Category Archives: Integrity

Whose “Real World”? Power, Morality, and the Prophetic Challenge

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My present early-morning discipline begins with sustained reading of a biblical prophet—currently Hosea—followed by attentive engagement with the news, especially stories that resonate with or resist the prophetic witness. Using a reflective practice inspired by my late friend, theologian Ted Jennings, I then pray and reflect, seeking discernment, guidance, and courage to live and serve amid the dissonance between God’s vision and the world’s realities.

In recent weeks, that dissonance has come into sharp focus around two governing assumptions that dominate public life and stand in direct tension with the witness of the Hebrew prophets.

The first is the claim that might makes right: that coercive military and economic power defines the “real world” and is therefore the path to security, order, and peace. This conviction was stated plainly by a senior government official: “We live in a world, in the real world, that is governed by strength, by force, by power… These are the iron laws of the world since the beginning of time.”*

The second assumption is that individual moral judgment is the final arbiter of truth and goodness. When asked what restrains the exercise of his power, the President replied: “There is one thing—my own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”**

Though voiced by political leaders, these are not merely political claims. They are philosophical, theological, and ethical affirmations. They operate across political parties, national borders, and economic systems. They appear within every major religion. And their temptations lie in wait within every human heart.

Power understood as coercive domination and morality reduced to personal preference are as old as the Garden of Eden and the Pharaohs of Egypt—and as contemporary as the streets of Minneapolis and today’s power-centric leaders.

Against this vision, the Hebrew prophets—and Jesus who stands firmly in their tradition—bear witness to a radically different understanding of power and moral life. Power is not domination but covenantal responsibility. Moral truth is not self-generated but grounded in the character of God and ordered toward justice, compassion, and the flourishing of the vulnerable.

The prophets and Jesus insist that true power serves rather than subdues, and that moral truth is discerned not by private assertion but through concrete practices of justice, mercy, accountability, and humility before God. The decisive test of both power and morality is revealed in how individuals, communities, and nations treat the poor, the stranger, the oppressed, and the powerless.

Set against domination and moral autonomy, the prophets and Jesus announce an alternative to the love of power and the protection of privilege: the power of love embodied in concrete policies and practices that reflect the character and will of God.

The belief that domination secures peace and that morality belongs to the individual alone is not progress but idolatrous regression—an echo of Eden’s rebellion and Pharaoh’s empire.

According to the biblical witness, God’s real world calls for continual repentance from our captivity to domination and self-justifying morality, and for renewed commitment to acts of compassion, justice, mercy, accountability, and peace.

We move toward God’s real world not by force, but by faithfulness—confident that justice is not an illusion, truth is not optional, and love is stronger than fear. As the prophetic tradition reminds us, the arc of the universe bends toward justice. Truth endures. Love prevails.

Whose “Real World” shall we choose?

*Stephen Miller interview with Jake Tapper, CNN, January 14, 2026

**President Donald Trump Interview with NYTIMES reports, January 14, 2026.

Choosing Leaders

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This election season challenges me to clarify the qualities of leadership that most closely reflect the core values of my faith, whether those being chosen are for government, the church, or institutions/agencies. Here are some qualities I look for. What’s on your list?

1. Personal Character and Temperament: truthfulness and reflections of “Fruits of the Spirit”: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Leaders greatly influence the culture of the entity they lead. Power divorced from honesty, moral character, and mature temperament becomes manipulative, coercive, self-serving, and destructive, thereby thwarting the common good and inflicting suffering on others. 

2. Demonstrated Commitment to Justice as Equity, Fairness, and Enabling the Least and Most Vulnerable to Flourish as God’s Beloved Children. Developing and implementing policies that protect and enable the powerless to have access to God’s table of abundance strengthens the whole society. Merely protecting and advancing the privileges of the privileged fails the justice test and results in exploitation, inequity, abuse, and even death.

3. Proven Recognition of and Respect for the Inherent Worth, Dignity, and Wellbeing of Every Person. Leaders set the tone for how those they influence treat others. Using a biblical image, leaders are shepherds who know, defend, nurture, preserve, and guide others. On the other hand, “hirelings” fleece, exploit, abandon, deplete, and may even slaughter the sheep. The shepherd recovers and restores the weak; the hireling scatters and disregards the vulnerable. 

4. A Disciplined, Tough Mind and a Compassionate, Empathetic Heart. This is what Jesus described as being “wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” Leaders must exhibit both intellectual and social intelligence. Intellect without empathy humiliates and demeans; empathy without intellect risks enabling destructive behavior and being co-opted for nefarious purposes.

5. Compelling Vision for the Common Good and Sensible Strategy for Moving Toward the Vision. For me, the vision is defined in the biblical images of “the kingdom of God” and “the New Creation;” and it is embodied in the life, teaching, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ. Components include these:

▪ the dignity and worth of ALL persons are respected, preserved and nurtured.

▪ the interrelatedness, interdependence, and mutual flourishing of creation is respected.

▪ the oneness and unity of the human family is reflected in actions and policies.

▪ service ranks above profits, restoration surpasses retribution, and hope defeats despair.

I realize that no one fully embodies these qualities, and they may seem idealistic and unattainable. Admittedly, they are more aspirational than concretely visible in our polarized, fragmented, and violent world.

Yet, we need leaders at all levels whose aspirations transcend mere self-interest, acquiescence to things as they are, and cynical scorning of such ideals as freedom, compassion, respect, and justice for ALL.
                

Epiphany and the January 6 Violent Insurrection

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What an interesting coincidence that the violent attempt to overturn the presidential election of 2020 occurred on the day Christians celebrate Epiphany! On the first anniversary of that ugly day and as another Epiphany arrives, it seems appropriate to reflect on the relationship between them.

Epiphany comes from a Greek word meaning “appearance,” “manifestation,” or “revelation” and is commonly linked with the visit of the Magi to the Christ child (Matthew 2:1-12). The Magi, from the region of what we know as Iraq and Iran, were foreigners who studied the stars for signs of divine presence and revelation.

An implication of Matthew’s story is that the God made known in Jesus the Christ reveals God’s self in multiple ways and to ALL people. God’s saving presence is not limited to our religion, our race, our nation, our culture, our political party. God is sovereign over ALL!

Matthew portrays Jesus’ birth as a threat to prevailing political power. He specifically declares that the babe of Bethlehem is “king”! That’s an obvious threat to King Herod, who ruled the known world with brutality, violence, and cruelty.

Maintaining power was Herod’s priority and he would go to any length to hold onto that power, including killing members of his own family and innocent children. He was deceptive by pretending that he was only wanting to pay homage to the newborn king. His methods were calculated, brutal, and catastrophic.

Herod’s actions were motivated by fear of losing power and he considered instilling fear in others a necessary means of control. He was enabled by throngs of supporters who, too, were afraid and who had bought into the lie that Herod ruled by divine authority.

Matthew’s story of the nativity and Herod’s response is as contemporary as today’s news! It is about more than Jesus, the magi, and Herod. It is about the human condition and the exercise of power and control, especially political power.

Power is addictive! Fear fuels the addiction, the fear of losing control. It’s present in all of us to varying degrees. However, when maintaining power and control results in deception, coercion, bullying, and violence, the results are pervasive and lethal for individuals, communities, and nations.

The storming of the nation’s capital on January 6, 2021, was a blatant attempt to hold onto power and control. It was fueled by fear and a “big lie,” and it was enabled by some members of Congress, political advisors, and even some religious folk who believed that the former president was divinely anointed.

Jesus and Herod represent two “kingdoms” and two expressions of power. Herod represented the power of the Roman empire with its political and military clout. Jesus embodied “the kingdom of God,” the reign of love, justice, generosity, and peace/shalom. Herod was committed to the love of power. Jesus was committed to the power of love!

The insurrection in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021, was an epiphany, a manifestation or revelation that Herod’s fears, methods, and abusive exercise of power remain with us.

Epiphany Day in the church year, however, reveals another kingdom at work in our world. It represents an alternative to the deception, coercion, bullying, and violence rooted in the fear of lost power and control.

That alternative is the way of compassion, justice, honesty, and service on behalf of the common good. It is the way shown to us by Jesus of Nazareth, about whom the Apostle Paul wrote: “. . . though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—-even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6-8).

May our celebration of Epiphany and the remembrance of the Insurrection of January 6, 2021, include renewed commitment to follow the One who transforms the world through the power of self-emptying love.

Open Letter to Senator Lindsey Graham

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Below is a letter I have sent to Senator Lindsey Graham who is my senator from South Carolina and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Dear Senator Graham:

The death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the process of replacing her has placed you at the center of the intensifying crises facing our country. Far more is at stake than the choosing of a member of the Supreme Court. Trust in the democratic processes and those who lead them has been eroding for years and has now reached a tipping point. Such trust depends upon the integrity, truthfulness, and commitment to the common good of people such as you who wield political power.

You, President Trump, and Senator McConnell are now the decisive leaders who will determine the timing and process for filling the vacancy on the Supreme Court and the integrity with which the process unfolds. Your personal character and the integrity of the Senate hangs in the balance. You unequivocally declared in 2016 that if a vacancy occurred during the presidential primary season the naming of a replacement would be made by the person elected in November.

 Senator McConnell, with the full support of the Republican caucus in the Senate, blocked the duly nominated Judge Garland with the rationale that no Supreme Court nominee should be approved in an election year. The decision to move forward in replacing Justice Ginsburg with less than two months remaining before the election is rank hypocrisy and Machiavellian duplicity.

By creating the precedent of blocking President Obama’s nominee, you and Senate Republicans sowed poisonous seeds of cynicism and exacerbated the dysfunction of the Senate. Whatever rationalization you use to justify reversing that principle when the president is of your own party, you will further undermine your own personal integrity and our trust in the Senate and those of you who occupy the position.

I appeal to your personal sense of integrity and fairness, and your commitment to the ideals of our democracy to delay consideration of a replacement of Justice Ginsburg until after the election. Doing so will send a signal that personal character still matters to you and your Republican colleagues; and it will be one step toward restoring trust in you and our democratic institutions.

 As a person of faith, I am reminded of the words of Jesus, “What will it profit a person if he/she gains the whole world and loses his/her soul.” You and your colleagues may gain this Supreme Court seat; but doing so at the cost of your character and integrity will eventually destroy you and further weaken the credibility of our democratic institutions. Providence and history will not look kindly on such action. Neither will voters in the upcoming election.

Sincerely,

Kenneth L. Carder