Category Archives: Interfaith dialogue

On Wasting an Opportunity to Learn

“The one persecuting us then, now preaches the faith he destroyed” (Gal 1:23)

Listening to the current public debate about the proper course of action to be taken by or regarding the governor and the attorney general of Virginia, both of whom admit to having worn black-face in the 1980’s, I am struck by a failure to examine the situation in terms of the complex history of white culture in the South in the era immediately following the huge Continue reading On Wasting an Opportunity to Learn

Is Election the Same as License?

“I will curse those who curse you…” (Gen 12:3)

I anticipated some negative reactions to the most recent blog entry and have gotten them.  In it, I argued that the United States, driven largely by evangelical Christian misunderstandings of the Bible, effectively taking sides, treats Israel as though it were untouchable. Generally, objections center around Israel’s status as God’s chosen people and seem to reflect the idea derived from God’s promise of protection to Abraham that Israel enjoys almost untouchable status in God’s eyes. To be “on Israel’s side” is to be on God’s side; to Continue reading Is Election the Same as License?

Ignorance and Globalism

A Dangerous Cocktail

Growing up in the 1960’s in small-town Appalachia, I did not encounter significant cultural variety.  As a member of the Baptist majority, I found Episcopalians extremely exotic.  I was in high school when the first pizzeria opened in town.  Of course, the only things Italian about it were the spices in the sauce.

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“A Rose by any other name…”

Genesis 14:19-22 and Acts 17:23-24

Wishing to express solidarity with American Muslims who face growing hostility, Larycia Hawkins, a tenured professor on the faculty of Wheaton College (IL), posted a comment on her FaceBook® page on December 10, 2015.  “…as Pope Francis stated last week, we worship the same God.”  Saturday February 6, 2016, Hawkins and Wheaton’s academic

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