What’s Wrong With This Picture?

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On Religion and Education

“If parents wish to bring up their children in their own traditional superstitions, they should do it on their own time and at their own expense… Religion, the bane of the modern world in so many respects, has got to be relegated to the private sphere and kept there. And religious worship (not of course [...]

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Should You Feel Guilty? (I Think I Should)

Christianity is often criticized as a ‘guilt-based’ religion. It is argued that believing that people are all sinners in need of forgiveness is psychologically damaging and leads to unhealthy views of an angry God who is interested in little more than venting his cosmic rage at human targets who refuse to repent. [...]

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Update

For those of you who expressed an interest in the (Red)emption effort, Mike has posted a four week update. Progress has been consistent but they are still well short of their goal of 1000 donors. So consider a $10 statement, a $10 expression of support for those suffering with AIDS. I’ve just [...]

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MEDA Nominated For Award

I’ve been impressed with the work of MEDA (Mennonite Economic Development Associates) for a while so I was happy to hear that they’ve been shortlisted for the Alcan Prize for Sustainability for 2006 (see the shortlist here). The description on the Alcan prize website reads:
“The Alcan Prize for Sustainability is a US $1 million [...]

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(Red)emption

I hadn’t heard a whole lot about the Product (Red) Campaign, (the Gap’s contribution to wiping out AIDS in Africa) but I had heard enough to admire the intention. The problems in Africa really seem to be beyond description and the temptation view the whole situation with an attitude of despair is sometimes strong. [...]

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Romeo Dallaire

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. [...]

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Shake Hands With the Devil

I just finished a belated reading of Shake Hands With the Devil, Romeo Daillaire’s gut-wrenching account of the Rwandan genocide of 1993. It’s difficult to know what to do with a book like this. Rwanda’s is essentially a story of Western abuse and failure, from Belgian colonial rule to the paralyzed indifference [...]

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Hard-Wired to Look Ahead

Allow me a sentimental follow-up to the previous post. I was drawn to the Augustine quote because he put his finger on something I think many of us know intuitively. Experiences of joy in this life are always tainted by the fact that we know they will not last and the fact [...]

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Time for a Hummer

Well this is a relief. Here I had been worried that high gas prices had to do with global supply issues and Middle East security when in fact it has nothing to do with either of those catastrophes. It turns out Exxon’s outgoing CEO simply needs a more comfortable retirement package. [...]

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