It’s quiet as well as beautiful. The only sound is a slight wind occasionally blowing across the marsh as the day grows longer. Everything here is about the nature of the land and the tidal reach of the ocean beyond the horizon. No one drives by, there are no people or the usual hum of…

Last Sunday I argued that mainline Protestant churches and clergy should speak out against the abuse of Christianity by Trump and his supporters. I urged that Protestant leaders should join Pope Leo in challenging the president’s corruption of Christian principles. My criticism extends to local churches for what I perceive as their reluctance to address…

This weekend two stories in the news caught my attention. The first was Peggy Noonan’s column in The Wall Street Journal* and the second was David French’s column in The New York Times.** Both addressed Trump’s corruption of religion to bolster his power and importance. Noonan was her conciliatory and entertaining self while pointedly criticizing…

I am sitting here at the keyboard looking out over the marsh toward Sapelo Island and the horizon. The marsh is the defining feature of this coastal stretch, expansive and alluring in its promise of adventure. I’m at the FishCamp, a rustic cabin near Darien, Georgia, roughly 25 miles north of St. Simons Island. It…

Since the 2024 election, the nation has rushed headlong toward its own destruction under the auspices of a rogue president and a dysfunctional government in Washington. American politics has succumbed to an arteriosclerosis that has polarized the electorate and given rise to a political class intent on keeping power at any cost in its support…

At the recent No Kings rally on St. Simons, I met Pat Wilver, Democratic candidate for the coastal district being vacated by Buddy Carter. Though I had missed his speech to the assembled crowd, I had an opportunity to chat with him about our mutual interest after he noticed my Appalachian Trail cap. My wife…

It was a blustery day on St. Simons, but that did not stop the critics of the president from coming out to let their feelings known. Preceded by an earlier protest in Brunswick on the mainland, the St. Simons gathering was especially well attended and outspoken. Friends and neighbors came together with homemade signs and…

The president’s recent assignment of U. S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement officers (ICE) to help Transportation Security Administration agents (TSA) at U.S. airports during the government shutdown begs our attention. It is extraordinary and deserving of scrutiny for what it says about the administration’s mindset about governing and for where it might lead in the…

Two stories jumped out at me as I read The New York Times. One was the obituary of Robert Mueller and the other was a short piece about people in Odessa, Ukraine. The death of Robert Mueller was a prominent headline. He is especially remembered as the special counsel overseeing the investigations of alleged Russian…

Increasingly, I find myself thinking about the nameless people who are the victims of violence brought about by shameless politicians and authoritarian leaders. The Ukraine War, the Israeli destruction of Gaza and the Iran War have killed or maimed thousands of people, civilians and others whose fate has put them in the middle of geopolitical…