Welcome

Welcome to the official web site of the Rev. Dr. Miguel A. De La Torre, Professor of Social Ethics and Latinx Studies at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado.  He has served as the elected 2012 President of the Society of Christian Ethics and served as the Executive Officer for the Society of Race, Ethnicity and Religion (2012-17). Dr. De La Torre is a recognized international Fulbright scholar who has taught courses at the Cuernavaca Center for Intercultural Dialogue on Development (Mexico), Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies (Indonesia), University of Johannesburg (South Africa), Johannes Gutenberg University (Germany). Additionally, he has lectured at Universidad Bíblica Latinoamericana (Costa Rica), The Association for Theological Education in South East Asia (Thailand) and the Council of World Mission (Mexico and Taiwan). Advocating for an ethics of place, De La Torre has taken students on immersion classes to Cuba, Guatemala, the Peruvian Amazon, and the Mexico/U.S. border to walk the migrant trails. Among multiple yearly speaking engagements, he has also been a week-long speaker at the Chautauqua Institute, and the plenary address at the Parliament of World ReligionsDe La Torre has received several national book awards and is a frequent speaker at national and international scholarly religious events and meetings. He also speaks at churches and nonprofit organizations on the intersection of religion with race, class,  gender, and sexuality . In 2020, the American Academy of Religion bestowed on him the Excellence in Teaching Award. The following year, 2021, the American Academy also conferred upon him the Martin E. Marty Public Understanding of Religion Award. De La Torre is the first scholar to receive the two most prestigious awards presented by his guild and the first Latinx to receive either one of them. 

DE LA TORRE’S BLOG

INTRODUCTORY VIDEOS: Video 1; Video 2; Video 3

Performing Slam Poetry

ADRESS TO PARLIAMENT OF WORLD RELIGIONS

VIDEO LECTURES

PODCASTS

SERMONS:

VIDEOS ON DE LA TORRE’S BOOKS

Books

Reading José Martí From the Margins

2024

Doing Christian Ethics from the Margins, 3rd Edition

2023

Confesiones de Miguelito

2023

Miguelito’s Confessions

2023

Resisting Apartheid America: Living the Badass Gospel

2023

Shifting Climates Shifting People

2022

Resisting Occupation: A Global Struggle for Liberation

2022

José Martí’s Liberative Political Theology

2021

Faith and Reckoning after Trump

2021

Decolonizing Christianity: Becoming Badass Believers

2021

The Colonial Compromise: The Threat of the Gospel to the Indigenous Worldview

2020

Gonna Trouble the Waters

2021

Introducing Latinx Theologies

2020

Burying White Privilege: Resurrecting a Badass Christianity

2018

Faith and Resistance in the Age of Trump

2017

Embracing Hopelessness

2017

Liberating Sexuality: Justice Between the Sheets

2016

The U.S. Immigration Crises: Toward an Ethics of Place

2016

The Politics of Jesús: A Hispanic Political Theology

2015

Introducing Liberative Theologies

2015

Doing Christian Ethics from the Margins, 2nd Edition

2014

Ethics: A Liberative Approach

2013

Liberation Theology for Armchair Theologians

2013

Genesis, Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible

2011

Beyond the Pale: Reading Christian Ethics from the Margins

2011

A La Familia: A Conversation About Our Families, the Bible, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

2011

Beyond the Pale: Reading Christian Theology from the Margins

2011

The Quest for the Historical Satan

2011

Latina/o Social Ethics: Moving Beyond Eurocentric Moral Thinking

2010

Encyclopedia on Hispanic American Religious Culture Volume 1 & 2

2009

Trails of Hope and Terror: Testimonies on Immigration

2009

Out of the Shadows, Into the Light: Christianity and Homosexuality

2009

The Hope of Liberation within World Religions

2008

Liberating Jonah: Toward a Biblical Ethics of Reconciliation

2008

A Lily Among the Thorns: Imagining a New Christian Sexuality

2007

AAR Career Guide for Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the Profession

2007

Rethinking Latino/a Religion and Ethnicity

2006

Handbook on Latino/a Theologies

2006

Leer la Biblia desde los marginados

2005

Handbook on U.S. Theologies of Liberation

2004

Doing Christian Ethics from the Margins

2004

Santería: The Beliefs and Rituals of a Growing Religion in America

2003

La Lucha for Cuba: Religion and Politics on the Streets of Miami

2003

The Quest for the Cuban Christ: A Historical Search

2002

Reading the Bible from the Margins

2002

Introducing Latino/a Theologies

2001

Articles

Just As I Am: An Invitation to Salvation for U.S. Evangelicals

November 12, 2024 by Miguel De La Torre

My Dearest U.S. Evangelicals, In my early twenties, I walked down the “sawdust center aisle” in front of the entire congregation while the pianist softly played hymn number 472: “Just as I Am.” I publicly gave my life to Jesus on the first Advent Sunday…

The Prophet Plato Speaks Today

November 8, 2024 by Miguel De La Torre

One of the election themes from those who woke up Wednesday morning with a foreboding fear concerning election results was that our democracy is at risk. As I consider this risk, I am reminded of the words of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato. In his…

The Anti-Christ Lives Today

October 9, 2024 by Miguel De La Torre

The United States, as the self-proclaimed “shining light on the hill,” has always seen itself through apocalyptic eyes. Most Christians prior to the Civil War were postmillennialists, believing in a thousand years of peace before Christ returns. The only thing preventing this golden age ushering…

An Attack on a Shining Star in Bethlehem

October 1, 2024 by Miguel De La Torre

Last year, I gave a talk at Dar al-Kalima University in Bethlehem, Palestine. The title of my presentation was “When the Oppressed Become Oppressors.” A few days later on October 7, war broke out. A year has passed and the war continues. The innocent continues to…

The Precedent for Saying “Enough” Gun Violence

September 16, 2024 by Miguel De La Torre

I sit in the Memorial Garden at Port Arthur, Tanzania, where a coffee shop once stood. Port Arthur is a historical site and tourist destination. Originally, it was a prison colony. Established in 1830 and based on Jeremy Bentham’s panopticon designs, it was described as…

Turning Over Tables at One Tree Hill

September 12, 2024 by Miguel De La Torre

One Tree Hill is visible from almost any vantage point in Auckland, New Zealand. It was formed 67,000 years ago from the last eruption of three volcanic craters, which are still visible. Despite its name, there is no tree on the mountain’s summit. This presents…

My Fear of Doctors

August 21, 2024 by Miguel De La Torre

My annual physical is fast approaching. Honestly, I am afraid to go to the doctor, regardless of how critical routine check-ups are. But my fear of doctors is not for the same reasons that most Euro-Americans find it frightful. My fear is based on a…

On Being a “DEI Hire”

August 13, 2024 by Miguel De La Torre

The concept of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is all over public discourse these days. This is largely a result of the presidential candidacy of Kamala Harris, who supposedly was a vice president DEI hire. When President Biden decided on his VP pick, he mentioned…

Buen Camino: On the Journey with Miguel A De La Torre

July 11, 2024 by Miguel De La Torre

Alarm rings at 5 a.m. Wash face, stuff backpack, stumble out the door of my hostel by 5:30 am and try to find where I can have café con leche. Walk three miles in the morning chill— sometimes in the 40s, sometimes in the 50s….

One Murder, Six Million Times

July 2, 2024 by Miguel De La Torre

I am currently spending six weeks as a Fulbright scholar at Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany. On my walks to the university to teach my classes, I always stop for a moment to pay respects at the multiple memorials embedded in the sidewalk. I…

Let’s Talk about Genocide

June 11, 2024 by Miguel De La Torre

Genocide is a powerful word. We should use it sparingly. Its over-usage cheapens the horrors signified by the term and dishonors those who the act has victimized. When employing the term, two obvious examples come to mind – the annihilation of the indigenous people of…

All Men Are Created Equal

June 4, 2024 by Miguel De La Torre

At the founding of the United States, two conflicting philosophies vied for supremacy. The first, influenced by the more liberal aspects of the so-called Enlightenment, argued for a more democratic social-political structure under the assumption that all men are created equal. This philosophy sprang forth…

Psalm 137: Assimilation Is Not Belonging

May 21, 2024 by Miguel De La Torre

“Beside the rivers of Miami, we sat and wept at the memory of our people. There by the palm trees we hung our conga drums, for there Christian nationalists asked us for songs, white supremacists demanded songs of joy; they said ‘Sing us one of…

Rejecting Original Sin

May 13, 2024 by Miguel De La Torre

We must reject the heresy known as “original sin” if we strive for human liberation. This inherent element of the human condition constructed by theologians argues that we are born with a “stain” on our soul that requires an individualized need for divine atonement. Although…

Why I Don’t Eat Hamburgers

April 10, 2024 by Miguel De La Torre

For over a decade, I have not eaten meat or poultry. Although many good reasons exist for this stance, including better health and animal rights, my primary motivation is the environment. What we eat hurts our planet. Your hamburger is responsible for much of the…

Ending White Affirmative Action Programs Known as “Legacy”

April 2, 2024 by Miguel De La Torre

Intellectual deficiency is best signified by the belief that a political opponent cannot generate good ideas and lacks reason, common sense or morality. But people are seldom purely evil or purely good. While some lean closer toward one of these extremes, most of us vacillate…

The Problem Isn’t Their Age, It’s Their White-Savior Complex

March 12, 2024 by Miguel De La Torre

Biden is too old, at 81. He seems senile. Trump is just as old, at 77. He seems confused. Both men have made many gaffes that raise questions about their age. Biden confused the leader of Egypt with the leader of Mexico. Trump confused the…

My Callous Heart

March 5, 2024 by Miguel De La Torre

I remember my first reaction to a mass killing. It was the summer of 1984. I was a young man in my twenties, sitting in my La-Z-Boy reading the Miami Herald. This was before mass shootings were frequent occurrences, so I was not yet desensitized….

Redefining Antisemitism

February 12, 2024 by Miguel De La Torre

The term “antisemitism” is being redefined to silence those standing in solidarity with the disenfranchised and dispossessed. It is being weaponized to intimidate those speaking against apartheid. Antisemitism has always been rooted in conspiracy theories– Jews kidnapping Gentile babies to drink their blood. Plagues caused…

The Business of the Supreme Court

February 2, 2024 by Miguel De La Torre

When we think of monumental Supreme Court decisions, we usually think about cases that fuel the culture war, such as abortion, affirmative action, marriage or racial equality. To our detriment, we often ignore those cases regarding business. The justices recently heard arguments for two corporate…

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and What is Wrong with Today’s Youth

January 23, 2024 by Miguel De La Torre

What’s wrong with today’s youth? Baby Boomers like to ask this question. I found the answer in the Japanese anime series “Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.” David Martinez, the street kid protagonist of the anime, is trying to survive in a dystopian, late twenty-first-century world. The economic policies…

Rachael Weeps

January 9, 2024 by Miguel De La Torre

Editor’s Note: For many Christian traditions, the season of Epiphany begins on January 6 and ends on the first day of Lent.  One of the benefits of growing up a Latine child in the U.S. is that we get presents twice during the Christmas season….

Why Must Mary Remain a Virgin?

December 14, 2023 by Miguel De La Torre

Could it have more to do with controlling women’s bodies than any attempt to fulfill some biblical prophecy of Isaiah? A close look at the seventh chapter of Isaiah reveals the church’s misinterpretation of the text. In the fourteenth verse, the prophet Isaiah addresses the…

I Am Vermin

December 1, 2023 by Miguel De La Torre

I am vermin, a pestiferous being to be eradicated, exterminated, extinguished. For you see, to call someone “vermin” is to embrace the belief of the danger vermin poses to the body. Pesticide is the only appropriate response to pestilence. As far as former president and Republican…

The Ethics of Turner’s Rebellion

November 14, 2023 by Miguel De La Torre

Before exploring the ethics of Nat Turner’s four-day slave revolt, it is important to plainly state my position, lest, as so often happens, people refusing to carefully read my writings impose upon them what they think are my opinions so as to dismiss me or…

Reimagining Satan as Trickster

October 25, 2023 by Miguel De La Torre

Halloween is just around the corner. As I decorate my house with hideous diabolical symbols, my thoughts return to a book historian Albert Hernandez and myself wrote a few years back, titled “The Quest for the Historical Satan.” Śātān appears nine times in the Hebrew…

Killing Capitalism

October 20, 2023 by Miguel De La Torre

Capitalism is devouring itself. The greatest threat to entrepreneurship is the savage neoliberal global economic order which has developed. No longer does financial opportunity exist for the one who builds a better mousetrap. Our current neoliberal order suffocates the entrepreneurial spirit capable of lifting individuals…

A Violent Tale of Two Cities

October 10, 2023 by Miguel De La Torre

The day after I flew out of Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Hamas fired more than 2,000 missiles into Israel from the Gaza strip. Israel responded unmercifully. Hundreds are dead, thousands wounded. These numbers are expected to rise as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu…

Domestic Tranquility for Whom?

September 27, 2023 by Miguel De La Torre

These 19 words enshrined at the start of the preamble to the U.S. Constitution provide a vision for a republic yet established. They offered a new way of self-governance which entrusted people (defined as landholding white men)—not some deity—with sustaining a civil peace absent of…

Forced Sterilization in America Is Not a Thing of the Past

September 6, 2023 by Miguel De La Torre

Genocide (genos-race/nation + cide-killing) is a nomenclature coined by Raphael Lemkin, a jurist who served as an advisor to the U.S. Department of War during the Second World War. The term helped describe the six million Jews murdered and the near extinction of the Roma people…

God Is Good

August 23, 2023 by Miguel De La Torre

“God is good!” Can a brother get an Amen? Not so fast. Maybe God is good because we only read those biblical passages which present us with a benevolent deity. But for those of us who have carefully read the entire text, a disturbing depiction…

New Florida Teachings Standard is a Racist Revision of History

August 9, 2023 by Miguel De La Torre

The standards in Florida for teaching middle schoolers about African American history require that they learn “slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefits.” High schoolers are to be taught about the “violence perpetrated against and by African Americans” during the…

How Freedom Has Been Redefined to Deny Human Rights

July 26, 2023 by Miguel De La Torre

“Freee-domm!!!” At the top of his lungs, the so-called “QAnon Shaman” – also known as Jacob Chansley – walked the hall of Congress and breached the Senate chamber with his fellow “patriots” during the January 6 insurrection crying for freedom. In the name of this…

Are We Living in the “Neo-Dark Ages”?

July 6, 2023 by Miguel De La Torre

Historians are adept at naming spans of time. We have the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment and the Atomic Age, for example. I wonder how future generations will make sense of these times in which we live, in which many barely subsist. No doubt…

Why It’s Time to Shake the Dust From Our Feet and Move On

June 23, 2023 by Miguel De La Torre

The Southern Baptist Convention met in New Orleans last week and declared women lacked the necessary chromosome to pastor a church. Bless their hearts. Some male allies rushed to post pithy memes expressing allyship to demonstrate their wokeness. Others sought to raise the consciousness of…

A Troubling Past and An Equally Troubling Present

June 1, 2023 by Miguel De La Torre

A meme started to appear on my social media toward the end of April. It simply read, “May she rot in Hell.” It took me a few minutes to realize it was referring to Carolyn Bryant, the grocery store proprietor who falsely accused a 14-year-old…

Is Jesus Ambiguous on Violence?

May 3, 2023 by Miguel De La Torre

Apologists seeking to save God from God are quick to remind us that the God of the Hebrew Bible was a God of justice in order to explain the violence found there. They contrast these texts with the God of the Christian Testament – seen…

Why I Refuse to Save God from God

May 2, 2023 by Miguel De La Torre

The Hebrew Bible introduces a tribal deity fighting Canaanite deities for land supremacy, instructing God’s people to do likewise. God’s chosen, liberated from Egypt’s bondage, are led to a Promised Land, which inconveniently, is already occupied. The solution? Portray them as evildoers existing outside God’s…

Will Humanity Heed the Warnings and Rise to the Occasion?

April 24, 2023 by Miguel De La Torre

Eurocentric thought is rooted in this religious context: that man (specifically cis-gendered males) is the pinnacle of creation. Psalm 8:4-9 informs this kind of thought and belief: “What is man that you are mindful of him, or the son of man that you care for…

What if Crucifixion Is Not Salvific?

April 5, 2023 by Miguel De La Torre

What do you do when the hymns we sing reinforce a theology which is, and continues to be, detrimental to the marginalized, those who liberationist theologian Jon Sobrino called “the Crucified People”? “Would you be free from the burden of sin? There’s power in the…

What Are the Correct Pronouns for God?

March 8, 2023 by Miguel De La Torre

A theological debate is taking place within the Church of England as theologians discuss if they should refer to God in gender-neutral terms. If God is not a “he,” should our language reflect this complexity? Should the proper theologically based pronouns for God therefore be “they, them,…

Chickens Coming Home to Roost

March 2, 2023 by Miguel De La Torre

There have been seventy-seven mass shootings in the U.S. in the first 45 days of 2023. Collectively, 109 were killed and 273 were wounded while sitting in a university classroom, going to high school, eating at fast-food restaurants, attending a concert, dancing at a club, relaxing at…

Legislating Ignorance: The Battle for Democracy

February 8, 2023 by Miguel De La Torre

Disinformation, anti-intellectualism and intimidation are tactics employed by authoritarians throughout history to obtain and maintain power. In the U.S., we’re seeing these tendencies manifested in book banning and in legislative efforts to prevent certain ideas and concepts from being discussed or taught in public schools…

Legislating Ignorance: Authoritarian Tactics

February 7, 2023 by Miguel De La Torre

While in Kraków, Poland, I visited Oscar Schindler’s enamelware factory. Schindler, immortalized in the Steven Spielberg movie “Schindler’s List,” was a German industrialist and Nazi Party member who was credited with saving the lives of some 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust by employing them in…

A Terrorist by Any Other Name

January 12, 2023 by Miguel De La Torre

Robert Gregory Bowers walked into L’Simcha Congregation (Tree of Life synagogue) in Pittsburg, on October 27, 2018, and shot unarmed worshippers. Eleven died and seven (including the gunman) were injured. One need not be a Jew to recognize Bowers as a terrorist. On August 5,…

How Two SCOTUS Cases Could Strengthen White Affirmative Action

January 5, 2023 by Miguel De La Torre

Imagine applying for admission to your ideal university or for that perfect job, only to be turned away because someone lacking your work ethic, skills or intelligence is given your spot because of their skin pigmentation. An injustice exists whenever a person, based solely on…

A Tale of Two Christians

December 6, 2022 by Miguel De La Torre

I write these words sitting on an old, uncomfortable, wooden pew in an almost 500-year-old cathedral nestled at the foot of a volcano and adjacent to Lake Atitlán. When my conquistador ancestors entered the Mayan village named “house of the birds,” they tore down the…

When the Oppressed Become Oppressors

November 17, 2022 by Miguel De La Torre

Probably no group has suffered more over the centuries at the hands of Christianity than Jews. A simple grumbling in some Medieval village about the “killers of Jesus” was all it took to ignite a bloody demonic fury resulting in unimaginable carnage. For centuries, it…

When Evil Votes

November 2, 2022 by Miguel De La Torre

he people have gone mad. There really is no other way to explain it. Why else would they vote for an individual or party which has declared itself to be fascists while wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross? Can they not see that…

How Should Christians Work to Overcome Oppression?

October 24, 2022 by Miguel De La Torre

Is it ethical for people of color within the U.S. who claim to be disciples of Christ to engage in violence against oppressors? The reality is that people of color are already living within a violent situation. According to a five-year study, unarmed people of color…

What’s in a Name?

October 16, 2022 by Miguel De La Torre

As Hispanic Heritage Month comes to a close, many wonder what the correct nomenclature to use. Is it Hispanic, or Latino, or Latino/a, or Latin@, or Latinoa, or Latinx? If the first step toward liberation is self-naming, then the fact that we are unable to…

I AGREE: CRITICAL RACE THEORY IS INDEED INCOMPATIBLE WITH SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION’S ‘FAITH AND MESSAGE’

December 14, 2020 by Miguel De La Torre

The six white men who lead the seminaries of the Southern Baptist Convention released a joint statement on November 30th denouncing Critical Race Theory. Specifically, they “declare[d] that affirmation of Critical Race Theory, Intersectionality, and any version of Critical Theory is incompatible with the Baptist Faith…

The Pedagogical Problem with White Professors

December 21, 2017 by Miguel De La Torre

A few years ago, during a search for a New Testament professor, I asked two questions during the interview – two questions I ask of every candidate for a position with our institution regardless of rank or discipline. The first is innocent enough: “How important…

The death of Christianity in the U.S.

November 13, 2017 by Miguel De La Torre

Christianity has died in the hands of Evangelicals. Evangelicalism ceased being a religious faith tradition following Jesus’ teachings concerning justice for the betterment of humanity when it made a Faustian bargain for the sake of political influence. The beauty of the gospel message — of…

The Cultural Power of a Bow Tie

September 11, 2017 by Miguel De La Torre

Using my own body as a canvas, I began in 2011 to exclusively wear bow ties. I work in an institute of higher learning, the kind of place where you might think the Roger Kimball quip, “There is something about the combination of denim and…

Can White People Teach Latinx Studies?

August 17, 2017 by Miguel De La Torre

Remember the composition of religion departments back during the 1960s? They predominately and unapologetically consisted of white males – especially the so-called Ivies. Now imagine if one of these schools, realizing the need for different perspectives, decided that they wanted to have a feminist viewpoint…

The Pedagogical Failure Of Eurocentric Methodologies

May 4, 2017 by Miguel De La Torre

I am convinced that all eurocentric philosophical thought and movements – yes all – are oppressive to those who come from colonized spaces. When I contemplate every philosophical contribution made by the so-called Age of Enlightenment, it becomes obvious that the French Revolution’s battle cry for Liberté,…

What do you do when the God of liberation fails to liberate?

April 27, 2017 by Miguel De La Torre

To hope is not some wishful desire but an expected joy that God will bring about God’s purposes. Jürgen Moltmann argued for a hope based in a God who keeps promises, a God who is a step ahead of humanity making all things new. Moltmann’s hope is…

On becoming a Muslim to be a Faithful Follower of Jesus

February 2, 2017 by Miguel De La Torre

  1.3K348 As a committed liberationist-leaning Christian, I may have no choice but to say the Shahada and convert to Islam if I wish to be faithful to my beliefs. One of the bedrock principles of any liberative faith tradition is “solidarity with the oppressed.” I discover…

A Colonized Christmas Story

December 11, 2015 by Miguel De La Torre

In the colonized land of Judea, poor marginalized shepherds abided in the field, watching over flocks belonging to others.  When suddenly, a messenger of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of God shone forth.  They were filled with great fear.  But the messenger…

I’m a Southern Baptist, Roman Catholic – Child of Elegguá – Deal with It

October 31, 2015 by Miguel De La Torre

Latino/a religious scholars speak often of hybridity to describe the mestizaje, the mixture of our cultures, our identities, our different social locations, and yet, the hybridity of our spirituality remains taboo. Hispanic liberationists argue for orthopraxis trumping orthodoxy; however, whichever clique one runs with enforces acceptance or rejection of other…

Plagiarizing the Poor

August 15, 2015 by Miguel De La Torre

A few years ago, I shared a not-yet-completed manuscript with my class of doctoral students in an effort to receive feedback on some concepts I was developing surrounding the theme of indecent ethics. When I eventually presented those theories at a conference, I discovered that…

Can Cubans be Latin@s

June 13, 2015 by Miguel De La Torre

Fake news correspondent Al Madrigal, of The Daily Show, recently pondered if presidential candidates Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) were really Latinos. While discussing immigration, Jon Stewart began the exchange by asking Al Madrigal if he was excited about the first two serious Hispanic candidates, Cruz…

The Persistent Racism Of Theological Schools – Part II

May 23, 2015 by Miguel De La Torre

Your theological school might be racist if . . . . . . you hear white colleagues tell their white PhD students that they shouldn’t bother trying to apply for a tenure-track position because of the discrimination that exists against white men in the academy….

The Persistent Racism of Theological Schools

May 16, 2015 by Miguel De La Torre

Academic departments of religion lack faculty of color not because they have difficulty finding any; but simply, they lack the will to hire any. If you are considering attending a theological school that does not have core professors (as oppose to adjuncts) who are from…

Bible Pop Quiz

April 25, 2015 by Miguel De La Torre

No one reads or interprets the Bible literally – regardless as to what they profess. To do so is simplistic, if not dangerous. All of us read our bias, our theology, and our social location into the text. There is no such thing as an objective reading;…

Why Does God Need a Penis?

March 28, 2015 by Miguel De La Torre

Close your eyes and imagine what God looks like. More than likely, you pictured in your mind a male body. Maybe the image is something similar to Michelangelo’s renowned mural The Creation of Adam (1512) in the Sistine Chapel, in which God is illustrated as an…

Toward a Theology of Hopelessness

March 14, 2015 by Miguel De La Torre

One of the unexamined assumptions of the Christian faith is a theology that is based on esperanza, on hope. “All things works for the good of those who love God, and who has been called according to God’s purpose” (Ro. 8:28). To hope in English is to…

50 Shades toward Christian-Based Sadomasochism

February 21, 2015 by Miguel De La Torre

Much ado has been made about the blockbuster Fifty Shades of Grey, a disappointing screen adaptation of E. L. James’s poorly written bestseller. And yet, the film’s opening weekend box office take was $81.7 million! The allure of titillating forbidden desire sells. By now we are…

What is Due to Soldiers of Unjust Wars?

January 18, 2015 by Miguel De La Torre

I am standing near the terminal gate waiting to board my plane, which is running 20 minutes late. Although my boarding pass has me in Zone 2, I have traveled enough to know it will be a while before my zone is actually called, for different…

Trying to be Pro-Life

May 8, 2014 by Miguel De La Torre

Most of those who self-identify as “pro-life” or believe in the “sanctity of life” are neither.  To truly be pro-life is to believe that all life, created by God, has worth, dignity, and purpose; therefore, no human, under any circumstance, has the right to play…

The ethics of Dexter Morgan

February 20, 2014 by Miguel De La Torre

Dexter Morgan, the fictional character on the popular Showtime series, Dexter, is a forensic blood splatter analyst for the Miami Police homicide department. Those who watched the eight seasons (as I just binge watched) know that Dexter is a sociopath with supposedly no feelings or conscience….

The Screwtape E-mails

January 16, 2014 by Miguel De La Torre

On Wed, Dec 4, 2013 at 5:36 PM, Screwtape screwtape@hotmail.com; wrote: Dearest Wormwood, It is with great pleasure that I hear of the success you are having with your Christian patient. Just because they say they follow the Enemy does not mean they are lost to…

A Prayer for Sandy Hook

December 18, 2012 by Miguel De La Torre

Oh Lord, my God, how majestic is your name throughout the earth. Your love and mercy abound and endure forever. A young innocent sparrow does not fall without your knowledge. And yet, I again find myself asking where you were while the innocent were being…

Equal Time with Al Mohler

November 19, 2012 by Miguel De La Torre

Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., was quoted widely concerning the re-election of President Barack Obama. If afforded equal time, here’s how I would respond to comments attributed to him Nov. 8 on NPR, the New York Timeson Nov. 9 and…

Could Those Who Make Your Shoes Afford Them?

July 9, 2012 by Miguel De La Torre

They sell the just for silver, and the poor for a pair of sandals. – Amos 2:6 Recently, I went cycling through Javanese villages not far from my home in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. I visited rural communities and spent the day at small cottage industries. During my…

Ignoring Ethical Questions About Military Drones

June 18, 2012 by Miguel De La Torre

There are times when our technology advances faster than our ability to contemplate the ethical use or misuse of the latest gadget. When we fail to seriously consider the ethical ramifications of employing new hardware, especially when it is military hardware, we run the risk…

Procedure Steamrollers Immigrants’ Human Rights

December 29, 2011 by Miguel De La Torre

Ever heard of Operation Streamline? The clanking of shackles, reminiscent of the old chain gangs of Jim Crow’s South, is the first thing one notices when entering the William D. Browning Special Proceeding Courtroom in Tucson’s U.S. District Court. On a recent Thursday afternoon, 64…

The Real Class Warfare: Protecting the Super-Rich

September 2, 2011 by Miguel De La Torre

Class warfare is a term used by politicians and political pundits whenever the public (rich or poor) questions the disparity of wealth in this nation. To raise concerns about the ever-growing economic gap is to risk being accused of fomenting social unrest or, worse, of…

What I Learned as a Christian Reading the Quran

September 16, 2010 by Miguel De La Torre

The high levels of Islamophobia expressed in vandalizing mosques, the debate over building a center in New York and the canceled burning of Qurans in Florida have led many pundits to misquote and misrepresent what’s in the Quran. I have heard people say that the…

Moving beyond Hospitality

April 1, 2010 by Miguel De La Torre

[1] Anyone who calls him or herself a Christian should seek compassionate, just, and wise immigration reform. Millions of undocumented aliens are forced to live in the shadows of the law hungering for someone to bring them the good news that they are more than objects of a…

Lessons from Niebuhr Put Obama at Odds with Poor

January 6, 2010 by Miguel De La Torre

In April 2007, New York Times columnist David Brooks interviewed a presidential hopeful named Barack Obama. At one point, Brooks asked if Obama ever read the writings of Reinhold Niebuhr. “I love him. He’s one of my favorite philosophers,” was the reply. Brooks proceeded by asking what,…

Being Thoroughly – and Really – Pro-Life

September 15, 2009 by Miguel De La Torre

Most of those who self-identify as “pro-life” or say they are believers in the “sanctity of life” are, in reality, neither. To truly be pro-life is to believe that all life, created by God, has worth, dignity and purpose; therefore, no human, under any circumstance,…

Truly Supporting our Troops

July 2, 2009 by Miguel De La Torre

Regardless of one’s feelings about the war in Iraq, it is important to provide support to the young men and women who put their lives on the line in obedience to their country’s call. One such man that deserves our support is Marine Staff Sergeant…

Was Jesus a Racist?

February 23, 2009 by Miguel De La Torre

Our faith tells us that anyone can come to Jesus. The evangelistic message is that Jesus will turn no one away. We can come just as we are, ill and diseased. All who seek healing will find salvation and liberation in the arms of Jesus,…

Roaches and Rats: A Nativity Reflection

December 17, 2008 by Miguel De La Torre

I must have been about three years old when this image was burned into my mind, and probably it will be the last thing I recall when I lay on my death bed as an old man. The ceiling was moving. As I focused on…

9/11: A Day That Lives in Infamy

September 11, 2008 by Miguel De La Torre

Not to sound trite, but 9/11 is indeed a day that will live in infamy. On this day a sovereign democracy was savagely attacked by a terrorist organization. Unsatisfied with the choice people made in electing their leaders and bitter about the economic path a…

What Do Obama, Clinton and McCain All Have in Common?

March 26, 2008 by Miguel De La Torre

What do Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain have in common? All three are ontologically white males. No one can become the leader of the world’s most powerful country (empire?) unless they are committed to what male whiteness symbolizes within the colonial process. Saying…

The Ethics of Waterboarding

March 5, 2008 by Miguel De La Torre

On Feb. 22, the Justice Department revealed that an internal ethics review conducted by the Office of Professional Responsibility is investigating the CIA’s use of waterboarding. This forced suffocation and inhalation of water, or as former CIA director Porter J. Goss prefers to call it,…

Columbus Day No Reason to Celebrate

October 9, 2006 by Miguel De La Torre

Women were raped. Children were disemboweled. Men fell prey to the invaders’ swords. Within a generation, the lives and cultures of the indigenous people of the Americas were forever changed. Avarice for gold and glory took its course and decimated the population. The original inhabitants…

The Sin of Sodom

August 7, 2006 by Miguel De La Torre

United States’ history has proven that most of its presidents, congressional leaders and Supreme Court justices have been guilty of the sin of Sodom. Many of the religious leaders today, specifically conservative evangelicals, are also guilty of Sodom’s sin. If truth be known, this writer…

The State of the Empire

January 2, 2006 by Miguel De La Torre

The president of the Northern Kingdom strutted toward the podium. Tonight he would address the empire, sharing his impression of the state of the union. Overall, the news was good. True, at the fringes of the empire the imperial army battled insurgents for control of…

A ‘Spanglish’ Christmas

December 21, 2005 by Miguel De La Torre

As all good theologians know, Heaven is a lot like a tropical island in the Caribbean, where cool gentle breezes refresh the land and the soul from the heat of the day. Hence Christmas is best celebrated in shorts and a tank top, preferably at…

‘Full-Quiver’ Theology Appeals to Race

December 14, 2005 by Miguel De La Torre

In a July 27 column in Baptist Press, Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (my alma mater) insists that couples who choose childlessness are guilty of “rebellion against parenthood [that] represents nothing less than an absolute revolt against God’s design.” He bases his…

Illiterate Ethicist

March 30, 2005 by Miguel De La Torre

My mother was illiterate and never had a chance to go to school. She fled Cuba for the United States during the political turbulence of 1958 with her infant son. What my mother lacked in formal education she made up for in street smarts. She,…

When the Bible Is Used For Hate

February 2, 2005 by Miguel De La Torre

Are you ready, kids? Whoooo lives in a pineapple under the sea? SpongeBob SquarePants! Absorbent and yellow and porous is he. SpongeBob SquarePants! But wait, this silly frolicking sponge is really a sexual pervert teaching our innocent children to be pro-homosexual–at least according to James…

Is U.S. ‘Purveyor of Violence’?

August 28, 2003 by Miguel De La Torre

The United States has given the world the gift of noble concepts like democracy, and it has the potential to be a light to a hurting world. While appreciating what this country offers the rest of humanity, I refuse to worship this culture as though…