Love Those Whom You Study: the Legacy of Sarah Hammond and the Ethic of Critical Empathy
Last Thanksgiving, the field of academic religious studies lost one its brightest young luminaries. Sarah Hammond had just begun her career as a professor of American religious history at the College of William and Mary when her life was cut short at the age 34, after a long struggle with mental illness. Last week at [...]
Violence and Visibility: Let’s Find Another Way to Teach Religious Literacy
As a Wisconsinite, my heart broke this morning when I heard about the news of a domestic terror attack at a Sikh gurudwara in my home state. As a Christian woman, I was ashamed that this act was committed by a man bearing the symbol of my faith on his arm. And as an American [...]
“Alhamdulillah, I am a Muslim,” Sings the Baptist: The Power of Music for Interfaith Dialogue
The night that Navy SEALS stormed Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, another man living not five miles away awoke wondering why the military was conducting drills in the middle of the night. This man, a Canadian and a Muslim whose name is Dawud Wharnsby, has also become known around the world, but for very [...]
The Lesson of Kony 2012 for Mission Outreach: Sometimes “Doing Nothing” is Better
“Oh, my dear, idealists are the cruelest monsters of them all.” -Sarah Vowell, Assassination Vacation In her various books on American history, Sarah Vowell repeatedly reveals a complex relationship with idealism and the can-do spirit, which parallels her relationship with the United States in general. In The Wordy Shipmates and Unfamiliar Fishes, she paints a [...]
Fomenting Repentance: A Vision of the 100%
Christianity has manifold resources for individuals who feel mired in sin who seek to repent and live a new life. As Kaari Aanestad pointed out in a wonderful article, this is not without problems, as it can keep individuals trapped in cycles of depression. But what about societies that are mired in sin, which as [...]
An Advertisement for Advent, the Anti-Holiday
Hey there, weary Christian! Are you a retail employee disillusioned by the singleminded zeal of shoppers determined to spread the spirit of giving, come hell or high water? Are you a stressed out churchgoer searching for that perfect donation to foist upon your local nonprofit, because poor little Timmy’s Christmas will be ruined if you [...]
Dare to Ask Questions: The (Occasionally Intrusive) Ministry of Curiosity
The story of Jesus healing a lame man in John 5:1-15 is repeated in church sanctuaries throughout the world. The setup reads like so many others: Jesus comes across an invalid. I would think Jesus, who lives this reality every day, would be the first to assume that the lame man seeks to be healed. [...]
Interfaith Humility and Intrafaith Pride: How A Nicaraguan Nun Made Me a Better Baptist
As a Capuchin Francisan Corps volunteer in Puerto Cabezas on Nicaragua’s Atlantic Coast, I had the remarkable opportunity to partner with the Christian Formation teachers at two Catholic schools, even though I myself was Baptist. It impressed me that this was taken in stride by the local Agnesian nuns and the Catholic teachers I worked [...]
Kathryn Ray
I'm a first-year M.Div/AM Schloerb Fellow at the University of Chicago Divinity School and School of Social Service Administration. I enjoy dancing and the theology thereof (also called embodiment or incarnational theology).
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Contributing Scholars
Kelly Figueroa-RayKelly West Figueroa-Ray, 34, is a Ph.D. student in Comparative Scripture, Interpretation, and Practice at the University of Virginia. She is focusing on the relationship between scripture and theology as it is lived out in communities of faith with a particular interest in multicultural Christian ministries.
Bilal HassamBilal Hassam is a trainee Doctor at the University of Nottingham concurrently studying a Masters in Inter-Religious Relations at De Montfort University, Leicester. He spent a year as a Faiths Act Fellow for the Tony Blair Faith Foundation and the Interfaith Youth Core (Chicago) serving as an Inter-Religious Ambassador for the UN Millennium Development Goals; mobilising faith communities to work together in the fight against global poverty. He continues to be involved in a plethora of charitable and community organisations and initiatives across the UK and Europe and can be followed at twitter.com/bilalhassam