Thoughts on faith, culture, and public life.
Ed Sheeran By Rod Benson The controversy surrounding Macklemore’s removal from Ed Sheeran’s tour eventually reaches a question deeper than celebrity politics: can compassion remain morally credible when it becomes selective? Public culture is saturated with the language of kindness, inclusion, empathy and love. Yet those virtues are tested not when they are universally applauded …
Continue reading "Selective compassion: How would Jesus respond?"
Ed Sheeran and Macklemore. Image Credit: Christopher Polk By Rod Benson If artists possess the freedom to address political questions, what responsibilities accompany that freedom? The dispute surrounding Macklemore’s removal from Ed Sheeran’s American tour illustrates why the answer cannot simply be that celebrities should speak whenever they possess strong convictions. Public platforms magnify both …
Continue reading "When artists speak: Moral responsibility and the limits of celebrity activism"
By Rod Benson Is there such a thing as Judeo-Christian values”? The term “Judeo-Christian” is a relatively modern expression. Judaism and Christianity are distinct religious traditions, and political appeals to “Judeo-Christian values” may obscure their differences or distinguish supposedly authentic members of Western society from outsiders. Yet it does not follow that Judaism and Christianity …
Likud lawmaker Hanoch Milwidsky. By Rod Benson In remarks circulated on video in September 2026, Likud member of the Knesset Hanoch Milwidsky reportedly declared: “We are not like everyone else,” adding that laws applying to others do not apply to the Jewish people. According to the published English translation, he also described the Jewish people …
Continue reading "Election is not exemption: Human rights, Scripture and sacred exceptionalism"
Macklemore performs on stage at the Goldencoast Rap Festival in Corcelles-les-Monts on 3o August 2026. Photograph: Arnaud Finistre/AFP/Getty Images By Rod Benson The controversy surrounding Macklemore’s recent removal from the remaining U.S. dates of Ed Sheeran’s 2026 Loop tour raises a question extending far beyond one rapper, one pop star or one geopolitical conflict. Should musicians use concert …
