@craiguffman.bsky.social
Passionate about political theology, backyard farming, healthy cooking, strength training, and the life we share in common. Ph.D, USNA, Navy vet & Episcopal priest. SubStack at: CommonLifePolitics.com
open.substack.com/pub/commonli...
New essay traces the theological vacuum that made last week’s Prayer Breakfast standing ovation possible — not as politics, but as formation. What shapes believers over centuries so they can hear the opposite of their own gospel and call it strength?
Why do we feel like we’re talking to slogans instead of the people we love?
My latest looks at "Dominative Christianism" through Bonhoeffer’s "Theory of Stupidity"—viewing it as a moral enchantment rather than an intellectual failure. open.substack.com/pub/commonli...
“…Avarice, ambition, revenge or gallantry would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net.”
The Coming Trump Crackup www.nytimes.com/2026/01/23/o...
ow.ly/3Ijx50VGEC6
Honor—properly understood not as reputation but as integrity against fragmentation—has never been more essential in our political life.
In a culture of shamelessness and strategic compromise, maintaining wholeness between conviction and action becomes radical resistance.
Easter's Divine Paradox: Faith Amid Uncertainty & Strength in Vulnerability"
www.commonlifepolitics.com/p/easters-di...
Most revealing quote: 'Redefine crucifixion exclusively as transactional atonement without ethical implications.'
What power fears most isn't disbelief but genuine belief. Full satirical directive: [https://www.commonlifepolitics.com/p/urgent-official-proclamation-emergency] 3/3
The directive's panicked response to 'unauthorized foot-washing ceremonies' and 'explicit passion readings' exposes the incompatibility between authentic Christianity and systems of domination. 2/3
19.04.2025 11:01 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
The Theological-State Apparatus Responds: A Satire of Power's Panic
Today's 'Emergency Directive' for plantation preachers reveals power's fundamental terror: that people might actually believe the subversive message of a crucified God who stands with the marginalized.
1/3
3/3 Both Dominative Christianism and Providential Identitarianism miss this vision of participatory knowledge.
Full essay here: www.commonlifepolitics.com/p/faith-vs-c...
2/3 Augustine understood: "We know God better by not knowing." Knowledge as participated mystery rather than possessed certainty.
14.04.2025 13:25 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
"I believe; help my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24)
This paradox reveals what our epistemologies miss - knowing is relational, not merely propositional or experiential.
4/4 How might we recover the theological virtues that sustain our constitutional order? Read my full analysis in today's Substack post. open.substack.com/pub/commonli...
13.04.2025 01:30 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 03/4 When we understand freedom as participation rather than domination, constitutional constraints become not limitations on freedom but what makes genuine freedom possible.
13.04.2025 01:29 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 02/4 Madison's warning about "accumulation of all powers" takes on theological significance. Constitutional separation of powers reflects Christian understanding of human fallenness and need for constraints on power.
13.04.2025 01:28 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Constitutional Fidelity as a Theological Virtue
The Dispatch's recent editorial "Slouching Towards Tyranny" identifies concerning political trends, but the deeper issue is theological.1/3
open.substack.com/pub/commonli... 🧩 NEW WEEKEND WISDOM: "Overaccepting Binary Thinking"
In this week's Weekend Wisdom, I explore how we can move beyond the polarizing either/or frameworks that dominate our public discourse.
#WeekendWisdom #BinaryThinking #Overaccepting #TheologicalPractice
open.substack.com/pub/commonli...
Rejecting the gospel of efficiency....
open.substack.com/pub/commonli... Chapter 2 of my project on "Overaccepting Dominative Christianism and Providential Identitarianism" explores the Trinitarian foundations of Christian identity in contrast to dominative religious mutations.
07.04.2025 12:38 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
"The Ministry of Truth was unavailable, so we created the National Curriculum Cleansing Task Force – because teaching critical thinking might lead to questioning authority."https://open.substack.com/pub/commonlifepolitics/p/official-proclamation-formation-of?r=uazba&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
04.04.2025 10:31 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Only by crossing these boundaries in our historical knowledge can we develop a more truthful vision of American identity.https://www.commonlifepolitics.com/p/beyond-the-mayflower-spanish-america?r=uazba
03.04.2025 11:03 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
open.substack.com/pub/commonli.... When Emotional Resonance Substitutes For Justice. The invitation is to a broader, more generous form of moral engagement. Check out my new post
02.04.2025 18:36 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
The Historical Context of MAGA Christianism
www.commonlifepolitics.com/p/the-histor...
The Textbook That Lied www.commonlifepolitics.com/p/the-textbo...
How I Discovered America's Multiple Founding Peoples
open.substack.com/pub/commonli.... As a big birthday nears, I’m rethinking the numbers that guide my days and years.
25.03.2025 20:50 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
open.substack.com/pub/commonli... Process is just a much a matter of ethics as the ends we pursue.
11.03.2025 13:40 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0This is my favorite example of the keystone cops now running the country
06.03.2025 00:18 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Spot on
02.03.2025 02:11 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
