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I sometimes tell people that I am a recovering racist. It is not really my fault. I grew up in a culture (the 1950s in the border South) when that was just the way things were. The outward and visible sign of our moral failure was that word. You know the one I mean. We used that word without even thinking of it. It was just the word we used. But as I went to college and had two Black room mates, and then lived in Kenya for two years, where all of my students were Black and I was often the only white person around, my way of thinking began to change.

This is a personal story, but it is really a story of how America changed. And after I wrote up my thoughts, I posted on Facebook the story of my struggles and asked my friends and former students to share their experiences and reactions. Their contributions are part of the podcast. I think you will find this podcast of some interest.

And perhaps it will help those of you who are overseas to understand a bit about how we Americans, with our terrible history of racial injustice, struggle with our past.

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Today, June 15, is not only Father's Day. It is also Trinity Sunday. To me, the concept of the Trinity is incomprehensible. Which is why I am the perfect person to explain it to the rest of you.

This podcast started twenty years ago when one of my Muslim students asked me to explain it to her. She should have asked me to explain E=MC Square. Oh, I can do that: "Matter exploded equals energy and this led to the atomic bomb. Is that right?" Well, Einstein probably had a bit more to say about it than a struggling human being like me. The same is true with theology. If God is incomprehensible then all explanations of God are simply human efforts to put into words that which is not subject to words or even understanding.

If that last sentence upset you, then you may not want to listen to this podcast. If it intrigued you, then you are invited to spend the next half hour walking through a theological mine field with me. (And to go to my podcast on Feuerbach, who discussed this concept in great depth).

But as I often told my students, you are probably better off not discussing some of these topics at the dinner table. We are engaging in an intellectual process. You know you are not being asked to change what you believe. Just to understand some perspectives that may be new to you. Not everyone will be where you are. There is no reason to upset people with difficult ideas.

Are you ready? Seat belt on? Here we go.

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In June of 2024 I spent eight days in occupied Palestine, i.e., the West Bank. It is now a year later and I thought this report might deserve a reposting.

I went with a group of people who had religious connections. I was the only secular academic. I found this a valuable approach, to be with people who saw this conflict in such a different way. This is a report on what I saw and what I concluded.

Note that this is Part I of my report. There is also a Part II. It is very different and reports my personal reactions much more than this one does.

Note also that I have a separate report on the South African document presented to the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of Genocide. That is a very informative podcast if you are confused on exactly what is meant by the word genocide as a legal concept. There is also a podcast on the document before the International Criminal Court accusing Israeli (and Palestinian) leaders of war crimes. Again, both of those podcasts are meant to be briefing documents to inform the listener about the nature of confusing topics.

Go to Stocktonafterclass to find those other podcasts.