Our Hunger Games
Hunger and malnutrition are man-made. They are hardwired in the design of the industrial, chemical model of agriculture. But just as hunger is created by design, healthy and nutritious food for all can also be designed, through …
read moreGSN Sets Ratings Record With ‘Bible Challenge’ Debut
Original game show debut draws 1.7 million viewers
The premiere episode of GSN’s new original series The American Bible Challenge set a network ratings record, drawing nearly 2 million viewers. The game show series, hosted by Jeff Foxworthy, drew 1.7 million viewers for its 8 p.m. series …
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The Apocalypse of the Teacher (The Book of the Great Divide)
(J.H. Marten is the pseudonym of a writer and educator based in the United States. Marten can be reached at jhmarten@outlook.com.)
“I didn’t say I created all that there is, and I didn’t say I was anything. That is what you say about me,” the voice said. “I am mystery and I am absence. There is no power to create in mystery and absence. There is power only in understanding the boundaries between knowledge and mystery, between presence and absence.”
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Moody Cow Learns Compassion
We are reintroduced to Peter (aka Moody Cow) and meet his mischievous “boys-will-be-boys” friend Bully. Along the way we meet a snake named Jaws, who also goes on to appear in Peter’s terrifying dreams, and watch as Bully revels in the deaths of the crickets he feeds the snake.
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It’s a … It’s a … It’s a Mitzvah
This lively picture book for children ages 3 6 is filled with amiable animals who, through their actions, demonstrate age-appropriate mitzvot, including welcoming new friends, forgiving mistakes, respecting elders and sharing food with the hungry.
read moreDoes megachurch ‘high’ explain their success?
(RNS) Maybe religion really is the opiate of the masses – just not the way Karl Marx imagined. A University of Washington study posits that worship services at megachurches can trigger feelings of transcendence and changes in brain chemistry …
read moreDavid Barton: Falling from Grace?
The publisher of the “least credible history work in print” gets the message and pulls the book
This has been the summer of discontent with David Barton. First, in a poll taken by History News Network, Barton’s newest work, The Jefferson Lies, topped the list of “least credible history works in print.” The same work met a unanimous chorus of refutations from Jefferson …
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Living as One Human Family
Let’s face it. The walls dividing people today have gotten taller and thicker, whether between men and women, young and old, gays and straights, developed and developing worlds, haves and have-nots. Yet the spiritual dream of unity persists. We believe that God is a Weaver of Oneness who wants us to live in harmony — neighbor with neighbor, communities with communities, religions with religions, and nations with nations.
read moreDo the American nuns have a future?
…studies show that despite conservative claims, traditional orders are not doing that much better than the liberal communities. In 1992 the Vatican set up a rival organization to the LCWR, called the Council of Major Superiors of …
read moreThe Coming Hunger Wars: Heat, Drought, Rising Food Costs, and Global Unrest
The Great Drought of 2012 has yet to come to an end, but we already know that its consequences will be severe. With more than one-half of America’s counties designated as drought disaster areas, the 2012 harvest of corn, …
read moreWorldwide Demand for Water Outstrips Supply: Study
Groundwater use is unsustainable in many of the world's major agricultural zones
Almost one-quarter of the world’s population lives in regions where groundwater is being used up faster than it can be replenished, concludes a comprehensive global analysis of groundwater depletion, published this week in Nature. The world’s oldest and largest acquifers, …
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The God Of My Children
This piece was first published on LateEnough.com. My daughter: Oh no. The tree broke! My son: Don’t worry. It’s okay. God takes care of all the broken things. These moments fill my heart with assurance that God …
read moreSurvey: most Americans keep faith private online
(RNS) Meet the social media “nones.” A new survey finds that Americans, while mostly religious, generally do not use social media to supplement worship and mostly keep their faith private online. The Public Religion Research Institute survey found about one in …
read moreU.S. Still Religious, But Trust In Institutions Wanes
Something is happening when it comes to religion in America. Though more Americans go to church or believe in God than their counterparts in virtually every other Western country, fewer Americans now trust religious institutions. A recent Gallup …
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Dark Knights — How Spiritual Communities Could Help
The recent horrible shooting incident at a premier showing of “The Dark Knight Rises” in Colorado has focused attention, once again, on some aspects of what has gone wrong when a person takes such a violent and antisocial turn.
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The Power of Half: how Hannah Salwen and her family gave half their home away
When 14-year-old Hannah Salwen asked her parents to sell their $2 million house and donate half the proceeds to charity, rather than laugh her suggestion off they took it seriously.
‘As we were talking, I could hear what it sounded like through Hannah’s ears and it sounded lame,’ Kevin says. ‘The truth was we weren’t giving generously. With the resources we had, we could have been doing much, much more.’
read moreSurvey finds 19% without religious affiliation
Unbelief is on the uptick. People who check
The rapid rise of Nones — including atheists, agnostics and those who say they believe “nothing in particular” — defies the usually glacial rate of change in spiritual identity. Barry Kosmin, co-author of three American Religious Identification …
read moreChick-fil-A’s gay marriage stance causing a social storm
The fact that Chick-fil-A is a company that espouses Christian values is no secret. The fact that its 1,600 fast-food chicken restaurants across the country are closed on Sundays has long been testament to that. But the …
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