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Transforming America’s Israel Lobby
In an excerpt from a new book Dan Fleshler, an American Jewish activist from “the pro-Israel left,” explains the reluctance of Jewish liberals to criticize Israel on the human rights front, even when they share the rest of the world’s objections to Israeli behavior.
Capitalism and the Anti-Modern Pope
The Pope’s anti-modern critiques should not be waved off so easily, as many allegedly life-promoting institutions actually foster death. There is much in it that a progressive secularist could agree with—apart from feminism and sexual ethics.
St. Paul the Pacifist: A Christian Response to Torture
In light of a recent finding that evangelical Christians are more likely, statistically, to support the use of torture, a scholar proposes an approach to nonviolence based on the teaching of Christianity’s first theologian.
Growing Up Cult: A Memoir of Life with Sri Chinmoy
Sri Chinmoy wanted to win a Nobel prize, and to be more famous than the Dalai Lama or the Pope. Jayanti Tamm writes a book about what happens when a good guru goes bad.
Are Christians Theologically Prepared to Accept Torture?
The results of a new Pew survey indicate that going to church increases the likelihood that people will support torture, especially if they are white evangelical Protestants. This is not good news.
Church and State in Japan: The Case of the Yasukuni Shrine
Japan, in the throes of political and financial turmoil, is still dealing with the long-running controversy over a national shrine for WWII dead.
Ignore the Rod: the Parental Rights Amendment Isn’t About Spanking
The United States is the only nation save Somalia that’s failed to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Armed with a doomsday ten-point plan including the end of spankings and the government preventing parents from bringing kids to church, the force behind the movement to prevent its ratification isn’t just a bunch of strict parents.
Of Values and Viruses: The Challenges for Obama’s New Global AIDS Coordinator
Dr. Eric Goosby, Obama’s pick to run the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS relief, will face the challenge of faith-based opposition to condom distribution, among other difficulties, when he assumes this important position.
Mexico’s War on Saint Death
The Mexican government has demolished dozens of shrines to Santa Muerta, claiming that the worship of this skeletal woman in a white cloak is a “narco-cult.” As resistance grows, so does this new religious movement.
Mumbai, Five Months After: Searching for a Coherent Stance on Religious Violence
From Left to Right, observers were quick to equate the Mumbai attacks to 9/11. But in doing so, the Left has tied itself in conceptual knots, for only consistency in the condemnation of religious violence can make for a sustainable response to the Right’s demonization of Islam.
Talmud v. Torture: The Jewish Case Against “Enhanced Interrogation”
During the Bush Administration, Rabbi Melissa Weintraub wrote a definitive condemnation of torture according to Talmudic teaching and Jewish collective memory. With the release of the CIA “torture memos,” these essays are worth revisiting. And, as Israel celebrates the 61st anniversary of its independence how does the Jewish nation itself stack up to these ideals?
Is Torture Utilitarian?
As politicians argue, and our pragmatist-in-chief tries to find an angle, we can agree that not all moral dilemmas can be reduced to a cost-benefit analysis of pleasure and pain. There are some kinds of pain a morally serious person ought never to inflict.
Yes We Can/Si Se Puede: Remembering and Forgetting Cesar Chavez (March 31, 1927—April 23, 1993)
President Obama got his campaign slogan from Cesar Chavez, but on this 16th anniversary of the great labor leader’s death we still have no national holiday to commemorate his legacy.
Ahmadinejad Aside, Anti-Racism Conference Was Deeply Flawed
At the largely symbolic “Durban II” conference, some Islamic states and their allies are busy equating faith with race, conflating religious criticism with bigotry, and fashioning new political cudgels with which to pummel the West.
RDPulpit: Ahmadinejad Gives Another Victory to the Israeli Right
When representatives of many Arab and Muslim nations publicly applaud Ahmadinejad’s racist rant, the real losers are the Palestinians.
Post-Modern Progressives, or Liberalism Ain’t What It Used To Be
With whom does one make alliances for the sake of peace in the world? Post-modern progressive theology does not compromise, but neither does it insist on a single truth. In its journey toward justice, it keeps its eye on the practical.
Know-Nothing Christians Irate Over Obama Comments
During a profoundly symbolic trip to Turkey the president assured the Muslim nation that America is not a Christian nation, sparking right wing cries that he’s “thrown Christianity under the bus.” The real problem here is the absence of religious literacy among the critics currently speaking in alleged defense of the Christian faith.
No Zombie Jesus: The Vatican and Roger Haight
Roger Haight, a Jesuit priest and scholar, is teaching his last semester at Union Theological seminary this spring. In this interview, one of his students tells the story of Haight’s censure by the church, and explains why it matters.
Reports of the Death of the Episcopal Church are Greatly Exaggerated
While the mainstream press has been eager to proclaim the demise of the Episcopal Church, a brief tour of church history reveals that 100,000 Conservative Anglicans defecting from the 80 million-member Communion is nothing more than a case of the spiritual sniffles.
Karma Chameleon: From Zen Practitioner to Episcopal Bishop
Under fire from Conservatives, an Episcopalian Zen practitioner's shot at becoming a Bishop is in jeopardy. A stroll through Christian history puts Forrester's practices in perspective.