Posted in politics, public religion on 27 November 2007 | No Comments »
Recognizing the volatile mixture of religion and politics…
I recently read that former British Prime Minister Tony Blair felt the need to keep his religion quiet while in office because of his fear of being seen as a ‘nutter’ by a largely secular electorate. Leaving aside the question of whether or not Blair’s politics [...]
Posted in politics, tolerance on 27 September 2007 | 4 Comments »
David has some good thoughts on why Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to Columbia University may have been a missed opportunity. I don’t think anyone would want to minimize the seriousness or the danger of some of Ahmadinejad’s views. Some of the statements attributed to this man, particularly regarding the historicity of the Holocaust are nothing [...]
Posted in politics, social issues on 26 September 2007 | 6 Comments »
Posted in atheism, politics, public religion on 23 January 2007 | 2 Comments »
There is a common caricature of Christian faith that sees it as inherently opposed to the idea of progress and that anything worthwhile and good in the world has been achieved in the teeth of opposition from the church. A good example of this is latest musing of British skeptic and philosopher A.C. Grayling. [...]
Posted in faith, politics on 3 November 2006 | 1 Comment »
I have previously referred to Greg Boyd’s efforts at challenging some prevailing assumptions about what evangelicalism looks like with respect to political issues so I was interested in a recent debate (or discussion) he participated in with Jim Wallis, a prominent Christian social activist. Both have serious questions about the way in which the [...]
Posted in politics, social issues on 28 September 2006 | 10 Comments »
I had the chance to listen to Romeo Dallaire give the 2006 Schumiatcher Lecture at TCU Place last night and left the evening with a renewed sense of admiration of a courageous and visionary leader as well as a bit of lingering confusion over what it was that Dallaire was envisioning for the future. [...]
Posted in politics on 24 July 2006 | 1 Comment »
I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that some viewpoints in the current telling of the story in Lebanon are leaving me frustrated. My frustration has been not so much with the media ‘taking sides’ in their reporting, I find myself ‘taking sides’ depending on what I’m reading or hearing. If I’m listening to [...]
Posted in politics on 16 February 2006 | 5 Comments »
“All societies set some particular value at a premium and, in doing so, produce its opposite as an inevitable by-product. The value that is put at a premium by a culture will be that which is most necessary to sustain it, that which holds at bay its deepest fear and gravest danger.”
The preceding quote [...]
Posted in politics on 8 February 2006 | 10 Comments »
The cartoon furor continues… Today French president Jacques Chirac condemned the ‘overt provocation’ of Muslims by various French newspapers which have continued to publish the infamous cartoons. Chirac, according this article, stated that any subject matter that could hurt other people’s convictions should be avoided. The irony here is thick. France [...]
Posted in politics on 1 February 2006 | 9 Comments »
I have an ongoing interest in the way religion is talked about and perceived, especially within the context of a pluralistic culture. One of the recent stories that has caught my attention is the ongoing controversy around a Danish magazine’s decision to run a cartoon that caricatures the prophet Muhammad. This has [...]
