Tag: Religion
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 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
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
Occupy Wall Street: Abundance v Scarcity
While preparing for class recently, I read an article by Walter Brueggemann “The Liturgy of Abundance, the Myth of Scarcity” which takes a Christian theological analysis to the notions of abundanc... Read More
“Spiritual Directions, Religious Ways, and Education,” by Joseph McCann
Robert Wuthnow, Professor of Sociology at Princeton and the Director of the Center for the Study of Religion, has been observing and analyzing American approaches to religion for some decades now. H... Read More
Landscapes or Sandscapes? New Atheist Grounds for Morality
Atheist lauders and pursuers of truth, integrity, and beauty can be none too careful. They might provoke or experience longings for the fountain of all Beauty, Goodness, and Truth. ... Read More
The Value of Discomfort: Why I won’t make peace with my Parsha
I have encountered many mitigating interpretations of the most painful texts in my Torah portion (Lev. 18:22 and 20:13), some more rigorous and thoughtful than others. However, academically and religi... Read More
Assert Your Authority
If on Rosh HaShanah we gain a picture of what can happen when we submit blindly to authority, Yom Kippur is our opportunity to choose another path.... Read More