Will Work for Meaning
On a recent, overcast Thursday evening, I co-led a presentation in San Marcos, Texas, about creating a local, interfaith environmental network. I didn’t know what to expect; in retrospect, I guess I didn’t expect much. San Marcos is a small town compared to the other cities in which I’ve offered this presentation. I wondered whether [...]
Compassion: Do Not Kill Buddha, Thou would bury the dead.
“If you see the Buddha on the road, kill him.” This phrase may sound shocking, considering the Buddha’s teachings of the Noble Eightfold Path that talks about “right” (in harmony with the teachings) action and speech, including “speak only words that do not harm.” To kill is indeed a strong word that invokes violence and [...]
Why Monty Python Makes for Good Religion: Reflections on Religion and Film, Part 1/3
Humor; humor is difficult. Religion; religion is difficult. They can both be reassuring, and discomfiting. They can affix labels, or they can liberate. They can be subversive, or they can uplift the dominant paradigm. Both can be thrilling and boring. They can be unifying, or alienating. Religion and humor both aspire to help us live [...]
Let the Millennials Speak
My eyes begin to move clock-wise around the circle, pausing briefly to engage with the words and hidden fears of the heterogeneous mixture of individuals that occupied the seats around me. The topic of discourse was two-fold: is the institution relevant and where do we go from here? Intentionally, I begin to ruminate about what [...]
Parashat Emor: Embodied Leadership and Its Discontents
In Parashat Emor (Leviticus 21-24), read this past week in synagogues around the world, we are introduced to the relatives for whom Kohanim (priests) are permitted to mourn, as well as a list of various classes of priests who, owing to a mum (blemish), are barred from performing the sacrificial service in the Mishkan (Leviticus [...]
Boston Blooms
One week removed from the lockdown of my city, spring is reclaiming our streets. In the moments and days following the Boston Marathon bombings, I watched my hometown transform into a combination of tragedy and heroism. In the week since, I have seen us move forward stronger and prouder, ever more dedicated to the causes [...]
Protesting Interfaith? The Importance of Advancing Our Dialogues
This piece was originally published on Huffington Post Religion. I had never before seen anyone protest an interfaith gathering. But yesterday as we walked out of our hotel in Kiev, Ukraine, a small group of protestors stepped forward to verbally and physically harass our group consisting of religious leaders and foreign dignitaries. The protestors belonged [...]
A Prayer for Homeless Youth
Winter is loitering in Minnesota this year, even though we’ve asked it to move along. Last Thursday brought a half-foot of snow, and April 19th achieved a record low of 21 degrees before the sun came up on Saturday. The 19th was also the date for Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative’s annual event, A Night on the Street. [...]
Engaging Compassion: Boston and the interrelatedness of our own actions.
Boston. Baghdad. New York. Kabul. Tel Aviv. Gaza… Syria… Burma… Rwanda… Tibet… the sorrow of violent tragedies that I have learned in my generation seems to have crossed all the borders. The reality is that there are no borders, even if we try to build the walls and fences that separate us. Hurt, like love, [...]
Keith Ward on Interfaith Dialogue and Disagreement
Wm. Curtis Holtzen and Roberto Sirvent have done a great service for those searching for a succinct compilation of theologian-philosopher Keith Ward’s voluminous work. In By Faith and Reason: The Essential Keith Ward, we now have a text which displays the depth and breadth of Ward’s momentous thinking. The compilation is appropriately arranged into five parts, each of which offer relevant [...]
Contributing Scholars
Mark McCormackI am a graduate of the Vanderbilt University Divinity School and am currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Vanderbilt's Community Research & Action program. My research and writing interests include interfaith relations, faith–based community development, congregational studies, and religion & politics.
Joseph PailleCandidate for ordination in the ELCA studying theology at Princeton Seminary in New Jersey. Research interests include end-of-life care, Lutheran liturgics, religion in the public sphere, and interdisciplinary work bridging behavioral economics and theology.