Category: Community
Islamophobia, Sikhophobia, and Media Profiling
In fact, the first casualty of a hate crime in post-9/11 America was a Sikh-American named Balbir Singh Sodhi. According to official reports, his murderer said he killed Sodhi because "he was dark-ski... Read More
How a Humanist Found Redemption
“You’ll find the next patient interesting Tom, I think he is a lifer.” I grabbed the patient’s chart to assess his clinical history. As I looked up previous lab values and problems, I stumbled... Read More
How to Stay Christian in an Election Year
I was very young when I first experienced a crisis between my religion and my politics. The most vivid moment in this emerging crisis was March 19, 2003, the night before I turned 16 years old. This w... Read More
Including Ourselves: A Lesson from an Elevator-Ride
It’s not uncommon for kids to ask their parents about “that thing” on my head. In most instances, the parents look at me uncomfortably, embarrassed that I might be offended in some w... Read More
God Questions
Many Jews, as we enter into our 20s, begin to critique the religious education we were given as children. While we were perhaps taught the importance of community, the obligation to tikkun olam, or th... Read More
Making Room for People With Disabilities
Here in Illinois, Governor Quinn has been pushing hard to close state institutions for people with developmental disabilities, along with some prisons and state mental hospitals. There are a handful o... Read More
Getting Out Of The Grey Area Of Love!
The other night I had a dream. I was looking into the ocean, but it was not the beautiful aqua blue ocean I have grown to love. It was grey with clouds draping over it like chalk. Goats and some anima... Read More
Speaking of Israel
More than one of my politically and religiously liberal friends, when I told them I was converting to Judaism, gave as one of their first responses, “What about Israel?” Good question. What abo... Read More