Podcast: What do Cats Have to do with Interfaith Work?
Kenya Yetu Hakuna Matata (In our Kenya there are no problems)
This past summer I was in Kenya, partially for pleasure and partially for research. I stayed close to the Westgate Mall, site of the horrific terrorist attack in September, and visited it several time... Read More
Dasani, Mayor Bloomberg, and Reverse Idolatry
Earlier this month, the New York Times published a five-part series on Dasani, an 11-year-old girl living in a homeless shelter in New York City. The series explicates the experience of New York City... Read More
Theology of Failure, pt. 3
When I began seminary, I learned that the Gospel of Mark originally ended without Jesus coming back. Check the footnotes on Mark 16. Verses 9-20 were tacked on to resolve a confusing and terrible st... Read More
Theology of Failure, pt. 2
In 2004, I was asked to take over a college ministry. After much hesitation, I reluctantly agreed with one stipulation – we needed to “let this thing die.” The goal of modern Evangelicalism is t... Read More
Religion and Human Rights: An Interview with Father Nabil Haddad
I was excited to have the opportunity recently to sit down for an interview with Father Nabil Haddad, a priest in the Melkite Catholic Church and founder and executive director of the Jordanian Interf... Read More
Theology of Failure, pt.1
Last year, two friends of mine came to me with an idea. They found themselves in the middle of the tumultuous twenties and wanted to commit their ideas to paper, to continue in the line of quarter-lif... Read More
Essential Wisdom for our Existential Crisis: Mahabharata, The Eternal Quest
Hopelessness is often the first reaction when we consider our mounting existential crisis. We feel it in our gut, in our mind, in our soul, whenever we consider the plight of our ecology, our economy,... Read More
State of Formation and the Council on Foreign Relations
Here at State of Formation, my colleague Joseph Wiinikka-Lydon argues against participation in the Council of Foreign Relations. I wish I could say I disagree with his premises, but the reality is tha... Read More
Why I will not apply for the Council on Foreign Relations’s “Religion and Foreign Policy Bulletin”
State of Formation recently announced that it would nominate its Contributing Scholars to be featured in the Council on Foreign Relation’s “Religion and Foreign Policy Bulletin.” This is a great... Read More