Podcast: What do Cats Have to do with Interfaith Work?
Making Sense of Tragedy: Was the Earthquake a “Divine Punishment”?
Over at Religion Dispatches Levi McLaughlin, a professor of religion who specializes in East Asian traditions, writes about Tokyo’s governor Shintaro Ishihara describing the tsunami that struck... Read More
Celebrating Female Clergy
A college chaplain once candidly described the process for him, as a Protestant, as one of simultaneous celebration and mourning when he recognized that Protestantism was no longer a universal norm on... Read More
Inter-Religious Diplomacy: Trustworthy Opponents Engaging in Respectful Contestation Yield Peaceful Tension
Historically, when people have found themselves in conflicts over the best way to live or the very purpose of life, they have often found a way to separate from—if not fight—each other to protect ... Read More
Video Blog: “Islamophobia: The New McCarthyism?”
Here is my interview with Odyssey Networks on why, as a Jew, I find the Peter King hearings so disturbing. Do you find them disturbing? If so, why? On the bright side, as noted in Religious Freedom U... Read More
Give Meaning to What is Positive, Not to What is Negative
I can say with complete honesty that I am not mean. In fact, I haven’t a mean bone in my body. So, why then, do I sometimes do mean things? Why do I sometimes surround myself with negative thoughts ... Read More
Bullying isn’t just for kids: why dialogue is essential in Wisconsin teachers’ strike
Over the past few weeks, I have been fascinated at the cat and mouse game that is happening just over the border from me in Wisconsin. The big bully Governor Walker is metaphorically taking away the... Read More
Harding University and The State of the Gay
Nestled in the heart of Arkansas west of the mighty Mississippi, but east of the Ozarks lies a quaint Southern town with a big college atmosphere. It’s quiet and hot (the humid type!) during the... Read More
Sue Blackmore Decides That Religions Are Not, in Fact, Viruses of the Mind
Sue Blackmore is one of the go-to voices in the UK on matters of religious thinking and consciousness. She is, believe it or not, an atheist with a PhD in parapsychology. Originally a firm believer ... Read More
Everything I Need to Know I Learned from a Tibetan Buddhist Mandala
I spent a lot of time at the Gyuto Monks’ mandala at the 2009 Parliament of the World’s Religions in Melbourne, Australia. The mandala is the traditional Tibetan Buddhist form of sandpainting, pra... Read More