Tom Krattenmaker
Tom Krattenmaker is an author at Religion News Service.
All Stories by Tom Krattenmaker
Politics as a substitute for religion will inevitably let you down
By Tom Krattenmaker — October 19, 2018
(RNS) — Please, get involved. Vote! But don’t kid yourself that political outcomes will bring you meaning, purpose or salvation.
You can push for public displays of the Bible. Better yet, read it.
By Tom Krattenmaker — April 26, 2018
(RNS) — Our rampant biblical illiteracy helps explain why those most passionate about pushing the Bible in settings of dubious appropriateness (like a Navy hospital in Japan) often press their case in deeply unbiblical ways. (Commentary)
Don’t domesticate MLK
By Tom Krattenmaker — March 30, 2018
(RNS) — Whenever we remember the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., some people inevitably pull out a piece of sandpaper and try to smooth the sharp edges of the great civil rights prophet.
It’s time for a sexual counterrevolution
By Tom Krattenmaker — December 14, 2017
(RNS) — Thankfully, we can find in religions and secular ethics some powerful correctives to what is broken in sex culture today.
Considering the cake case: Is religious freedom bent beyond repair in this country?
By Tom Krattenmaker — November 29, 2017
(RNS) — It’s useful to realize that over the course of our history, religious-minority underdogs are not the only people to invoke religious freedom.
A suggestion for younger evangelicals: Lose the label
By Tom Krattenmaker — November 13, 2017
(RNS) — 'Given the baggage it’s taken on, the term is probably not salvageable. The effort to redeem it is probably not worth the cost in time and energy,' writes Tom Krattenmaker.
Creationism support is at a new low. The reason should give us hope.
By Tom Krattenmaker — July 13, 2017
More people are refusing the all-or-nothing choice between faith and science and opting instead for a third way: acceptance of the overwhelming scientific evidence for evolution while seeing a divine role in the process.
When belief dies, can it be resurrected?
By Tom Krattenmaker — April 24, 2017
(RNS) For many, this 'minor' problem of belief is actually quite major.
The ethics of health care explained: Am I my brother’s keeper?
By Tom Krattenmaker — March 15, 2017
(RNS) The individual mandate frames the never-resolved question that goes to the heart of our society’s idea of itself as a moral, Christian nation, or at least a Christian-influenced one. What obligation do we have to our fellow citizens?
The key to understanding evangelicals’ upside-down support for the travel ban
By Tom Krattenmaker — March 3, 2017
(RNS) Despite their carefully cultivated image as the people who are most committed to following the Bible, when it comes down to it, white evangelicals are strongly influenced by nonbiblical factors.
Live by the gun, die by the gun
By Tom Krattenmaker — October 14, 2016
(RNS) If we want to be safe from guns the answer is not more guns. The answer is transformation.
Why a stout theological creed is not saving evangelical churches
By Tom Krattenmaker — August 10, 2016
(RNS) It’s interesting to juxtapose the emerging statistical reality with the rhetoric that has been common among evangelical leaders.
Politicians ignore Reason Rally at their peril
By Tom Krattenmaker — June 1, 2016
(RNS) A glass-half-full assessment of the secular movement shows a level of progress and momentum that promises to make it harder for politicians to disregard, writes Tom Krattenmaker.
Evangelicals are making a big mistake (COMMENTARY)
By Tom Krattenmaker — March 2, 2016
(RNS) Many evangelicals are looking not so much for piety but for traits like leadership, strength, competence, and straightforward truth-speaking. Too bad the right traits are leading so many to a wrong choice.
The paradox at the heart of Catholic World Meeting of Families (COMMENTARY)
By Tom Krattenmaker — September 13, 2015
(RNS) Pope Francis, with his faithfulness to official church doctrine and his compassionate, nonjudgmental attitude, embodies the tension of the larger church: the desire to uphold traditional teachings and model Christian love at the same time.
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