Category: Challenges
Military Service and Left-Hand Paths
Veterans Day will be observed this year on Monday, Nov. 11, and as I do every year, I’ll first spend some time fretting over whether there should be an apostrophe somewhere in that name, and the... Read More
Organizational Highlight: Council on Foreign Relations
The CFR Religion and Foreign Policy Initiative connects religious and congregational leaders and scholars with timely, expert resources on U.S. foreign policy and provides a forum for this community t... Read More
Sticking the Poor with Climate Change: People, Power, and Privilege
As I write this, I am sitting at my kitchen table while my ten-year old, home from school today with a fever, watches a movie upstairs. It is a bright, beautiful fall day in Austin, Texas—and part o... Read More
Staring at the Achievement Gap: Religious Education in Low-Income Schools
As a seminarian, I attended courses with two refugees from Myanmar preparing to return and serve their persecuted communities. Their literacy skills were dramatically low for the graduate level texts ... Read More
A Religious ‘None’ in the Middle East
When asked what I plan to do with a Master of Theological Studies – a question I encounter frequently as a recent graduate in a field many are unfamiliar with – my well-rehearsed, though honest, r... Read More
Who are Your Friends?
One of the best friends I have in the world is this man named Jamie. I don’t think he will mind when I tell you he is an atheist. I am a Christian. I still remember parts of the conversation we had ... Read More
Laughable Beliefs
I believe that laughter is an important element of crossing any divide. But beliefs—of any creed—are often deeply serious. When is it okay to laugh about religion? Obviously, jokes designed to dis... Read More
For What and For Whom Do We Pray?
Prayer has been on my mind a lot over the past few weeks. Because I don’t pray, this recent preoccupation seems worth exploring. Aside from the use of prayer as a means of communication with the div... Read More