News with Nuance: June 26, 2025

Your Friday dose of News with Nuance: the week's biggest stories, unpacked + more ..

Hi Readers,

Writing to you on location in St. Louis, Mo., where I got to lead a conversation on violence, radicalization, masculinity, and better narratives for men and boys grounded in the example of Jesus - just a few hours ago during the Baptist Women in Ministry luncheon at the annual gathering for the Cooperative Baptists Fellowship.

If you remember, this event has been a long time coming. I was invited to give an address at last year’s BWIM luncheon at the assembly in North Carolina, but I ended up having to cancel last-minute due to my youngest son’s hospitalization for pneumonia (thankfully, he made a full recovery. So grateful).

I think the long wait has made my time here this year even more precious. In the interim, BWIM has continued its courageous advocacy work in support of women in ministry, and I love the way they’re setting an example by bringing male advocates into the fold. Our time together at the luncheon today was just incredibly Spirit-filled. The gathered group of around 600 people was diverse: in gender, race, and region. Many had previously experienced church in settings that were exclusionary, in all sorts of different ways. But still these folks made space for me to share my story, and to allow themselves to experience their own vulnerability around the ways that violent masculinity (represented in so many church contexts by White Jesus) leads to tragedy and despair for everyone involved. Fortunately, as the Apostle Paul writes: Jesus shows us a more excellent way (1 Cor. 13).

I loved getting to meet many attendees after the luncheon, and I’m so pleased to share that we sold out of all the copies of Disciples of White Jesus here at the conference! I’m looking forward to seeing what the future might have in store for more opportunities to share my work in contexts like this one, with courageous leaders from all over the country and the world.

Thank you, again, to BWIM and the CBF for hosting me today!

(As they met fundraising goals, these leaders “smashed” the blocks with sayings that have held us back in the Church, and then encouraged people at their tables to use provided legos to “rebuild” on a stronger foundation following Jesus’ example of a kinder masculinity)

P.S.: I am a huge supporter of the work that BWIM does. It was so inspiring to see that after our luncheon, in this room of just a few hundred people, that BWIM raised more than $15,000 in support of “dismantling patriarchy.” I am very interested in finding ways for women clergy in mainline denominations to partner with the work that BWIM does and to continue to build bridges of support, as we all continue to face threats and hatred simply for being women who serve the church. If you’d like to learn more about BWIM or support their work, click here!

Now let’s get to the news … with nuance …

But hey - if you have read Disciples of White Jesus, would you consider leaving a review on Amazon or Goodreads? You don’t have to have purchased on Amazon to review there, but I’d very much appreciate it! Thanks so much. I know a few of you have already left reviews, and please know I cherish them from the very bottom of my heart. Your words and thoughts and time mean the world!

The Headline: 'They wanted to separate me from my family': Mahmoud Khalil speaks after ICE release

Mahmoud Khalil speaks after his release from federal detention

Photo by Matthew Hinton, Associated Press

You may have read in my Substack note earlier this week that I’m currently listening to the audiobook of They Thought They Were Free: The Germans 1933-45. One of the most striking parts of this book, which consists of interviews with “ordinary” Nazis from a small town in Germany around 5-10 years after the end of World War II, is the ways in which facts are distorted, and the ways that ordinary Germans refused to allow themselves to believe that the Nazis committed such grievous atrocities as they did throughout the Holocaust and their rule in Germany.

Over and over again, I’ve listened to these folks use again and again lines I’ve heard recently in the U.S.:

“Well, we aren’t really sure what’s happening.”

“Some people are saying ______, but other people are saying ______”

“We shouldn’t have killed the Jews, unless they committed treason (or somehow broke the law).”

The haunting part about these lines is that I hear similar things being said about immigrants, migrants, and non-citizens, undocumented people - who are being held in federal detention in America. I know people are always (rightly) squeamish about making comparisons to the Nazi regime, and I’m not suggesting that the two situations are identical. But I do see the ways in which lies and misinformation distorts the truth, and it enables all kinds of crimes against humanity and human rights.

That’s why - regardless of your position on what’s happening currently in Gaza and the long and sordid history of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict - it’s important to read carefully this interview with activist Mahmoud Khalil, where he details exactly what happened to him while he was held in federal detention right here in the USA.

The Quote:

Mahmoud Khalil: It felt like kidnapping, to be honest. You have plainclothes agents in unmarked cars, not identifying themselves, claiming to have an arrest warrant that they did not show. At no point did I know where I was going. I only knew that I was flying to Louisiana the moment we boarded the plane. It was a very difficult experience, being disconnected from everything, being shackled all the time during transport, except on the airplane, where I had two ICE agents basically surrounding me, making sure I didn't look at the news, didn't communicate with anyone, surveilling me the entire time. For almost 30 hours, until I arrived in Louisiana, I was fully disconnected from the world.

Fadel: What were the conditions like at the detention facility where you were being held all this time?

Khalil: The conditions inside were very dire. For the first week, I believe, I did not eat much. The food is inedible. It was very cold. Back in March, you get only one blanket while it is, I believe, around 60 degrees. You have no privacy whatsoever, sort of sleeping with over 70 men in the room, and no one explaining to you what's happening or what will happen. Many of them are confused about why they ended up in such a place. Although, I mean, most of them are in the country without documentation. But still, does that warrant their indefinite arrest?

Fadel: You missed the birth of your son, your first child.

Story and interview by Leila Fadel, NPR

The Headline: Remembering Melissa Hortman: Republicans and Democrats say her power came from her selflessness

It has been less than two weeks since Minnesota Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were killed in a politically-motivated assassination in their home, in the midst of a violent rampage by a shooter who was motivated and spurred on to violence by Christian Nationalist and fundamentalist messaging. In the midst of bombing in Iran, dangerous heat waves, and all sorts of other national and global news - the news cycle moves on quickly.

Later in this newsletter we’ll cover more details about the dangerous connections to Christian Nationalism in this shooting rampage. But for now, I thought it was important to share this detailed memorial to Hortman, put together with dogged reporting from the Minnesota Reformer. In it, I think you’ll see the potential hope for a return to a kinder and less existential, more honest, form of political dialogue.

The Quote:

The portrait that emerges is of an unusual politician: She merely tolerated the spotlight, happily shared credit and accepted blame, eschewed higher office, and by all accounts was motivated chiefly by an interest in public policy, its details and how it could help as many Minnesotans as possible.

Hortman, a Catholic Sunday school teacher, was also guided by an insight often lost on elected officials.

“Selflessness enhances power. Strong leaders understand that,” said Larry Redmond, a DFL lobbyist whose political resume includes working as a political aide to Hubert Humphrey.

Put another way, “She wasn’t about the bullshit,” Gomez said. “The TV cameras or the next higher public office. Or about being glorified or having everyone like you. She was about doing the best she could do for the most people.”

On Friday, June 26, she will be the first woman in Minnesota history to lie in state at the Capitol, along with her husband Mark Hortman and their golden retriever, Gilbert.

Story by J. Patrick Coolican and Michelle Griffith, Minnesota Reformer

Disciples of White Jesus: Tracking down those who are weaponizing radicalization and a masculine identity that’s dangerous for men and boys

Every edition in this section of the newsletter, we’ll look at stories from around the U.S. and the world that lift up the ways in which this trend of hawking radicalization and violence to young white men and boys (often in the guise of Christianity and conservative politics - with dog whistles of white supremacy) is leading to anger, chaos, disenfranchisement, and fear for everyone. You’ll notice that many of the storylines and main characters here overlap with my previous research (and this newsletter’s previous focus) on Christian Nationalism. You’ll also read stories of the impacts of this kind of messaging on ordinary men and boys who can’t measure up to this fabricated ideal: especially financially, in a global economy that’s emphasizing massive inequality and greed.

But don’t worry - because after this section - we’ll focus on stories of hope, ways masculine identity for young men and boys is being found in compassion, care, diversity, and - when it comes to Christianity - a story closer to the gospel of Jesus himself, rooted in truth, kindness, justice, and love.

This Edition: