Land of the Pilgrim Pride
Land of the Pilgrim Pride My country tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty, Of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, Land of the Pilgrim’s pride, From every mountain side, Let freedom ring As I ruminate over the lyrics of this melodious tone and the moments that inspired Samuel Francis Smith to etch [...]
Three Questions on Immigration Reform
This past Tuesday afternoon, President Obama addressed the nation about the pressing need for immigration reform. As he noted, the approaches to this reform will be quite varied in ideology and implementation, but most of us will agree that something needs to change. I am glad the conversation is happening and eager to see what [...]
Domestic Workers at our Gates
“Happy is the person who heeds me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at my doorposts.” –Proverbs 8:34 Who are those that watch our gates? Who are those that wait at our doorposts? And where do they find happiness? For most of my life, my parents have employed people to clean our house once a [...]
The Truth, So Help Us God?
In a world that bombards us with information from every side, it can be surprisingly difficult to find truth. This past weekend many Jews celebrated Shavuot, the holiday commemorating God giving the Israelites the Torah at Mt. Sinai. While I don’t believe this happened in the way it’s vividly described in chapters 19 and 20 of [...]
Walking it Out: Parakaleo from Selma to Montgomery
Last week, I had my first Spring Break of Divinity School. I fought off all my urges to travel to a tropical location and flash strangers (Springer Break anyone?) and was excited to spend time in the library getting ahead on final research papers. You know – getting crazy – future clergy style. Hallelujah, I [...]
What We Speak Out Against/For
Reflections on Pulpit Freedom Sunday, Alabama Immigration, and the Christian Faith.
Jews and Muslims in America: More in Common than We Think
Contrary to common assumptions, many Jewish and Muslim Americans enjoy warm relations. Yet we are only beginning to understand how and why this is so. A Gallup report released last week goes a long way to explaining this unexpected trend and shows that the two communities have more in common than is often thought. The [...]
From Ground Zero to Gays in Uganda: A Millennial Response to Modern Moral Crises
This piece originally appeared on the Huffington Post Religion and was co-authored with Valarie Kaur. In the weeks following 9/11, a Sikh man named Balbir Singh Sodhi was shot down at a gas station by a man shouting “I’m a patriot!” In 2009, a 9-year-old girl named Brisenia Flores and her father were murdered in [...]
Strangers Among Us
This past week the United Methodist Church got some good press… the Tea Party Nation’s Judson Phillips demanded its closure. The Huffington Post reports that Phillips demanded the closure of the United Methodist Church after he toured the United Methodist Building in Washington, DC. There he saw a sign in support of the DREAM Act [...]
Why I am ashamed to be a United Methodist.
First let me make something perfectly clear — I love my denomination. The United Methodist Church’s theology is historically grounded in a movement attentive to the holistic character of human existence. Emphasis on social justice is not separate from personal piety, nor corporate worship from individual devotion, justification by faith is not separate from the [...]
Contributing Scholars
Jacob KohlhaasI am a PhD student in Systematic Theology at Duquesne University (Pittsburgh, PA); my BA is from Wartburg College (Waverly, IA), and MA is from Catholic Theological Union (Chicago, IL). A Roman Catholic who spent several years employed by Lutherans, my interests are in Ecumenism, Theological Anthropology, and Environmentalism.
Joshua OxleyJoshua Oxley is a 2nd-year Master of Divinity student at the University of Chicago. He also serves as Humanist Advisor for the University, working primarily with secular students.
Practical MattersPractical Matters is a graduate-student run, transdisciplinary, multimedia journal, sponsored and supported at Emory University, that seeks to ask and provoke new questions about religious practices and practical theology. Founded in 2007, Practical Matters publishes peer-reviewed scholarship in several different media types and genres, reflections and essays by practitioners and teachers, video and audio interviews with scholars, reviews of current work in religious practices and practical theology, musical performances, photographic essays, and more.