As I walked through the yard, clearing debris from a harsh storm that snapped branches off trees, I came across the first clear sign of spring: daffodils poking shoots in the midst of the otherwise dead lawn. The sun has warmed the earth and new growth appears. The cycle of… Read More »Spring: Rising from the Ashes
About a week ago, one of my Facebook (FB) friends posted this comment as a status up-date: “Everybody sins & God loves everybody. No exceptions. How come people like to separate the clauses?” I may not have given the comment much notice, but this FB friend is known to be… Read More »Sin: Can We Talk About It?
Why am I a Christian? Over the years, a number of people have asked me this question. After all, I hold positions not typically associated with most American Christians. I am pro-choice, support marriage equality for lesbian and gay people, view stem cell research as promising and hopeful, and accept… Read More »On Being a Christian
If you asked a group of people about their experiences of spirituality and their beliefs, you’d quickly discover that people who maintain regular spiritual practices and strive to integrate the wisdom lived from those practices with their daily lives tend to believe wide variety different things. While there may be… Read More »Spirituality, Belief and Truth
For some time, there has been significant debate about whether the facts in the Bible are true. This debate has been framed in a variety of ways. In the early twentieth century, biblical scholars searched for evidence of the historical Jesus. School boards consider the merits of biblically based creationism… Read More »What Good Is Religion if the Facts Aren’t True?
She’s regularly in the news. She’s the current a pop sensation. She generates press by acting, dressing, and presenting herself as over-the-top. At age 24, Stefani Germanotta has achieved international fame within two years of the release of her first album. In the midst of the glamour and well-honed PR,… Read More »Lady Gaga: What is the Truth?
It was 1975. In a classroom with about three dozen college freshman, a simple question was asked: do the means justify the ends? Morally, does achieving a result that is good allow an individual to do anything it takes to achieve that good result? Is it moral to kill people… Read More »A Means to an End
Glenn Beck: run as fast you can away from me. I’m your worst nightmare. I am a Christian specifically because I believe in the message of social and economic justice that Jesus taught. I take the message of Jesus very seriously. When Jesus sat with followers on a hillside and… Read More »Glenn Beck: Be Very Afraid!