Alanbean

LATEST ARTICLES ( 628 )

• Jesus and John Wayne: Must We Choose?

  

  Evangelical support for Donald Trump should come as no surprise. The Republican candidate personifies idealized white manhood; he’s an iconic American in the... Read more

  Posted on 06 November 2016 DEBATE, SOCIETY

• First the Verdict, Then the Investigation: Curtis Flowers’ Mississippi

  

  Back when I was Batman“Are you a lawyer?”I got that question a lot when I was Batman.  That was my daughter Lydia’s way of describing my work with Friends of... Read more

  Posted on 04 September 2016 DEBATE, SOCIETY

• In Praise of Compromise: Reflections on a Very Strange Election.

  

  Way back in April, Barack Obama told a CBS reporter, “The single most important question I’m asked these days from other world leaders is ‘What’s going on with... Read more

  Posted on 18 August 2016 DEBATE, SOCIETY

• The Washington Post: Justice Department Says It Will End Use of Private Prisons

  Justice Department says it will end use of private prisonshttp://wapo.st/2bpobXvThis is extremely good news.  Some things are too important (and subject to... Read more

  Posted on 18 August 2016 DEBATE, SOCIETY

• Will LGBTQ Inclusion Be the Death of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship>

  

  Suzii Paynter introduces the Illumination ProjectIn a recent reflection piece stimulated by America’s birthday, David Gushee shared this snapshot of a divided... Read more

  Posted on 10 July 2016 DEBATE, SOCIETY

• In Spite of Dungeon, Fire and Sword

  

  The death of Michael SattlerBy Alan Bean I know very little about my family history, partly because it is so complicated. My ancestors came to Canada and the... Read more

  Posted on 10 July 2016 DEBATE, SOCIETY

• San Antonio’s River Walk and the Common Good

  

  By Alan BeanSpend much time in old San Antonio and you realize the city is really old–at least by Texas standards.  A charming mix of Latino and German roots,... Read more

  Posted on 19 June 2016 DEBATE, SOCIETY

• An American Taliban?

  

  Has the Christian Right morphed into an American version of the Taliban?  Are these folks trying to transform America into a fundamentalist theocracy?  Don’t... Read more

  Posted on 25 May 2016 DEBATE, SOCIETY

• Key Witness in Flowers Case is Accused of Three Murders

  

  That’s Odell Hallmon telling a jury in Winona, Mississippi, that Curtis Flowers confessed to killing four people in a local furniture store in 1996. Read more

  Posted on 28 April 2016 DEBATE, SOCIETY

• The Sin of Certainty: Peter Enns’ Journey from Belief to Trust

  

  Like most seminary professors in the 1970s, Bill Treadwell wrote a lot of stuff on the blackboard, but I only remember two of them. The first day of class, he... Read more

  Posted on 25 April 2016 DEBATE, SOCIETY

• Why Southern Whites Love Donald Trump

  

  By Alan BeanIn Texas, it isn’t enough to be a Republican.  As the yard signs sprouting around polling locations make clear, you can’t get elected unless you’re ... Read more

  Posted on 05 March 2016 DEBATE, SOCIETY

• A Bizarre (and Clarifying) Election

  

  By Alan BeanI was in the middle of a radio interview when I learned that Antonin Scalia was dead.  A congressman was part of the discussion and his staffer was... Read more

  Posted on 14 February 2016 DEBATE, SOCIETY

• How Bernie is Changing the Game

  

  By Alan BeanI cannot recall another presidential electionwhen both the official guardians of both major political parties were shocked and dismayed by the... Read more

  Posted on 23 January 2016 DEBATE, SOCIETY

• Greg Abbott and the Politics of Racial Resentment

  

  Texas Governor Greg AbbottAlan BeanWe are living in perilous times.  In a move eerily coinciding with the armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife... Read more

  Posted on 15 January 2016 DEBATE, SOCIETY

• Why Christians Don’t Sound Like Christ (and How That Might Change)

  

  By Alan BeanThe Syrian refugee crisis is shining a spotlight on the obvious: American Christians disagree on practically everything.  There is no shared moral... Read more

  Posted on 23 December 2015 DEBATE, SOCIETY

• The Light Shines in the Darkness

  

  By Alan BeanThis sermon was recently preached at a memorial service for those who have lost loved ones in the past calendar year. Read more

  Posted on 08 December 2015 DEBATE, SOCIETY

• Why Mass Incarceration Seemed Like Such a Good Idea (and Why It’s a Hard Habit t...

  

  These days, everybody seems to agree that mass incarceration–the policy of fighting crime by locking up as many people as possible for as long as possible–was... Read more

  Posted on 22 October 2015 DEBATE, SOCIETY

• A Note to American Liberals: the Pope Isn’t One of Us (thank God)

  

  By Alan BeanHow do we explain the bizarre reaction from the American left when it was revealed that Pope Francis met with Kim Davis? Read more

  Posted on 04 October 2015 DEBATE, SOCIETY

• “Nut Country”: How Dallas Silenced Jesus and Became the Most Christian City in...

  

  By Alan BeanWhen evangelist Chuck Templeton visited Dallas in the late 1950s he was deeply disturbed by the city’s extraordinary religious culture. Read more

  Posted on 27 September 2015 DEBATE, SOCIETY

• Bonhoeffer’s Black Jesus: A Review

  

  By Alan BeanDietrich Bonhoeffer was the only prominent Christian in Germany to grasp the hideous spiritual implications of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis from the... Read more

  Posted on 13 September 2015 DEBATE, SOCIETY