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Muslim neighbors
The protesters carried American flags and signs: “America is a Christian Nation. Muslims Are Not Welcome!”
Conflicting beliefs
In this week’s Gospel reading, Jesus heals many sick people and casts out many demons. I’ve been thinking about healing a lot lately.
What the Presentation means for parents
We have to let go. We knew that, right? People told us from the beginning. The years fly by so fast and before you know it, they’ll be grown and enjoy this time before it’s gone.
We smiled and looked down at the baby in our arms.
Epic march
Seven of this year's eight best picture nominees are stories of lone, white heroes—stories that seem out of touch with the times. The exception is Selma.
Blow God’s freakin’ mind
One of my favorite lines in the musical The Book of Mormon is from the song “You and Me (But Mostly Me).” The main characters, Elder Cunningham and Elder Price, talk about their upcoming mission. Elder Price sings, “Something I’ve foreseen, Now that I’m 19, I’ll do something incredible, That blows God’s freaking mind!”
I crack up every time I hear it, its full intended effect sending me into a fit of giggles. For me, it’s funny in a self-deprecating way, because I was Elder Price at 19.
Responding with charity
“Political correctness,” the stifling culture of left-wing taboos around race, gender, and sexuality remembered from campus battles of the 1980s and 90s, “has returned.” So claims New York magazine’s Jonathan Chait in an essay that has sent the small tinderbox of progressive media into skyward sparks. According to Chait, this revival is heralded by hashtag activism, privilege-checking and calling out, strict policing of online and in-class language, “trigger warnings,” and bumptious student responses to commencement speakers. The consequences, he says, are dangerous.
Other people saying things
"These codes aren’t enforced by women of color, in the overwhelming majority of the time....
Jesus Was a Migrant, by Deirdre Cornell, and Border Patrol Nation, by Todd Miller
Two new books on immigration complement each other well. And where Todd Miller’s falls short, Deirdre Cornell’s shines most brightly.
Priced out of New York, American Bible Society decamps to Philadelphia
c. 2015 Religion News Service
(RNS) After almost two centuries in New York City, the nonprofit American Bible Society is moving its headquarters to Philadelphia....
Ferguson pastor, scholar address ongoing struggle against racism
Pastor F. Willis Johnson captured national attention last August after Mike Brown, an unarmed teenager, was shot and killed in Ferguson, Missouri....
Religious and secular advocates urge IRS to clarify rules on political endorsements from the pulpit
c. 2015 Religion News Service...
Eucharist at national cathedral celebrates sharing agreement
Gina Campbell, an ordained United Methodist minister, is canon precentor at Washington National Cathedral and has participated in leading services there for nearly five years....
The Layman, critical Presbyterian voice, ceases print publication
The newspaper published by the Presbyterian Lay Committee, The Layman, ceased printing at the end of 2014, but the PLC will continue to provide information and resources online and plans...
Episcopal Divinity School dean to step down
Katherine Hancock Ragsdale will not continue as dean and president of Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, after her contract expires at the end of June....
Sustainable expectations
Mercy Junction has a dedicated group of people, but it's not financially self-sustaining. Recently, it started managing a large church building.
Shall we be changed?
Mary Miller’s The Last Days of California exactly captures an important aspect of the sort of rapture-ready Christianity I was raised and educated in: the unwillingness ...
Voice
On my way home from the grocery story last night, I listened to a woman reading her poetry. (Yes, it was public radio.) The poetry was lovely, but I could only listen for a little bit because the woman was reading in Poetry Voice.
Do you know what I mean?
No Home Like Place, by Leonard Hjalmarson
The biblical story is in part one of displacement, exile, and pilgrimage. But there must be a settled location from which to be displaced and from which to go on pilgrimage....