Plain Speech with Philip Gulley
by Philip Gulley
Quaker pastor Philip Gulley offers plainspoken reflections on faith, culture, politics, and the moral questions of modern life. Each episode explores how we might live more humanely in a complicated world.Subscribe at philipgulley.substack.com for early access, full episodes, and additional writing. philipgulley.substack.com
Episodes
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Back to the Dark Ages
I have shed no tears for the death of Ali Hosseini Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, killed in a joint attack by US and Israeli forces. He was, from what I gather, a ruthless fundamentalist, silencing those whose beliefs differed from his own. Fundamentalists are a menace, contributing little...
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Can I Get an Amen?
Some time ago, I was invited to speak in Ashtabula, Ohio for the National Day of Prayer. I had identified as a religious progressive a dozen years before, so was surprised to be invited to speak at an evangelical event. The National Day of Prayer folks would have us believe they represent all...
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Women of America, Unite!
In 1997, when my first book was published by an evangelical publisher in Oregon, I met another author published by the same company. His name was Josh Harris, whose book, I Kissed Dating Goodbye, helped kick start the purity movement within American Evangelicalism. The movement emphasized modest...
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My Oath of Office, Should It Come to That
The world collapsed on January 1, when Zohran Mamdani was sworn in as the new mayor of New York City while resting his hand on the Quran. At least that was the consensus of the Christian Nationalists, who donned their sackcloth, sat on their ashes, and wailed away, predicting the imminent return…
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The Little Drummer Boy
As an early Christmas treat, I’m sharing this Harmony story with everyone.Enjoy! -Philip Gulley With Christmas a scant two weeks, Barbara was stressing out, having never pastored a church during the Christmas season. “What do I even preach about?” she asked Sam one evening. “If I were you, I’d...
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I Love a Parade
Dear Friends, My wife has fall break this week, so we will be traveling to visit our new grand twins. I will be holding them instead of writing, but I’ll be back in the saddle next Monday. In the meantime, enjoy this essay about participating in the No Kings Rally this past weekend. Please don’t...
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Pete Hegseth Reminds Us How Wonderful We Are
I had this Sunday off and took advantage of my down time by catching up on current events. When reading the news, I learned the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseith. is summoning the generals and admirals to Quantico this Tuesday to lecture them on the warrior ethos. President Trump will also…
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The True Legacy of Charlie Kirk
Since the shooting death of Charlie Kirk, I’ve read numerous editorials on the topic, all of them beginning with a denunciation of gun violence. I hate gun violence as much as the next Quaker. We haven’t yet figured out how to feed the world, but we know how to kill everyone in the world 130…
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If America Were Great
In 2003, Jim Mulholland and I, concerned about the toxic spread of evangelical Christianity, authored a book called If Grace Is True. It proposed, among other things, that the grace of God was not confined to Christians, that God equally cherished people in other religions, and that God was...
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Damn Right, This Pastor Is Angry
In a recent conversation with my younger son, I criticized Donald Trump and was cautioned against becoming an angry old man. When I was growing up, an angry old man lived up the street from us. He yelled at us for walking on the public sidewalk in front of his house, which made us more determined...
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Do You Really Need a Leader?
My wife and I are on vacation this Labor Day weekend, visiting our son, his wife, and their son, who turned three on August 31st. I can never remember which months have 31 days, but now that my grandson was born on the 31st, I know August is one of them. I could not tell you the other six to save...
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James Dobson Has Died, But I’ll Be Skipping His Funeral
This past Thursday, the news feed on my iPhone informed me that James Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family, had died at the age of 89, proving once again that only the good die young. If I were to have written a novel and gone in search of a demon, I would have created James Dobson, a man…
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Our Dollar General President
The closest store to our farmhouse is a Dollar General. As a rule, I avoid its crowded, unkempt aisles, but our well-water has a high sulfur content, so we buy drinking water at the Dollar General. On a recent trip, on my way to the water aisle, I passed through the home decorating section and...
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America Is the Gone-to-Seed Jock
It occurred to me that America these days is like the jock in high school all the girls wanted to date, but took up drink, put on 150 pounds, then showed up at the 25th class reunion with his fourth wife, thinking he was still a stud. Whatever appeal he once had is long gone, and everyone knows…
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Funding our Abusers
I know a woman whose husband was so lazy she worked long hours to compensate for his lack of effort. He repaid her diligence by treating her with contempt. She came to me asking for advice and I suggested she stop subsidizing her mistreatment and divorce him, which she did, dramatically improving...
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A Criminal Syndicate
Have you ever met someone who reminded you of someone else? When I first heard Pete Buttigieg, I was reminded of Richard Lugar, another well-spoken, intelligent Hoosier. When I met my wife, she reminded me of Katharine Hepburn, with whom she shared a classy, no-nonsense manner. I’m sure my rugged...
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Bridging the Divide
It is good to be with you all today. When I was invited to be here, I thought back to my earliest memory of Nashville, when I was 21 years-old and had just met my wife. I said, “Let’s go to Nashville,” and she agreed, so we drove down from Plainfield to spend the day and were in a little shop…
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Don’t Honk Off Quaker Women
I was scrolling through my news feed this past Saturday and saw the headline, “Quakers Condemn Police Raid as Six Arrested in Westminster Meeting House.” My initial reaction was one of anger and disbelief, fearing the police in question were members of ICE and the meetinghouse was in America. I…
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About this show
Quaker pastor Philip Gulley offers plainspoken reflections on faith, culture, politics, and the moral questions of modern life. Each episode explores how we might live more humanely in a complicated world.Subscribe at philipgulley.substack.com for early access, full episodes, and additional writing.
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