Norris Burkes serves as a Chaplain for both the Air Force Guard and a civilian hospital. He also writes a nationally syndicated weekly newspaper column, which is carried by my city's paper, the Fort Collins Coloradoan.

The Christian landscape in our country is extraordinarily polarized, with Evangelicals positioning themselves on the theocratic right and anointing themselves as holier than other Christians (not to mention the rest of us). Yet, week after week, Burkes manages to engage a wide audience and address concerns that many feel. He speaks plainly (not always referencing Christian doctrine or experience) and represents a rare voice of moderation speaking across the cultural divide.

Burkes' column today particularly represents a balm to the rifts that separate Evangelicals and other Christians from the rest of Americans. Burkes describes how the pastor of the church he attends in Sacramento delivered a series of sermons on the need for Christians – and specifically, for the Christians in his Church – "to stop judging, stop condemning and to stop the hypocrisy." Burkes continues:

"[The Pastor] issued a challenge to parishioners for us to visit unchurchlike places and say that we’re sorry for our behavior and the way we’ve come across."

And so, Burkes says, members of the Church visited abortion clinics, gay bars and strip clubs and expressed their regret over the Christian zeal to damn others.

To me, the column is hopeful of Christian insight into their religion's excesses and faults. Burkes is worth reading.

(Incidentally, for Coloradoan readers, Burkes' August 31st column is inconspicuously published on page B5, where it can be easily overlooked.)