The RBC’s meeting wasn’t, apparently, about the conversations that could be had at the TCC. To avoid any unexpected conversations, in fact, the bank blocked access to the meeting to any but shareholders, a practice that, I’ve been told, is relatively new.
So, how did Christianity become so mean? Although many factors contribute to mean Christianity, the primary culprit is that large numbers of American Christians, both Republicans and Democrats, care more about partisan politics and culture wars than they care about following the example and teachings of Jesus.
A Critical Examination of the 'He Gets Us' Superbowl Commercial
The Superbowl Commercial "He Gets Us" misses the mark by presenting a narrow view of Christianity where narcissism is disguised as altruism.
Will American politicians stand up to Putin? Will they learn anything from the sacrifice of Navalny?
Whether you identify as a Christian, a follower of Jesus, or something else, one thing is overwhelmingly clear. The world desperately needs positive examples of authentic Christian living.
There’s no such thing as a nobody. That’s the message of Mary. Until her immaculate conception, until she howled out the Magnificat, she had become accustomed to being treated as a nobody.
At the heart of the Christian tradition, we say there is “faith (πίστις, ‘pistis’ Gr. - trust), hope (ἐλπίς, Gr. elpis = meaning expectation, in a positive sense), and love ( ἀγάπη Gr. ‘agapé’ ‘love’ or φιλανθρωπία Gr. ‘caritas’ = charity).
When AARP Massachusetts was looking to honor the state's top volunteer, Paul's and Charles's names rose to the top. They have made a difference in the lives around them, sharing their knowledge, experience, talent, and skills to enrich the lives of our community.
There is no question that the voices of marginalized people are found in the Bible if you look carefully. The New Testament also presents a picture of a beautiful man who talked about a God of love and forgiveness and who urged his followers to create communities that practiced nonviolence, inclusion, and the pursuit of social and economic justice.
I am deeply concerned about the rise of Christian nationalism in this country. I say this not just as a Christian but as the president of Pacific School of Religion (PSR), a progressive Christian seminary founded in 1866.
You have to live with hope for the possibilities of the future
Let's assume that a chance for peace still exists on the other side of the current Israeli/ Hamas war. By no means a sure thing, but we have to hope.
The polarization we see in society is also reflected in the Church.
It has been so hard to watch the events unfolding in Gaza and not fall into the ease of a hardline
As the persona of Donald Trump continues to dominate our public lives, increasingly, we have become aware of the cult of personality that has risen up in his shadow. To be sure, it has evolved over time, but its existence as a cult cannot be denied.
So it was a great irony that some of the most homeful people in Palo Alto were the houseless. And some of the most homeless people in Silicon Valley were the housed.
Tim Scott is running for president. It's an impressive feat as the only African American Republican in today's U.S. Senate and the first Southern Black senator since Reconstruction.
Meeting the Moment for Progressive Christianity
There’s a lot of criticism about Big Pharma, Big Government, and Big Business. And there’s been plenty of talk for decades about the dangers of the military-industrial complex. What about Big Fundy? We should name it for what it is: the fundamentalist-industrial complex.
The rise of Christian nationalism is a worldwide problem. In the United States, it begins with the idea that God chose America, that we as a nation are especially blessed.
The context for this article is the proposed new curriculum for the instruction of students on African American history. Outrage over the proposal is mounting every day.
By Frank Bergon
FIRST IN 2008 and again in 2022, Supreme Court justices assured us that their close textual reading of the Second Amendment revealed its original meaning: Americans have nearly an unlimited right to carry any kind of gun anywhere they please. The Second Amendment has been debated endlessly.
Love is, of course, an answer. And while most people of faith can agree on the command to love our neighbors, we need to face the reality of this moment. What is happening among us — the transnational struggles with democracy and attacks on human rights — is far more than a failure to love our neighbors.
Money, wealth, financial power, economic power, call it what you will, extreme wealth disparity destroys societies from within, eating away at the bond between people and the fabric of society.
We are considering how Courage, like Joy, is one of the signs of holiness in our time. In yesterday’s meditation, Martin Luther King Jr. reminded us that we “must love something more than the fear of death” if we are to live.
"People will see through who's behind it. They'll see what their real agenda is, set that aside, and we can have a deeper conversation about who Jesus was, what he was about and what we’re about as his followers today," Burklo said.
When I look at the writers who examine the relation between religion and politics, most take their cues from the Bible. There are two problems with this approach.
We have to really think like human beings. And, just accept the reality of now.
Poetry for International Women's Day
As International Women’s Day rolled around, that simmering sense of anger came to the surface. It flowed out, however, not in the murky waters of a pity pool, but in a torrent of stories of women all around the world and the challenges they face on a regular, often daily, basis. I set my own concerns aside and wrote for them, my own difficulties of little consequence in the face of what it is other women do every single day. In the light of their strength, our own can be renewed.
‘This is evil. We condemn it in the name of Christ,’ writes LCMS President Matthew Harrison.
As our world faces the spectacle of Russia still harming civilians while it rampages through Ukraine, we re-visit our award-winning series, “The Power of Nonviolence”. The focus is to tell poignant stories about alternatives to military destruction and other violence, and to illustrate that there are more humane and saner ways to resolve conflict — a theme urgently needed now.