Asking “Why?”

By Harold W. Anderson, Ph.D., M.A., M.Div., MFT When I was growing up, I was told that I must “believe.”  In our house, belief was equated with faith so believing in the right things made a person faithful.  What were we supposed to believe?  It was the standard affair for anyone growing up in middleContinue reading “Asking “Why?””

Making America Great

By Harold W. Anderson, Ph.D., MFT. M.A., M.Div. Someone tried to shoot Donald.  Was he a Republican or a Democrat?  Was he conservative or progressive?  How did someone with an assault rifle get so close to Donald?  Why were the only ones to be killed and critically wounded innocent bystanders?  Where was the Secret Service? Continue reading “Making America Great”

A Lie Is a Lie…Right?

By Harold W. Anderson, Ph.D., M.A., M.Div. Emmanuel Kant believed that a lie was a lie and lying was and is always wrong.  Do you agree?  Most of my ethic students weren’t quite sure.  Surely, they thought, a little lie—sometimes called “a white lie”—won’t hurt anything, would it?  In fact, contrary to Kant, they wouldContinue reading “A Lie Is a Lie…Right?”

“We the People”

Harold W. Anderson, Ph.D., LMFT, M.Div. In a recent article, I read about a South Carolina school board that was considering banning a book taught in an AP Language course last February (The Daily Beast, “Ta-Nehisi Coats Crashes School Board…”).  Apparently, Ta-Nehisi Coates book, Between the World and Me—an essay originally written for his son whoContinue reading ““We the People””

Goodness, not Self-Interest, Is Our Truth

Sermon based on I Peter 1:17-22, written by Harold W. Anderson, Ph.D. on April 18, 1999 Let me begin this morning by telling you several different scenarios.  I want you to think about each one and answer to yourself what you think you would do in these different circumstances.  Here’s the first scenario: You areContinue reading “Goodness, not Self-Interest, Is Our Truth”

Plucking Chickens: Democracy or Fascism?

If you pluck a chicken one feather at a time, people are less likely to notice. “We do not argue with those who disagree with us; we destroy them.” Benito Mussolini As I think about recent decisions of the United States Supreme Court, and ponder the future, I must register alarm.  And when I thinkContinue reading “Plucking Chickens: Democracy or Fascism?”

Walking through Grainfields

4th of July sermon preached by the Rev. Harold W. Anderson, Ph.D., July, 2005 Before I became a marriage and family therapist, I was a minister.  The last church I pastored before retirement was a church in Brush, Colorado, a community that politically and theologically was my opposite.  I embraced a liberal mindset; most inContinue reading “Walking through Grainfields”