I think Star Trek is better than Star Wars.
About David Clay
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“Can I Ever Be Forgiven?” On the Radical Unity of Sinners
I live in a northern suburb of St. Louis, MO, a city which has been the per-capita homicide capital of the USA for the last several years. In 2020, the city stands a good chance of breaking its previous record, set in 1993 when its population was larger by about 80,000 people. In the ’90s, […]
Politics and the Hidden God
The 19th-century political theorist Ludwig von Rochau invented the term Realpolitik to describe his program for unifying Germany, at the time a gaggle of squabbling nation-states. Drawing lessons from the failure of the French Revolution, Rochau argued that idealism and passion simply aren’t enough: successful political actors must know when to cut deals and make […]
“Remembered by Love”: On Isolation and Christian Community
Conservative columnist George Will is famous for combining dry wit with a “get off my lawn” libertarianism. It was thus somewhat out of character when he penned a 2018 column addressing not government overreach or fiscal irresponsibility, but loneliness. Will writes, Loneliness in “epidemic proportions” is producing a “loneliness literature” of sociological and medical findings […]
QAnon, Faith, and Skepticism
About a month ago, I listened to an NPR story on the growing popularity of the QAnon conspiracy theory among white evangelical Christians. QAnon is actually a hodgepodge of related theories, but the basic idea is that President Trump is waging a secret (?) war against a cabal of satanists/pedophiles/vampires who surreptitiously run the country. […]
“Where is the Promised Joy?”
John P. McNamee’s 1995 memoir, Diary of a City Priest, traces a year of his parish ministry in inner-city Philadelphia. It’s a tough read. McNamee does his best to minister spiritually and physically to parishioners and neighbors alike, aware at all times that his efforts don’t begin to budge the needle of intergenerational poverty and […]
Running with Scissors: on Polarization and God’s Love for Sinners
Amazon Prime is currently streaming the bulk of the Star Trek canon, so I’ve been nostalgically revisiting some of my favorite episodes from The Next Generation and also working my way through Deep Space Nine for the first time. Besides a cast of characters who have become household names, Star Trek is famously rich with […]
Bottom of the Ninth: Baseball and the Eternity of God’s Love
Baseball’s back — with a truncated season, the universal DH (a bitter pill for this National League snob to swallow), and deep uncertainty involving the ongoing pandemic — but it is back nonetheless. I could hardly be more grateful. Besides the joy inherent in the game itself, it’s a huge relief to transfer some of […]
Freedom to Be … Bored?
Starting around mid-June, people in our St. Louis suburban neighborhood began shooting off fireworks every night (illegality notwithstanding). Both firepower and frequency steadily increased until the climax on Independence Day. Some households had clearly spent hundreds of dollars apiece for the occasion, particularly on the heavy-duty artillery shell fireworks. The action was quite literally non-stop […]
Martin Luther on Where to Find God: Suffering and the Cross, Glory and Majesty
Shortly before his death in 2002, renowned paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould was asked what he would write to an extraterrestrial if given the opportunity. He replied that he’d start off by asking if his alien pen-pal was made up of DNA or something else. “And the other thing,” Gould continued, I will give to you […]
“You Meant It for Evil”: The Gift of Unintended Consequences
The Conservative Disposition and God’s Unstoppable Plan
The God on the Cross: How Christianity Rigged the System
Nietzsche on Dishonest Christians and the ‘Offense’ of the Crucifixion
Biblical Criticism and Rational Ignorance
How God Responds to Sophisticated Arguments Against Christianity (SACCs)
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