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
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
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
My Uncle Willie, the fourth and youngest boy of my grandma’s litter, has always struck me as a touch “off.” Compared to his brothers—my clever and scholarly father, my robust and street smart ...Read More
I went on a run one evening in early October. It was a blustery night, and I ran hard against a misty and diligent headwind along New York City’s Hudson River. Under the bumpy plum-colored cloud...Read More
Socially and professionally, American Jews have often felt that they were being ‘put on the stand’ for their beliefs. Sometimes their beliefs even seemed to be on trial nationally – notably duri...Read More
"I have come here tonight as an American who, like all Americans, kneels to pray with you today, and will stand by you tomorrow... Scripture tells us that there is evil in the world, and that terrible...Read More
This post originally appeared in the Huffington Post Religion. It may be mid-January, but I’m still thinking of Christmas. The week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve just might be my fa...Read More
“There is no surer basis for fanaticism than bad history, which is invariably history oversimplified.” – Diarmaid MacCulloch Is the history of religious encounter largely one of disagreement and...Read More