reaction? You resolve: “I won’t yield to fear. I’ll stuff cotton in my ears and munch my apple and, when I feel like it, I’ll call the alarm manufacturers and scold them on their device’s unbecoming shrillness …”

S…

From a Youtube video uploaded by Salesians, Ireland. Watch the video here.

This year’s Holy Saturday — that in-between day when the disciples quarantined themselves in fear — seems especially relevant in our COVID-tyrannized world. Our presuppositions — plagues are a thing of the past — have been strewn on the floor. We’re suddenly vulnerable. Everything’s dark.

The prayer masters of the…

Two brief scenes exemplify Good Friday in 2020, the year of COVID-19. The first is Pope Francis laying prostrate in a near-empty Saint Peter’s Basilica:

The second is a service in a near-empty Notre Dame Cathedral, which fire gutted a year ago.

There’s…

Nihilism’s intellects have emerged from the shadows in the wake of President Donald Trump’s March 22nd tweet: “WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF. AT THE END OF THE 15 DAY PERIOD, WE WILL MAKE A DECISION AS TO WHICH WAY WE WANT TO GO!”

Hear the resurgence of Social Darwinism, a discredited 19th-century ideology that baptized rivalry. Modern-day advocates usually guise…

Social Darwinism peaked from behind the curtain and waved hello, taking its cue from President Donald Trump’s March 22nd tweet: “WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF. AT THE END OF THE 15 DAY PERIOD, WE WILL MAKE A DECISION AS TO WHICH WAY WE WANT TO GO!”

The implicit message: The strong and healthy will only stand still for so long; the weak and the sick better catch up.…

Much of the news on the faith beat is all about Christians behaving badly: Jerry Falwell, Jr., defies the medical consensus and welcomes students back to Liberty University; Paula White earnestly declares healing over America; a pseudo television evangelist peddles false medical cures; and a famous health-and-wealth advocate says God strickens America because of Trump hatred.

Such sordid…

https://chuckredfern.files.wordpress.com/2020/03/20200322_1902462971198979707984317.jpg

Kenneth Copeland tells his followers to claim their healing

We’ve heard the stories of pandemic nobility: The Italian Air Force boosts its nation’s morale as it drapes the sky with a smoky flag; balcony-bound Italians sing their national anthem; an opera singer serenades his neighborhood — again, from a balcony — and a Spanish fitness instructor leads exercises from a roof. Churches cancel…

Life springs up in strange places

I’ve found three scenes of encouragement in these eerie times.

The first is the church. Jana MacDonald, a fellow member of St. Paul’s in Willington, CT., plugged our Livestream service and then told us to “be” the church the rest of the week. She gives practical suggestions accompanied with hearts:

♥ Check on your elderly neighbors. ♥ Practice “social…