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I am certainly not qualified to comment on how well or badly women have fared in the world’s religions through the ages. I can, however, tell a story that happened to the woman I hold most dear – my wife, and how she fared in her first encounter as a clergyman’s spouse with the ways of the Episcopal Church.
I believe that care for the environment is a moral obligation of every human being. The question of how to enlist a sizeable portion of the human race in the exercise of this obligation is troubling.
Last night there were two important phone conversations in my home regarding the war in Iraq.
One conversation was between my wife and a long time friend and work colleague. This friend’s son had just returned from his second tour of duty as a Marine platoon commander in Iraq.
The second call was from our son, an officer in the National Guard, telling us that his deployment to Iraq in January, 2008 is more certain than ever. The war remains a foreboding, daily presence in our home.
Last weekend I was involved in two conversations – one brief, one extended – touching the reassertion by Pope Benedict XVI of the primacy of the Roman Catholic Church as the one true church possessing “the fullness of the means of salvation.”
The brief conversation was the recounting to me of an exchange between a Roman Catholic priest from the Vatican and an American nun in which the two were reported to have agreed that the Pope might best be described as an “ass.”
The Question: How should Barack Obama have responded to inflammatory remarks made by his former pastor, Dr. Jeremiah Wright? Are you responsible for what your spiritual leader says from the pulpit?
I am a 75-year-old, white, male, a proud veteran of the Marine Corps., a retired Episcopal clergyman, and I speak as one who loves this country. Oh how I wish the congregation my wife and I attend had a minister like Dr. Wright. For the past 14 years I have been a sermon listener rather than a sermon preacher. Only once in those 14 years have I heard a sermon that was clear enough and strong enough that real disagreement was even possible. I got so excited I made the mistake of expressing my vociferous disagreement at the door of the church rather than waiting for a more opportune occasion.
Someone who genuinely desires deeper insight and increased knowledge regarding the issues posed for religion in America by the “isms’ of sexism and racism must begin by thinking locally, focusing upon the unique situation of a particular congregation in a single religious tradition, in one local community in one region of the nation.
What Islam Really Says About Violence, Rights and Other Religions
Gomaa, Fadlallah, Mubarak, Khan, Siddiqi, Ellison, others | On Faith
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