What's Tony Thinking

Playing Into Trump’s Hands

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June 11, 2025 — Surely, I am not the only one thinking that what’s unfolding in L.A. is Trump’s fondest fantasy? Gavin Newsom is right, mass deportation of people who have committed no crime is wrong. It is not what was promised and not what the American people supported. A majority did support sending those immigrants, without legal status... Read More

A Different Take on Church

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June 7, 2025 — I came to the Seattle area shortly after the Seattle Mariners began as a major league expansion team. At that time, the Mariners offered free season passes for two to any interested clergy. Why? Maybe they hoped we would pray for them. Lord knows, they needed it. Maybe they thought we had some influence on... Read More

Happy June: Some Good News Items

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June 1, 2025 — Plenty bad news right? So here are a few good news items gleaned from recent reading: Polar Bears Are On the Rebound. Polar bears in jeopardy have been presented as the poster child, or poster bear, of climate change, including a widely seen but, it turns out, misleading video from National Geographic. Good news, polar bears,... Read More

Isn’t Christianity Really Just About Being Good?

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May 29, 2025 — In early May I gave a talk at the Mockingbird Ministries Conference in NYC with the title “Isn’t Christianity Really Just About Being Good?” You can access an audio version of the talk here. It was fun to do and well-received. The only thing about the audio version is that you miss the slides that... Read More

On Walking

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May 27, 2025 — Before my recent two weeks of walking in the U.K.’s Lake District and Yorkshire Dales gets too far behind me, I want to record for myself and you, a few thoughts and memories about the experience. While I do a fair amount of walking and backpacking in the U.S., this journey was unique in a... Read More

The Biden Cover Up

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May 24, 2025 — I’m guessing that a fair number of people in blue precincts are reacting to this week’s publication of Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again by thinking, “Hey, give the guy a break, he’s old, he’s sick, he was a good President — why bring all this stuff up... Read More

Home Again, Home Again

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May 21, 2025 — It was a fantastic trip. Three days in NYC for the Mockingbird Conference, then to England’s fabled Lake District for a circuit hike with a lot of up and down. The second week, we followed the “Dales Way” trail in Yorkshire from Bowness to Ilkley. All told (adding in walking in NYC), 202 miles walked,... Read More

Checking In/ Checking Out

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April 29, 2025 — I take off today for a three week trip. First stop NYC and the Mockingbird Ministries Conference at Calvary/ St. George’s Church on the lower east side. Then on Saturday evening an overnight flight to Manchester, England. From there north to Windemere and Ambleside and two weeks of backpacking, one week in the Lake District,... Read More

Abundance: Material or Spiritual?

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April 26, 2025 — The “Abundance Agenda” is getting a lot of attention of late. I’ve mentioned the Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson book, Abundance: How Progress Is Made. I agree with them on a lot of their points. Zoning restrictions, NIMBY-ism and environmental impact statements gone crazy have sometimes made it all but impossible to build anything. The... Read More

What the Dems Can Learn From Pope Francis

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April 24, 2025 — Here’s a guest post from my dear friend, Mary McWilliams. Mary lives in Seattle, worked in health care and was a member of Plymouth Church when I was pastor there. Thanks Mary for this thoughtful contribution. I was listening to The Daily podcast from The New York Times on Wednesday while eating lunch. The longtime... Read More