Blog
Brandon Daniel-Hughes

“Keep the Christ in Christmas and the Hallowed in Halloween!”

As a good Pentecostal-Evangelical child I remember my horror at seeing signs for “X-mas trees,” but also my disappointment at missing Trick-or-Treat so that we could be at the church for a more wholesome candy-based celebration. My parents weren’t the kind of Evangelicals who panicked when “the world” trod heavily

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Brandon Daniel-Hughes

Evangelicals and Muslims, who do we think we are?

First, a plea for pity. As the blogger here at LE.orgI’m faced with the task of constantly sifting the religious and political news and thinking about how I might thoughtfully respond. I try to avoid spouting off and often purposefully stay away from events and ideas that create particularly emotional

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Brandon Daniel-Hughes

What Does “Winning” Mean?

One of my favorite sports writers, Dan Shaughnessy, recently penned a piece for Sports illustrated where he tells about some of the old time ball players and how much they cultivated a sense of hatred for their rivals. They would avoid engaging one another socially in order to keep one

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Brandon Daniel-Hughes

Reflections on the Life of Senator Robert Byrd 1917-2010

As the blogger here at LiberalEvangelical.org I often find myself in conversations with Liberals and Evangelicals who cannot understand how and why I am willing to identify as both a Liberal and an Evangelical. When I talk with Evangelicals, many of whom are conservative, I point to the life of

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Brandon Daniel-Hughes

Reimagining Judas One Pint at a Time

It’s hard to believe that the two year anniversary of one of my favorite brewing days is almost here. On August 24, 2008 I brewed a 5 gallon batch of a beer that would come to be known as “Election Wheat.” I planned to allow the beer to ferment and

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Brandon Daniel-Hughes

Sin and the Big Spill

Liberals must reclaim a robust notion of sin. Yes, you read that correctly. Liberal Evangelicals, insofar as we have shied away from the term “sin” and allowed Conservatives to claim it as their property, must reclaim this classic Christian idea. I would even go so far as to say that

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Brandon Daniel-Hughes

Take your religion into your own hands

It’s just so easy to sit around and wait for someone to do religion for us. Isn’t that why so many of us crave charismatic leaders; inspirational people who can step into our tired churches and mundane lives and “get us going.” In all honesty that’s frequently what I’m looking for

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Brandon Daniel-Hughes

Do you have Bracket Fever?

Are you wasting time at work researching little known college teams looking for upsets? As a nation we are collectively in love with March Madness! It’s great fun, but I think it also provides us with some much needed clarity and simplicity. When the college football season ends, there is

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Brandon Daniel-Hughes

We Are Process People

As President Obama and Congressional Republican leaders prepare to gather for a “Summit” on healthcare, I pause to consider the value of political processes. Let us not lie to ourselves! Any time homo sapienstry to make decisions together, the process is inevitably political, so we ought to expect typical human

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Brandon Daniel-Hughes

Alan Alda (Sen. Arnie Vinnick) for Masters Champion

My text for today comes from the final season of NBC’s The West Wing. Specifically, I’m quoting from the character Arnie Vinnick, the progressive Republican Senator from California who is running for the Republican Presidential nomination. “I don’t see how we can have a separation of church and state in

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Some American Evangelicals Support Execution for Ugandan Homosexuals

For several months Ugandan law makers have been debating the merits of a bill designed ‘to slow the spread of AIDS’ in their country. Key provisions include the institution of the death penalty for some homosexual acts by both gays and lesbians. The full text of the bill is available here. Shockingly,

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Brandon Daniel-Hughes

Baby Jesus, but where are his horns?

“But why did those people hurt baby Jesus?” It’s a tough question to answer, and I guess that’s what I get when I let the Gospel tunes of Johnny Cash so deeply influence my young son. As I’m sure many of you have been doing these past few weeks, my

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