People and communities of faith should have the right to their respective beliefs and practices (including on sensitive and controversial issues).

And they should have the right to live out these beliefs — ESPECIALLY in their own homes and within their own voluntary faith communities — free from hatred and harassment.

We can and should have an open, honest, and robust debate over how and to what extent faith-based values and beliefs should enter or influence the marketplace and/or public square, but…

There should be little to NO debate over the right of faith-based individuals to practice their beliefs within…

Other people may hurt you. They may try to manipulate you. They may mistreat you. They may hate you. But they can’t control your heart.

Not unless you give them that control.

Obviously, by “heart,” I’m not referring to the heart-pumping organ in your chest. Rather, I’m defining it in the common metaphoric sense.

Your heart is who you are.

Your heart represents who you are down deep — tucked away from the external world and all the noise, the worries, the distractions, the outside influences.

Circumstances, and other people, certainly influence us. They can affect us emotionally and physically…

We are the United States of America in name only.

In reality, we hate each other.

And those who traffick in hate are far more popular than the few of us still calling for love, mercy, and compassion.

When I post a message on social media calling for love, compassion, or civility, it gets hardly any attention. And yet someone else — even if they have fewer followers — can post something that mocks or attacks a politician or celebrity, and they’ll get loads of likes or comments.

It isn’t just me. It’s this way for many of my friends…

Americans were greeted with the news this week that right-wing radio broadcaster Rush Limbaugh had succumbed to cancer. The reaction was sadly predictable. While many (particularly on the right) mourned his passing, a huge number of Americans who disagreed with Limbaugh’s politics erupted in cheers. Their sentiment: Good riddance.

This is where we are, my fellow Americans.

We now cheer the death of those with whom we disagree.

That’s right. Americans hate each other so much these days that they will enthusiastically and publicly celebrate the demise of politicians, judges, activists, commentators, or broadcasters with whom they disagree.

We have…

On September 19, 1796, readers of the American Daily Advertiser were greeted with perhaps the most famous letter in American history. That letter was titled The Address of Gen. Washington to the People of America on His Declining the Presidency of the United States.

It was immediately reprinted in newspapers throughout the country. Within days, all Americans had read the letter — a letter now known simply as “Washington’s Farewell Address.”

The letter was remarkable for its time, not simply for the ideals and principles it conveyed, but mostly because of the news it conveyed.

George Washington warrants our honor and gratitude

As far as those living…

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard of the firing of Gina Carano, a popular star of the hit Disney+ series The Mandalorian. She was fired in the midst of controversy surrounding social media posts.

A statement from Lucasfilm reported that Carano, who played former Rebel shock trooper Cara Dune in The Mandalorian, announced her termination, adding that “her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable.”

Let’s set aside Carano’s socio-political views and let’s also set aside the disagreement over whether Carano’s posts actually did denigrate people “based…

What kind of society do you want to live in?

Do you want to live in a society that values freedom or fundamentalism?

You must choose one or the other because you can’t have both.

The “Big Picture” matters more than individual episodes

When we read or hear about people being censored, de-platformed, or losing their jobs because of outrageous or hurtful statements they’ve made, it’s easy to get caught up in the emotion of the moment and approve of the social and economic consequences the perpetrator is receiving.

I get it. When someone says something that’s hateful or bigoted, I find that deeply offensive. We should find…

In 2020, I read 80 books. The year before, I read 97. In fact, since the beginning of 2017, I’ve read 323 books in their entirety.

It’s changed my life.

Prior to 2016, I was very undisciplined and unfocused in my reading. I would read bits and pieces of books, but would rarely finish them. Of course, I would read articles in magazines or newspapers or on the Internet, and I still do. But my reading was reactive and completely inconsistent.

A colleague of mine challenged me on this, and I decided to do better. And starting in 2017, I…