Category: Topic of the Week
Responding to Tragedy: Insights from Lutheran History
Lutherans have the unique distinction of being the only mainline Protestant denomination named after its founder. While other denominations take their name from their church structure (Presbyterians, ... Read More
Engaging Compassion: Boston and the interrelatedness of our own actions.
Boston. Baghdad. New York. Kabul. Tel Aviv. Gaza… Syria… Burma… Rwanda… Tibet… the sorrow of violent tragedies that I have learned in my generation seems to have crossed all the borders. The... Read More
Tragedy: A Quaker and an Anthropologist’s Response
How does your faith or ethical tradition inform your response to tragedies? In the wake of the devastating blasts in Boston, one Twitter user, Mike_FTW, has gained fame for stating: In times o... Read More
Grieve First, Tell Stories Later: Notes on Tragedy and Ideological Opportunism
On Monday, bombs went off at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, and today we’re tempted to tell stories when we ought to be grieving. The pundits have already started. (Apparently the first rul... Read More
In Gratitude and Solidarity: A Love Letter to Boston from A Former Student
Dear Boston, I owe you so much. I really do. You are the place where my interfaith journey began. At the beginning of my freshman year at Boston University, I never met anyone who wasn’t a Christi... Read More
“Give them hope, not hell:” A thing left undone
Conversations in the cafeteria are where much of the real theological work gets done at my seminary, where students hash out their thoughts on what was discussed in the class just ended or the reading... Read More
The Election of the New Hope: Dispatch from Rome
Last night I went to Saint Peter’s Square in Rome. I hoped to to see the black smoke of the papal conclave. I figured the dark puff would roil out from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel and the sorr... Read More
Losing My Faith, Reclaiming My Religion
If there is one thing you would like to see change in your faith or ethical tradition over the next ten years, what would it be? What role would you want to play? The one thing I would most like t... Read More