Trade Center Memorial Designs Express Values, Hopes

The designers responding to CNN’s request don’t have the authority to decide what should be rebuilt on the World Trade Center site. But they’ve responded anyway with proposals simple and complex, scribbled and computer-generated. That question, posed...

Franklin Graham Speaks Before He Thinks

Franklin Graham needs to apologize to Islamic leaders for his repeated misstatements of fact. His criticism of Islam fertilizes the fields of hostility among conservative Christians toward Muslims. His unnecessary attacks choke the efforts of thoughtful Christians to...

Entertaining Strangers, Encountering Angels

My three children, young single adults, are scattered this week—Florida, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, a situation that prompts an oft-uttered prayer, “Lord, send into their lives people who will inspire them and make good things to happen.” As I pray...

Lessons from the Ark

Stories from the Bible often have several different angles of interpretation. The story of Noah, for example, is a story that we learned as children and that we continue to reflect upon as adults. Theologically speaking, the saga of Noah addresses the dual themes of...

Are Denominations a Thing of the Past?

In his 1972 book The Denominational Society, Roman Catholic Priest Andrew Greeley predicted that organized religion and denominationalism were so important to the fabric of America that, despite the skepticism of sociologists of religion, denominations would continue...