Summertime Down SouthYou know high summer has arrived when the sun-heated air is a solid force, with mass and substance that pushes back against you as you walk through it.
The Check Is In The Mail - What is it that keeps us from dealing with the most urgent question facing humanity?
An Inaugural Prayer - Written on the occasion of the Inauguration of President Obama.
We've Been This Way Before - Drawing a line from the mid-20th Century conflicts over inter-racial marriage to our current scraps over same-sex marriage.
Michelle Obama's Gaffe - Mrs. Obama's statement after her husband's Iowa victory may not have been very astute politically; but it is hard to argue with her reasoning.
Let's Count All the Votes - My take on the U.S. Electoral College system (written before the election of 2016).
Memorial Day, 2007 - The national heroes whose memory I celebrate.
Chasing Their Tails - Why are the fundamentalists so worried about the movie version of Dan Brown's The Davinci Code?
Daniel and the Christians - How the courage of a local television station thwarted (at least for a while) the bullying tactics of the Christian Right.
God Bless Alabama - Yet another attempt by the operatives of the Religious Right to insert their doctrines into the official life of the State of Alabama.
A Prayer for the Summer of 2005 - A brief prayer written in the summer of 2005.
A Clear and Present Danger - a 2004 argument against any prohibition of marriage between same-sex couples.
Notes From Atlanta - Some thoughts on a trip Martha Lynn and I took to Atlanta. We ate at a fancy Buckhead restaurant, and saw Les Mis at the Fox Theatre.
Judge Moore and the Commandments - This is what I thought back in 2003 (and still think today) about Roy Moore and his Ten Commandments Monument.
Bringing Up Papa - My grandson and I learn together at mealtime.
Fundamentalism and the Middle East - You've got just about as much chance of finding religious tolerance in Alabama as you do in the Middle East - not very much.
Religious Fundamentalism - Bruce Bawer's book helps me through a down weekend.
The Robinsons of Choctaw County - Historical notes on the family of my maternal grandfather, Thomas Jesse Robinson (Papaw).
The McIlwains of Choctaw County - Notes on the family of my maternal grandmother, Eva McIlwain Robinson (Mamaw).
The Bordens of Greene County, Alabama - Some information about my dad's father, my grandfather, Hartwell Cocke Borden, and his family.