We’re back in Legislative season here in Oklahoma, which means it’s time — like clockwork — for this year’s predictable bout of discriminatory bills targeting LGBTQ Oklahomans. You can’t count on state government for much, but you can count on this — if the Oklahoma Legislature is in session, some legislator will try to boost … Continue reading Ignorance, fear and hatred are never the basis of good legislation
We need reconciliation — but that requires honesty, courage and penitence
There are two columns I wanted to write after last week's attempted coup. In the wake of all the idiocy, treason and cowardice displayed Wednesday, and in the four years leading up to Wednesday, I wanted to write a column that captures my anger. I wanted to bottle up and pour out in ink my … Continue reading We need reconciliation — but that requires honesty, courage and penitence
Be present. Be compassionate. Be the presence of life.
Do you have an episode, or experience, in your life you seldom, or never, share in public? For reasons I can't quite nail down yet, I felt compelled recently to share one such episode from my life. And, lo and behold, the world did not implode. It kept spinning, and I kept going, and very … Continue reading Be present. Be compassionate. Be the presence of life.
It’s time for Republicans to relearn a fundamental truth
The last couple weeks of election fracas have recalled to mind a prayer, from the evening of Nov. 4, 1992, less than 24 hours after William Jefferson Clinton defeated George H. W. Bush. Jon O’Brien, then headmaster at St. Andrew’s School, stood before the students in the dining hall, preparing to say grace before our … Continue reading It’s time for Republicans to relearn a fundamental truth
To achieve equality, we must step forward — not just to the side
The conflict over basic questions of equality and human rights was stoked a bit hotter last week with Pope Francis’ seemingly radical statement that LGBTQ people have a right to be in a family. Pope Francis’ statement came out in the documentary “Francesco,” released on Wednesday. “Homosexual people have a right to be in a … Continue reading To achieve equality, we must step forward — not just to the side
I am pro-choice because I am pro-life
In a contentious election season, and in the middle of Supreme Court nomination hearings, it was almost inevitable my daughter would ask me that dreaded question: “Dad, what are your views on abortion?” I wanted to give her a clean and easy answer. But there is none. For her, and for you, this is the … Continue reading I am pro-choice because I am pro-life
A week of death, injustice and unreasonable hope
Do you sometimes feel there’s little hope on the other side of 2020? This week was certainly a week to feel that way. Our nation this week surpassed 200,000 deaths due to COVID-19. According to a study by Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. is now sixth out of 195 nations for those most-affected by the … Continue reading A week of death, injustice and unreasonable hope
On Patriot Day, let us embrace true patriotism
Nineteen years ago this morning, our country, our society and our view of the world were, perhaps irreparably, altered. On that September morning, I was in the Combat Information Center (CIC) of the guided missile destroyer USS Porter, pierside in Norfolk, Va. We had just started a simulated combat scenario when the captain came over … Continue reading On Patriot Day, let us embrace true patriotism
We need America’s women to dominate the polls, and save our future
Tuesday was the centennial of women’s suffrage, and there has been no year in which it’s more important for women to exercise that right than 2020. The bloody fight it took women to get to the 19th Amendment, and the continuing fight for equality, should be commemorated. Today, 57 years after the Equal Pay Act, … Continue reading We need America’s women to dominate the polls, and save our future
We must speak, and act, before it is too late
I spent the summer of 1993 in Syria as a Malcolm Kerr Scholar with the National Council on U.S.-Arab relations. My time there was spent learning about the Syrian people, their government and the many reasons I was glad to live in a free republic and not under the cruel Assad regime. It did not … Continue reading We must speak, and act, before it is too late
