Category: Academic
An Atheist and War
In the majority of cases I think war is morally blameworthy, but under certain conditions I think killing can be justified. War, as opposed to the killing of the leaders responsible, is immoral beca... Read More
Until the Violence Stops: Faith, Sexual Violence, and Peace in the Congo
Although many of the world’s religions are thought to debase women, progressive faith traditions and practices empower females as a means of attaining justice and thereby, peace. The brutal vi... Read More
Protestant by Death: Discovering Congregational Vitality
I’m a Presbyterian minister but come by my interest (and my ignorance) of the Jewish faith honestly. My father died when I was six. My mother’s Protestant faith won out. I tell people I’m Presby... Read More
A Fatwa Against Yoga: Mitigating Conflict in the Face of Increasing Fundamentalism in Indonesia
This article focuses on efforts at mitigating conflict that arose between the Indonesian Council of Muslim Scholar (MUI) and the Bali-India Foundation (BIF) in the wake of the former’s issuance of... Read More
An Atheist and William Connolly
William E. Connolly’s Why I Am Not a Secularist (1999) has been hailed a landmark contribution to the study of secularism and modern society. In it Connolly argues for a “refashioning” of secu... Read More
Bury the Bloody Hatchet: Secularism, Islam, and Reconciliation in Afghanistan
When the US negotiated peace with American Indians just a few years after the American Revolution, they used religiously-inspired, culturally relevant symbols to “bury the hatchet.” However, the... Read More
Tea with Hezbollah
Last Thursday, the New York Times reported that the Shi'i military and political movement Hezbollah, which many would classify as terrorist, toppled the Lebanese government just six months after the d... Read More
For the Reverend Martin Luther King…sing.
For me, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is first and foremost a Baptist minister, and a child of the same. "Reverend" is a title that he earned with his education and his occupation, but also a t... Read More