Podcast: What do Cats Have to do with Interfaith Work?
Occupy Oakland Strike: Change and The Power of Nonviolence
Last night I marched with thousands of people of all ages, ethnicities, and classes to the Port of Oakland. People were chanting, smiling, speaking about nonviolence, talking about change, and playing... Read More
Lines through the Heart of this City
These past two months living in Jerusalem have been an experience of witnessing the struggle—in this city and in my own heart—between forces that seek to dismember us into discrete parts, and forc... Read More
The 99% Occupy Movement: We Need Interclass Dialogue for Mutual Transformation, Liberation
The Occupy Movement has identified itself using the term 99%. On the face, this seems to present a permanent dichotomy between the 1% of richest people, and the 99% of the rest of us. Of course,... Read More
Nationalism: A Different Kind of Identity Crisis
Sometimes, I’m not totally sure who I am. Not in the crazy, lost my mind kind of way. And not in the spiritual or philosophical kind of way either. What I mean is that I don’t always know how to c... Read More
The Danger of “Us v. Them” Thinking in Our Work for Social Change
I know it’s easier, when there are disagreements, to see the “other side” as completely wrong and “our side” as completely justified. But there is real danger in casting any conflict as a bl... Read More
The Firebombing of Charlie Hebdo: Free Speech vs Islam?
The firebombing of Charlie Hebdo offices following its decision to run an edition featuring Prophet Mohamed as “guest editor,” is a sad reflection of France’s uneasy relationship to Islam and re... Read More
“Excuse me, your M.Div. is showing.”
When I was applying for Ph.D. programs a year or so ago, I received one consistent piece of advice: “Hide your Masters of Divinity.” Downplay those two preaching classes that you took, a... Read More
We All Have Our Choice
The participation of religious folk in the various “occupations” springing up throughout the U.S. is receiving increasing attention. Jonathan Oskins, writing for State of Formation, provid... Read More
Emergence by Sujato Bhikkhu
Religion is, on the face of it, a social movement whose motivation is to inspire the best in humanity. So why does religion make us do the worst? Why, in so many places on so many issues, are religiou... Read More