Category: Interfaith
Bin Laden’s Dead. But, What Are We Celebrating, Exactly?
I am still sorting through the emotions and the facts swirling around the announcement that Osama bin Laden has been killed. What a turn of events! These are just my initial thoughts about terror, lo... Read More
What Do Americans Really Believe?
Are mega-churches more intimate than small congregations? Are atheists more superstitious or likely to believe in the paranormal than conservative Christians? Do many Americans believe some "non-relig... Read More
Did Religious Extremism Kill Vittorio Arrigoni?
Last week, human rights activist Vittorio Arrigoni was murdered in Gaza. Found strangled in an abandoned home, Vittorio was an outspoken humanitarian and peacemaker since arriving in Gaza in 2009 on ... Read More
Crossroads
I was in a meeting with my supervisor last week, moving steadily through a list of agenda items. Reflect on five year celebration. Check. Discuss plans for upcoming program review. Check. Share dismay... Read More
Demonstration Denied in Dearborn; Dawud Declares Doubts
Anti-Islam pastor Terry Jones takes his show to Michigan…or at least attempts to. In a bid to become to Muslims what Fred Phelps has been to gays and the military, Jones announced that he and hi... Read More
My “Calling” Came from Outside My Religious Community
Everyone tells me that you can find “your calling” — the guiding force and vocation that will define your life — when you sit quietly and really figure out what makes you passi... Read More
The hardest thing in life
I’ve been thinking about the topic of death a lot more than usual lately. Not from a pastoral care role. Not from presiding over funerals. But very personally. Two weeks ago, we put my son Olive... Read More
Normative Inculturation? A Thirteenth–Century Example of the Middle Ground in Relations between the Latin Church and the Church of the East
This paper looks at two thirteenth century accounts, the Itinerarium by the Franciscan William of Rubruck and the Syriac Church of the East text Tashīthā DemārYaballāhā (the History of Mar Yaball... Read More