Inkerfaith: What My New Abraham Lincoln Tattoo Has To Do With Atheism and Interfaith Work
These last few weeks, I’ve gotten a lot of questions about my newest tattoo — a portrait of Abraham Lincoln on my right shoulder. “Why Abraham Lincoln? Is it because there are rumors he was gay?” Well, no, but I do appreciate the opportunity to make a Gaybraham Lincoln pun, thank you. “Why Abraham Lincoln? [...]
Recommended Summer Reading: “Sex, Mom, and God”
How are believers living in a postmodern world to make sense of premodern Scriptures? Are the caustic culture wars the inevitable outcome of belief systems, or is there a way that people with different beliefs can co-exist? Author Frank Schaeffer explores these difficult questions in his new book, “Sex, Mom, and God.”
The Embarrassment of Faith
My friend Jen is a rabbinical student. Her rabbinical school advises students not to shout their future vocation from the rooftops in delicate settings, such as airplanes, thanks to the unfortunate reality of human lameness. The rabbinical school would rather their students, if asked about their occupation, tell people they are in the education business. [...]
Why I Quit the Interfaith Praise Band
\”Book of John\” by Jenn Lindsay (YouTube link) Your book of John, it feels so wrong Each verse I read is damning me I try to find my way inside But it’s not my answer and anyone who says it is baffles me. The book we read is awkward indeed It holds you up; it [...]
I am who I am: Why I am not an atheist
Stop labelling me! I am far too suspicious and skeptical to be an ‘ATHEIST’. I am not Australian but I have two passports, New Zealand and United Kingdom. I’ve never believed in gods or religions but that doesn’t make me an atheist of any sort at all. I have always been fascinated, and sometimes moved, [...]
Stephen Hawking’s Other Insight
I am sitting in Oregon, adoring the all-too-brief bouts of sunshine interrupting the more extended periods of drizzle. The sky is clouded, as it apparently often is in this part of the world, and for the first time in a while I feel like the least hipster person in the room. I am here because [...]
Staring At Birds
This whole “who am I/where do I belong” exercise has been fine for the last decade. I can wax theoretical with my peers, and at the end of the day, I know that it is only my own unresolved struggles that sleep in my head. But, my wife is due to give birth at some point this month, and suddenly theories about where I am spiritually no longer cut it.
We Haven’t “Won” Yet
This post originally appeared on the Washington Post On Faith and the Huffington Post Religion. The attacks on the United States of America orchestrated by Osama bin Laden occurred during my first week of high school — what was supposed to be the start of my transition into adulthood. Due to construction on my school, the academic [...]
The Tolling Bell: Do Some Deserve to Die?
Outside the White House, citizens gathered to wave American Flags and chant “USA! USA!” At Ground Zero and Times Square people came out in droves. Right now as I type people are pressing onto the T in Boston, heading to the Common. Heading to celebrate the death of another human being.
This leads me to question, as a Humanist: Do some people deserve to die? Is it ever right to celebrate the death of another human person?
The Humanist Obligation to Serve: Being “Good without God” Requires Action
“I would like my life to be a statement of love and compassion — and where it isn’t, that’s where my work lies.” — Ram Dass Ten years ago, in the summer before my freshman year of high school, I went with my church to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota to do home [...]
Contributing Scholars
Omar KassabOmar is a German Muslim with Syrian roots. Currently, he is undertaking a Masters in "Comparative and International Studies" at ETH Zurich, Switzerland. He is interested in interfaith dialogue and the interplay between Politics and Religion in our "post-secular" world.
Hans GustafsonHans Gustafson currently serves as the assistant director of the Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning at Saint John's University (Collegeville, MN) and the University of St. Thomas (St. Paul, MN), where he also teaches in the theology department. He holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy of Religion and Theology from Claremont Graduate University. Follow him on Twitter @hansgustafson and his blog at hansgustafson.wordpress.com/
Susan ButterworthSusan Butterworth has BA degrees in French and Political Science from Tufts University and a MA in English from Salem State University. She is a visiting lecturer in English composition and literature at Salem State University and a professional nonfiction writer. She has just completed her first year in the MDiv program at Episcopal Divinity School. Susan is fascinated by the intersection of literature and theology studies and is working on a special competency in Anglican, Global, Ecumenical and Interfaith Studies at Episcopal Divinity School.