Top columns and coverage of 2013

It’s been ten years since I began writing columns exploring the conflicts and possibilities at the intersections of religion, culture, and politics. In part because of the release of my second book, The Evangelicals You Don’t Know, and the writing it prompted, 2013 proved a fruitful year for my pontifications in USA Today and elsewhere. Here are five pieces that stand out for me from this past year.

• Pope Francis is prophetic, not political (December 8, 2013)

• NFL violence a moral thorn for Christians (October 9, 2013)

• What Christian left can learn from Christian right (August 26, 2013)

• Christian shift on gay rights – less fear, more heart (July 17, 2013)

• In praise of shift by Focus on the Family (April 15, 2013)

Speaking of The Evangelicals You Don’t Know, I’m grateful for the coverage it has received–from writers, reviewers, interviewers, and podcasters on both sides of the great divide. Here are some of my favorites in that category.

• The Radical Middle & Fundamentalist Extremes: Crossing the Divide (By Paul Louis Metzger)

• Progressives need to take another look at Evangelical Christians … (By Cornelia Seigneur)

• The Evangelicals You Don’t Know (Produced by Allison Frost, Oregon Public Broadcasting)

• Spiritual Friendship, Magi-style (By Tony Kriz)

• The Evangelicals You Don’t Know – a Review (By Brandan Robertson)

• Podcast interview with the Storymen (Matt Mikalatos, J.R. Forasteros, & Clay Morgan)

Have a great 2014!