Author: John Pavlovitz

Dear Dr. King, I wish I’d have written this sooner. Indeed I should have, but doing so was simply not possible, as it’s taken me this long to realize that these were words that needed to be said — and that they needed to be said by me. For much of my life I’ve imagined I was fighting the good fight of equality because I believed in it philosophically, because intellectually I agreed it. I’d frequently recited your words and loudly amen-ed your sermons and easily claimed affinity in your declarations of the worth of every human being. I’d...

I used to think I was a Christian. I was raised in a Christian home and went to a Christian school. After a few meandering spiritual wilderness years I attended a Christian seminary, became a Christian pastor, and have served in Christian churches for most of the past twenty-five years of my life. I’ve read and studied and preached the Scriptures extensively, led community Bible studies and student retreats and overseas mission trips, ministered in tiny rural chapels and massive gleaming megachurches. As a result of these decades immersed in the Christian tradition both personally and vocationally, I thought...

“If fighting anti-Semitism was really a priority, you’d address how rampant it is in the rank-and-file of your following, the white supremacy embedded in the MAGA movement, the anti-Jewish conspiracies and slurs of your supporters, the hate crimes so prevalent during your tenure — but protecting people has never really been your calling card: profiting off of them has been. That’s all this is. Mr. President, We shouldn’t be here. It is both laughable and sickening that we find ourselves at this place, having this conversation, about something like this — but then again, such has been the nauseating...