Some Carefully Thought-out Opinions

• Those of us white folks who consider ourselves supporters of Black Lives Matter, and civil rights in general, have benefited from white privilege just like our racist brothers and sisters. The white abolitionists of the nineteenth century reaped economic benefits from slavery, maybe not like the southern slave owners, but they benefited nonetheless. And if I have benefited, then it must have been at someone else's expense. This doesn't mean we have to question the sincerity of our beliefs, nor those of the abolitionists. But it is healthy to acknowledge this truth as a first principle.
• I find it very interesting how my conservative friends (including, of course, conservative Lutherans!) are so offended that the current pope seems to be butting his nose into some political issues. I don't recall quite the same discomfort when the previous two popes dabbled in politics. Perhaps they aren't opposed to the pope involving himself with politics, as long as they are politics that they agree with??
• Here's hoping that Carly Fiorina's apparent problems with telling the truth--Planned Parenthood videos; her implication that she worked her way from secretary to CEO like Melanie Griffith; her statements about HP selling in Iran--will warrant the same level of scrutiny from The New York Times that they have shown in their relentless (and so far pretty beef-less) pursuit of Hillary Clinton.