John Ogletree is the definition of a public servant. But one of his most treasured positions, a school board trustee, has just been taken away from him because of his advocacy for diversity and inclusion in the district.

Scripture tells us what justice looks like.

Justice looks like:

• Water flowing down (Amos 5).
• An ear inclined toward the orphan and the oppressed (Psalm 10).
• No wrong or violence to the alien, the orphan or the widow (Jeremiah 22).

Broadway Baptist Church Senior Pastor Ryon Price hosted a “Courageous Conversation on Voting Rights and the Church.” Fellowship Southwest Executive Director Stephen Reeves participated in the panel discussion, alongside Rev. Danielle Ayers, Pastor of Justice at Friendship West Baptist Church, and Jesse L. Gaines, voting and civil rights attorney and member of the Board of Directors Executive Committee of the Fort Worth Tarrant County Branch of the NAACP.

It shouldn’t feel so hard to write about voting rights in a way that will not offend partisan sensibilities. It didn’t used to be this way. In 2006, Congress reauthorized the 1965 Voting Rights Act with a unanimous vote in the Senate, 98-0. It was promptly signed into law by President George W. Bush, who did so in honor of Fanny Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks and Coretta Scott King, with Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton in attendance.

The leaders of Fellowship Southwest commend the jury in Derek Chauvin’s murder trial for their commitment to truth, fairness and decency. We’re grateful they “believed their eyes,” refused to look away and confirmed what the world witnessed when we watched the video of this murder.

There have been growing demands for reforms of police departments across the nation. I was part of a group of denominational leaders who worked with a professor who was a former policeman and now teaches criminal justice at the university level.

We met with him for several hours asking him all sorts of questions about what research has shown to be most productive things that police departments can do to improve. Most of our questions were directed toward larger police departments. However, we were reminded by the professor that many police departments are quite small and not all of these recommendations would be applicable. Also, these are recommendations related to taking a long-term approach to improving police behavior.

I’m a Christian against Christian Nationalism. Are you?

I oppose Christian Nationalism because I’m devoted to Jesus Christ and loyal to the United States of America. Christian Nationalism stresses the only good Americans are Christians and the only real Christians are Americans. By perversely linking faith to nation, making them co-dependent, Christian Nationalism undermines and diminishes both Christianity and patriotism.