Podcast: What do Cats Have to do with Interfaith Work?
Courage Over Apathy: A Response to Jonathan Merritt
Recent comments by Chick-Fil-A CEO Dan Cathy reaffirming the company’s support of ‘traditional’ marriage and its anti-LGTBQ political activities have been met with an uprising of med... Read More
Gay Friends and Waffle Fries: Thoughts on Having Both
Last week, Charlie Rogers, a lesbian woman in Nebraska was attacked in her home by three men. They stripped her, tied her up with zip ties, carved words such as “dyke” and other gay-slurs into he... Read More
My Heart Is In Tumult: Reflections on Lamentations in the Age of Global Warming
Lamentations--the text traditionally read by Jews on Tisha b'Av-- is not the first book that comes to mind when one is asked what the Tanakh has to say about the environment. But this text has some si... Read More
A Unique Perspective on Hate-Crimes: The Story of a Convicted Killer
Following my recent article on “Islamophobia, Sikhophobia, and Media Profiling,” I received a number of questions from people about hate-speech and hate-crimes. Some people denied that the... Read More![“Death in ten thousand shapes hangs ever over our heads, and no [hu]man can elude him.”](https://i0.wp.com/stateofformation.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/IMG_9860-1.jpg?resize=542%2C340&ssl=1)
“Death in ten thousand shapes hangs ever over our heads, and no [hu]man can elude him.”
The quote in the title above is placed on the lips of Sarpedon by Homer in The Iliad (Book 12, lines 326-327, c. 800-850 B.C.E., translated by Samuel Butler, 1898). It reflects the precariousness of l... Read More
It Looks Like the World Is Going to Hell: Global Warming and the Question of Hope
As part of the interfaith environmental work I am blessed to be able to do, I visit with people in congregations around the state about caring for the environment. In these conversations, I am almost ... Read More
Liberty and (Economic) Justice for All
I’ve been rejoicing to witness our US presidential election campaign narrative turning to economics, thanks to a contender with a background in the private equity business (or, vulture capitalis... Read More
Reasons Theism vs. Atheism is a Mostly Silly Issue
Of all the things to which humans ascribe tremendous social and moral worth, the question of whether or not God exists is, to my way of thinking, one of the silliest. It’s silly because it doesn’t... Read More
Call for Regional Recruiting Directors
In order to increase the religious, cultural, and overall diversity of Contributing Scholars, State of Formation is introducing Regional Recruiting Directors (RRD’s). RRD’s will work closely w... Read More