Latest Articles
As I Lay Dying, by Richard John Neuhaus
William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying (1930), a chronicle of the Bundren family's odd journey to bury wife and mother Addie, is notable for its innovative use of narrative chronology, stream o...
Split personality
As played by the remarkable actor Ryan Gosling, Danny Balint is one of the most unconventional and compelling characters on the screen this year....
Sister secrets
My aunt, who died earlier this year, was a woman of great strength and a raucous sense of humor....
Elie Wiesel and the Politics of Moral Leadership, by Mark Chmiel
The 1960 publication of Elie Wiesel's memoir, Night, marked a major turning point in the American consciousness of what we now call the Holocaust....
True patriotism: Healthy skeptism
Many Americans have become born-again believers in patriotism since September 11, some to their own surprise....
Catholics find a voice: A call for democratic reform
Six months ago Voice of the Faithful didn’t exist. Now it is one of the most turbo-charged Christian movements in the country....
Field of corporate dreams: Farming without the farmer
In 1977 Wendell Berry warned that the rise of corporate farming and the disappearance of the family farm were destroying local communities and economies....
Hog heaven: Preaching to swine farmers
As we hurtled toward Shakespeare, Ontario, I felt a familiar cold visceral tightness and fear. “Shakespeare,” I brooded. “I hope the name isn’t an omen. ‘Shakespeare’ suggests tragedy....
Still untouchable: The politics of religious conversion
In their long struggle for equality, India’s dalits, or “untouchables,” have often exchanged their Hinduism for Islam, Christianity, Sikhism or Buddhism, believing that they will better their lives...
A contested classic: Critics ask: Whose Christ? Which culture?
A book that one can barely escape reading on the way to earning a seminary degree is Christ and Culture, by H. Richard Niebuhr. Published in 1951, the book quickly became a classic....
Imagining scripture: A rich reservoir of ancient and contemporary conversation partners
It seems to me a wonderful irony that Christians in America are preoccupied with debates about biblical authority just when all parties to the debates are less knowledgeable about the content of sc...
In security we trust: Needed: A new Marshall Plan
For several months Congress had been calling for President Bush to coordinate the work of security-oriented agencies spread throughout the executive branch....
Bug off: Coping with mosquitoes
The wet spring in many parts of the country, including ours, produced mosquito-nurturing ponds. Now the mosquitoes are here....
Salty solution: The fight over water in the Middle East
Water will determine the future of the Occupied Territories, and by extension, the issue of conflict or peace in the region.” Thomas Naff made this remark several years ago, and water remains...
Graceful landing
My ultimate compliment to a book is that it made me forget I had a review to write and convinced me to read it for pure pleasure. And more: that I need what the author has to say....
A Song Flung Up to Heaven, by Maya Angelou
Rise and be prepared to move on and ever on," is the continuing theme of Maya Angelou's autobiographical cycle, and the phrase succinctly sums up the story of her life....
Ichabod Toward Home, by Walter Brueggemann
Where is God? This provocative question rings in the ears of all those who energetically engage God and God's promises in the world....
Code language
The films John Woo made in Hong Kong were perfectly matched to the interests of young American audiences, filled with blazing guns, macho posturing and bloody climaxes....