Category: Popular Culture
The NCAA’s First Sikh Basketball Player Memorialized at the Smithsonian
Originally Published by Newsweek’s The Daily Beast on 3/1/2014 Darsh Preet Singh fought discrimination to become the first Sikh to play NCAA basketball. Now, he’s waiting for the first tur... Read More
When an Olympic Ring Blinked
I am in love with the four Olympic rings. I am in love, in particular, with the one that did not open, last Friday, during the opening ceremonies in Sochi, Russia. That closed ring shows the incomplet... Read More
Should Religion Be Hard?: A Response to Tom Ehrich
Last month, Tom Ehrich published an article in the Washington Post asking whether communities of faith were making religion too hard. His conclusion? Yes. Ehrich concedes that some aspects of faith ar... Read More
Ridicule and Rationality: Jon Stewart’s Interfaith Dialogue
Good liberals know that religious beliefs are to be celebrated, but not criticized and certainly not ridiculed -- at least in polite company. In the real world, interfaith relations aren't so well-be... Read More
Mourning the Crimes of Thanksgiving
We recently celebrated a Thanksgiving service in observance of the national American holiday at my church. As we sung our way through several hymns, I felt more troubled than grateful. The words to th... Read More
Intentional Community on the Urban Frontier
“I’m tired of urban living,” I had become accustomed to repeating to friends and family, “and I wonder when I will get fed up, pack my bags, and head to a farm.” My escap... Read More
Giving Thanks, Acting Gratitude
As we approach Thanksgiving in the US, it seems like a good time to revisit the idea of gratitude I wrote about during the most recent Ramadan. The relationship between “gratitude” and “thanks,... Read More
God is Everywhere
I have never been so enveloped by religion as I have been in Ghana (and Uganda). I say this having spent time in Lhasa; Varanasi, India; Jerusalem; and Colorado Springs, Colorado. (Before you ask, no... Read More