Anthony B. Robinson

Tony is a writer, teacher, speaker and ordained minister (United Church of Christ). He served as Senior Minister of Seattle’s Plymouth Congregational Church for fourteen years. His newest book is Useful Wisdom: Letters to Young (and not so young) Ministers. He divides his time between Seattle and a cabin in Wallowa County of northeastern Oregon. If you’d like to know more or receive his regular blogs in your email, go to his site listed above to sign-up.

In Search of Grace: The Korean Series “Navillera”

"Navillera" like "Ted Lasso," gives us a different take on ourselves and our world. Less the battlefield of contemporary life and politics and more the hospital, where everyone is in some way broken and in need of help and healing.

Ways to Address the Decline of Mainline Churches

A better word for us than “mainline” was “sideline.” We had the problem of all established groups, that is, we thought we had no problems and that our future was secure.

Hamas and the Dangerous Politics of Extremism

There is here an urgent warning to the U.S. about what happens when extremists are empowered and manage to gain control of the public debate.

A Curmudgeon’s Guide to 2024 — Optimist Edition

I keep in mind a warning from an elderly friend: “At my age,” he confessed, “it becomes all-too-easy to join the ‘ain’t it awful club.' That is, 'No one is getting it right. Everything is in decline.'”

“The Boys in the Boat” and a Time of Heroic Men

These were the kind of male role models I grew up with, which boys of my generation were to emulate. One doesn’t see many of these today.

The Privilege of Complaining About Motherhood

"Despite ubiquitous depictions of moms on the verge of collapse, only a third in a Pew poll said parenting was stressful all or most of the time. The data was a far cry from a miserable portrait.” Why do we privilege the grim narratives?

The Week That Was

As I have written here before, framing everything in terms of the oppressor/oppressed binary is a dangerous game to play, now coming back to haunt progressives.

Dazzled and Awestruck: Music Making Meaning

The parents, each holding their own little cellphone camera light in the darkness, stood dazzled and awe-struck by what their progeny were managing to pull off.

Taking a Step Back: Trying to Make Sense of “Critical Theory”

For CRT, it’s all about, and only about, power. This results in some pretty reductive readings. Don’t bother reading the Bible for truth about God. It’s all about the social construction of power. Same for Shakespeare, and God help “the canon of western literature.”

Broken Covenant: The Wealthy as Unfavorable Presence

"Today’s rich, their wealth largely preserved through the Great Recession and the Covid-19 pandemic, have opposed reforms aimed at tapping their resources to fund mitigation policies of all kinds. This is a historically exceptional development."

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