Postville: Undocumented workers, immigration & justice (II) Six years ago, Raul worked as a dishwasher at a restaurant in Rochester, Minnesota. He was soft-spoken,…
Postville I: Undocumented Workers, Immigration & Justice.
Community / Faith / Pluralistic World
Everything changed for Postville on a morning in May. At 10 a.m., immigration agents descended en masse upon the tiny Iowa town. They arrived…
Questions for Lost People
Pluralistic World / Safe Place
I had a stick of CareFree gum, but it didn't work. I felt pretty good while I was blowing that bubble, but as soon…
What Would Jesus Value?
Discernment / Scripture / Spirituality / The Skill
Surveys reveal there is apparently a marked disparity between the number of people—especially among males—who claim to believe in Christianity and the number who…
Engaging New Atheists (2): Three Consolations on Reading Dawkins
Discernment / Faith / Pluralistic World
Editor’s introduction When the New Atheists began producing books that quickly became bestsellers, I was interested to listen to what they were saying. I…
Questions from an Athiest
Faith / Pluralistic World / Spirituality
One of the selections Christopher Hitchens includes in his The Portable Atheist is from A Farewell to God by Charles Templeton. In it, Templeton…
Discernment Exercise: Shoulds, Wants, and Faithfulness
When I purchase a food item at the supermarket, I can be confident that the label will state how much riboflavin is in it.…
Discernment Exercise: Concern for Children at Play and Work
One of The New York Times Magazine columns I always read is “The Ethicist,” by Randy Cohen. Mr. Cohen, a graduate of the California…
Discernment Exercise: The Value of Ritual
It’s a common belief among Christians that piety for show is impiety. Jesus railed against hypocrisy, as did Paul (Galatians 2:11). Hypocritical Christians “love…
Discernment Exercise: Should We Pray? Or Protest?
The fact that we live in a religiously pluralistic culture means that we can expect to be exposed to beliefs, values, and practices that…