Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Unmitigated Climate Change Will Put 100 Million More in Poverty
Climate change will impoverish an additional 100 million people globally by 2030 if sufficient steps are not taken to mitigate global warming, according to a World Bank report. The publication, "Shock Waves," noted the...
Showing Solidarity Via Facebook: Does It Matter?
Many changed their Facebook profile picture so that it temporarily shows a French Tricolour across their image to show solidarity with the French people following the horrendous attacks in Paris. I felt moved to do the...
The Reason Your Pastor May Be Afraid
This is a pivotal time to be clergy in North America. The trends of our times tell us the North American context for the Christian church is dramatically shifting. More than any time in our lifetimes, being clergy in...
November 18, 2015
How Religion is Roiling the GOP Race (CNN) Christian Americans View Muslim Values 'at Odds' With Those of America, New Survey Finds (Houston Chronicle) Kasich Proposes New Government Agency to Promote Judeo-Christian...
Reflecting on 2015, Looking Forward to 2016
One message is appearing more and more as I peruse the Internet for daily news and perspective pieces: "A subscription is required to view this content." The Wall Street Journal allows you to read the first paragraph...
Islamic State Committed Genocide, Says Holocaust Museum; State Department Undecided
The U.S. State Department was asked last week if the Islamic State (IS, also called ISIS, ISIL or Daesh) was committing genocide. An earlier report by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) labeled IS actions...
Should Churches Take Moral Stand Against Football?
The Jumbotron at Soldier Field, visible from our condo window, offers a colorful set of images on Sundays when the Chicago Bears are at home. It displays more liturgical colors than can the devotees of other religions...
November 17, 2015
Syrian Refugees Not Welcome Here, Governors of 24 States Say (CNN) Jeb Bush: Focus on Christian Syrian Refugees (CBS News) Obama Calls Idea of Screening Refugees Based on Religion 'Shameful' (Washington Post) Ohio...
Shaun King Confronts the “Christmas Crazies”
Shaun King, senior pastor of Johns Creek Baptist Church in Alpharetta, Georgia, talks about how to confront the craziness of Christmas in a new online video interview with EthicsDaily.com. King is currently leading a...
Faith Leaders Turn to Twitter to Express Prayers, Solidarity with the People of Paris
As soon as reports appeared on the Paris attacks, the global faith community turned to Twitter to express solidarity for those who suffered and to pray for the victims and their families. Catholic News Agency offered...
Border Blocks in Nepal Could Trigger Humanitarian Crisis
Nepal's two major earthquakes earlier this year shattered the lives of millions of people. Now nationwide fuel shortages, caused by more than two months of blockades along the border with India, mean life for people in...
November 16, 2015
French Mourn Lives Lost and Condemn Terrorism in the Name of Religion (USA Today) More Than 1,000 Mormons Resign From Church Over Same-Sex Policy (New York Post) Mormon Leaders, Members Struggle Over Gay Marriage Edict...
November 14, 2015
Amid Backlash, Mormon Church Clarifies Same-Sex Policy (NBC News) Republicans 2016: White Evangelicals Dominate the Early Calendar (Rasmussen Reports) Supreme Court to Hear Major Abortion Case (CNN) Black Students...
Rockin’ with the oldies
You know you're getting up there when the concert artists you want to see are in their 70s. I was a fan of Don McClean even before "American Pie," and when I saw last year that he would be performing at the Carolina...
Early Christian Leaders Condemned Greedy Lenders
Would you like to spend eternity knee-deep in a lake of puss, blood and boiling muck? Or held in the same contempt as forgers, dishonest lawyers, thieves, murderers and oppressors of the poor? You will, according to...
How You Can End the Us-vs.-Them War
While in the religion section of Barnes and Noble recently, I found two books that struck me as indicative of America at this juncture. One was titled "Why the Christian Right Is Wrong," and the other was "God's Own...
Making Faith Relevant by Supporting a Living Wage
When Christians talk to others about Jesus, it is more likely to turn them off than attract them. This conclusion, highlighted by The Guardian, was one finding in "Talking Jesus," a Church of England report published...
November 13, 2015
Billy Graham is Probably Not the Author of His Own “Final Chapter” (Religion Dispatches) Rubio's Faith Outreach Director Raises Eyebrows (MSNBC) Will Northern Kentucky's Ark Encounter Float? (Cincinnati Enquirer) Rural...
Busting Myth That Muslims Don’t Condemn Terrorism
Would you believe it? It turns out that more than 12 conferences and consultations have already been organized by international Islamic bodies in order to condemn the behavior of ISIS in the year following the group's...
How Churches Can Measure Their Significance
What does a new generation desire from the church? This subject is addressed in Rachel Held Evans' new book, "Searching For Sunday: Loving, Leaving and Finding the Church," which a group at my congregation is studying...
Easing the Burden on Our Stressed-Out Families
We move incessantly, haphazardly and compulsively from one screen to another, one device to another, one platform to another, one distraction to another, just one more thing real quick. That's the way we live our...