Guest Voices: Archives by Date - On Faith at washingtonpost.com

Haunted Still by Luther's Hope

What Martin Luther unleashed on Halloween five centuries ago was a Reformation of faith that continues today.

By Phyllis Tickle | October 31, 2008; 7:42 AM ET | Comments (32)

Palin, Clinton and 'Wicked' Women

On Halloween, our proverbial wickedness is celebrated in costumes and cartoons by a society that usually buries its deep-rooted fear and mistrust of women who go their own way. Will those fears grow as women like Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin edge us closer to real power?

By Jane Stanton Hitchcock | October 30, 2008; 4:52 PM ET | Comments (6)

Abortion's Vote for Obama

When Barack Obama admitted to Joe the Plumber that he planned on spreading the wealth around, he didn't mention that the tax dollars he will take from you will be used to pay for elective abortions for others.

By Dorinda C. Bordlee | October 28, 2008; 3:45 PM ET | Comments (36)

And Atwater Begat Rove, who Begat Schmidt...

We will never know how pure Lee Atwater's confession was, but if the likes of Karl Rove and Steve Schmidt ignore this final lesson that their mentor sought to impart and seek to win for their party the highest office in the land with the lowest tactics in their arsenal they do so at their own moral peril. And ours.

By Erik Kolbell | October 27, 2008; 12:04 PM ET | Comments (0)

Maimonides and Post-Holocaust Theology

Rather than making God responsible for evils in the world, Maimonides defined three causes of what human beings consider evil. One of these three evils is natural, whereas the other two are moral.

By Joel L. Kraemer | October 27, 2008; 9:21 AM ET | Comments (12)

Unbuckling the Bible Belt from the Legacy of Slavery

Hardly anyone mentions that the "the Bible Belt" and "the Black Belt" refer to essentially the same part of the country. That easily overlooked fact is of enormous significance.

By Robert S. McElvaine | October 23, 2008; 12:36 PM ET | Comments (4)

Colin Powell and My American Faith

During the great immigration waves of 1900, a rabbi said of our melting pot, "All names are American names." How wonderfully true. So too, all faiths are American faiths.

By Suhail A. Khan | October 22, 2008; 11:05 AM ET | Comments (42)

Powell Rejects Islamophobia

Since the beginning of this way-too-long presidential campaign Americans of conscience have longed for someone of such stature to repudiate the blatant bigotry towards Muslims. On Sunday Colin Powell lived up to his billing as senior American statesman.

By Abed Z. Bhuyan | October 20, 2008; 10:47 AM ET | Comments (305)

Straight Talk About Real Change

America does need change and straight talk. Let's look to God, rather than Wall Street or Pennsylvania Avenue, to heal our land.

By Franklin Graham | October 17, 2008; 4:13 PM ET | Comments (173)

A Sikh in America

After almost half a century of living in the U.S., I see that it is possible to be a good Sikh and a good American.

By I.J. Singh | October 17, 2008; 8:41 AM ET | Comments (54)

The True Cost of Episcopal Property Battles

We can only hope and pray that Episcopal leaders will realize that the high cost of this litigation has not done one thing to further the mission of God's church in any way.

By Jim Oakes | October 14, 2008; 10:46 AM ET | Comments (9)

Helping Those Really Left Behind

A nearly unanimous chorus from religious leaders and advocates reminds us that "rescue" and "bailout plans" must keep offer help to the most vulnerable and pay attention to the impact on the poor who are often marginalized.

By Séamus P. Finn | October 14, 2008; 10:18 AM ET | Comments (4)

Economic Meltdown Will Boost Religion's Stock

The current economic crisis has discredited market values. Religion's traditional values seem all the more appealing as a way out of the confusion.

By Ira Rifkin | October 10, 2008; 4:13 PM ET | Comments (17)

Crossing Central Park

For Jews and Muslims, coexistence can be strengthened and some small redemption achieved just by crossing Central Park.

By Burton Visotzky | October 9, 2008; 4:33 PM ET | Comments (2)

Secular States and Muslim Societies

The state is already secular in all Islamic societies today, but not secular enough in the sense of balancing neutrality and with regulating the public role of religion.

By Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na‘im | October 9, 2008; 1:09 PM ET | Comments (2)

A Path to Jewish Renaissance

This Yom Kippur, let us stand together as Jews and non-Jews and take responsibility for healing our world.

» Brad Hirschfield | Time to Redefine Wealth

By Edgar M. Bronfman | October 8, 2008; 1:15 PM ET | Comments (15)

Is Morality Driven by Faith?

We have moral needs so strong they can override our instincts for self-preservation. Even those with a direct line to God cannot depend on it to yield moral certainty.

By Susan Neiman | October 8, 2008; 10:39 AM ET | Comments (59)

Returning to Truth in Our Nation and World

The ancient sages of Judaism have exhorted us to found a society that is never in denial of Truth, that never avoids the suffering of society's weakest members, that never turns a blind eye to the consequences of unethical behavior. Somehow these values have fallen away among our most critical world leaders.

By Gil Steinlauf | October 8, 2008; 6:13 AM ET | Comments (8)

Motherhood's Heaven and Hell

My Hell would have to be about being utterly limited, stuck in one way for eternity.

By Susan Senator | October 7, 2008; 4:16 PM ET | Comments (1)

Clergy Leadership on Trial

A church court's determination that Episcopal bishop Charles E. Bennison should be deposed after he was convicted of covering his up brother John's sexual abuse of a minor in the 1970s is another signal that the "gentleman's agreement" that for so long bound the denomination together continues to unravel.

By Elizabeth E. Evans | October 6, 2008; 3:18 PM ET | Comments (4)

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