The Spirituality of Learning
Christian Scientists think of angels as bright ideas. Angels are moments of clarity and expanded consciousness, moments of fresh vision and creativity, broadened perspective, and infusions of loving inspiration. Christian Scientists, who think of God as pure Mind, a divine principle of loving consciousness, see the intellect as a portal of revelation. I come from [...]
Why Monty Python Makes for Good Religion: Reflections on Religion and Film, Part 3
(This is Part 3 of a 3-part series. See Part 1 and Part 2) OFFENSE Jesus was most recently portrayed in celluloid form by a Portuguese model with great hair. I’m talking about The Bible, a miniseries broadcast on The History Channel. In it we learn that Jesus was gentle and strong; that Jews really [...]
Wandering Through the Desert: Sifting Through Our Past on our Way to Revelation
During Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur we cast our sins in to the desert, freeing ourselves from their oppressive burden, unshackling our hearts and minds so that we can begin the year anew. Six months later another new year arrives (Exodus 12:12). After a period of enslavement we find ourselves once again loosening our chains and opening our souls, ready to reencounter that which we cast away.
Why Monty Python Makes for Good Religion: Reflections on Religion and Film, Part 2/3
(This is Part 2 of a 3-part series. See Part 1 here.) AUTHORITY There is another hot issue in a discussion about religion and the Bible: the question of who has authority over the telling of a narrative? How about The Bible miniseries on The History Channel? It’s a very confident little piece, isn’t [...]
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 [...]
Does Religion Cause War ?
Does Religion Cause War ? If so, How ? The sociologist David Martin, in his book Does Christianity Cause War? (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997), investigates the empirical evidence from “Europe as a whole” for Richard Dawkin’s assertion that “religion causes wars by generating certainty” (5,22). He concludes that Religious certainty does not cause war, but a religion’s [...]
After Auschwitz, What?
After Auschwitz, no theology: From the chimneys of the Vatican, white smoke rises — a sign the cardinals have chosen themselves a Pope. From the crematoria of Auschwitz, black smoke rises — a sign the conclave of Gods hasn’t yet chosen the Chosen People.1 –Yehuda Amichai On Yom HaShoah, the Jewish day to mourn [...]
Losing Your Religion? Keep the Faith!
In Terence Nichol’s 2003 book The Sacred Cosmos: Christian Faith and the Challenge of Naturalism he begins with an anecdote where two sets of Catholic children are asked the question “Where is God?” One, a group from the West, and another, a group from the East, answered very differently. The children raised in the West [...]
The ‘Hindu’ Identity
Hariḥ Ōm and Namaste (customary greeting of Hindus). This being my first post on ‘State of Formation’, I would like to express my great pleasure in being amid this crowd of intellectuals and academicians. Interfaith dialogue is a must- evermore so in today’s world, filled with strife and violence in the name of religion. Unfortunately, [...]
James Baldwin and the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing
The 16th Street Baptist Church sits in the middle of downtown Birmingham, Alabama. During the heart of the Civil Rights movement, when Birmingham was known across the nation as “Bombingham,” marchers and protesters would assemble at the 16th Street Baptist Church, then walk across the street to Kelly Ingram Park, where they demonstrated against segregated [...]
Contributing Scholars
Phillipe CopelandPhillipe Copeland is a Baha'i, a doctoral candidate in social work, a dedicated blogger, a husband and a father.
Nate KratzerNate is currently the social justice minister and youth director at Third Lutheran Church in Louisville, KY. He is pursuing a Masters in Public Policy at the University of Kentucky. He frequently does research and writing for the National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Programs, and he blogs at: http://faithandpublicpolicy.wordpress.com/
Marvin Lance WiserOriginally from Tennessee, once a sojourner in Latin America and then California, now a CIRCLE fellow and MDiv student at Andover Newton Theological School in Newton, Massachusetts, with concentrations in Hebrew Bible, the Ancient Near East, and Interfaith Studies.