The Fierce Urgency of Prophetic Hope

  ©Wendell Griffen, 2022   There is a popular saying – “Be careful what you pray for, you might get it” – that Donald Trump and his minions are about to see take effect. A federal judge in Florida has ordered the US Justice Department to release a redacted version of the sworn affidavit on which the judge issued a warrant authorizing search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. The redacted affidavit was released at noon on Friday, August 26. Trump hoped that the affidavit would be released without redactions. Perhaps he thought the judge would deny his motion seeking its disclosure and release. Then Trump could have continued complaining that he was treated unfairly when the FBI executed the search warrant, searched his residence, found government records, artifacts, and classified material, and removed what it found. However, US Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart’s order that a redacted version of the affidavit be released shows why the FBI sought the search warrant. That

  ©Wendell Griffen, 2022     In view of Donald Trump’s mounting legal issues – and especially the prospect that he may be charged with criminal conduct – we should ponder his continued popularity with people who call themselves “evangelical” followers of Jesus, or to be more specific, white “evangelical Christian” followers of Jesus. According to news media accounts, agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) seized (that is the appropriate legal term) 11 sets of documents – including some marked as “classified/TS/SCI” – during a search (that is the appropriate legal term) of Trump’s West Palm Beach, Florida residence known as Mar-a-Lago on August 5.   TS/SCI is abbreviation for “top secret/sensitive compartmented information.” The FBI is a criminal investigative agency of the US Department of Justice. What FBI agents did on August 5 at Mar-a-Lago was a search conducted pursuant to a warrant issued by a federal magistrate judge who reviewed sworn affidavits or reco

  ©Wendell Griffen, 2022       How many times have you heard Black religious leaders preach, teach, and advocate about reparation for racial injustice? I have pondered that question a lot, especially since the murder of George Floyd. I have wondered why Black religious leaders are not talking about reparation to their congregations. Why do Black religious leaders engage in conversations with white religious people about racial “reconciliation” that do not include reparation for 250 years of forced labor without pay, another century of legalized apartheid, continuing homicidal and abusive conduct by government agents operating under the guise of “law enforcement,” and other aspects of the systemic racial injustice that pervades US society? How can Black religious leaders avoid talking among themselves about reparation? How can Black denominations hold education conferences without conducting serious study, including Bible study, about reparation? And what does it mea