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Archive: October 4, 2009 - October 10, 2009
Something Stronger Than Evidence
Something stronger than evidence was at work as something stronger than evidence has worked in the hearts of every believer for the last two thousand years. It is the work of God's Spirit.
By Cal Thomas | October 10, 2009; 8:25 AM ET | Comments (7)
A Nobel Message to America
In choosing Obama for the Nobel Prize, the committee chose hope over despair. They chose the ideals of the United States over cynicism. And they chose to support a young, visionary leader at a crucial moment in world history when so much can be gained or so much can be lost.
By Feisal Abdul Rauf | October 10, 2009; 8:19 AM ET | Comments (12)
Start With Skepticism, Seek Harmony
Because beauty, harmony, and connectedness are also divine traits, humans who express these in their lives reflect divinity in the process. On the other hand, ignorance, hatred, and violence reflect a lack of connectedness with that divinity.
By Ramdas Lamb | October 10, 2009; 12:45 AM ET | Comments (7)
To Know God, Taste the Sugar
Salvation is not attained by a club membership in my faith or another, or bought and sold in a transcendental marketplace of souls. Salvation is the most available of all commodities, there to be had for anyone whose mind is still and open to experience the divine.
By Aseem Shukla | October 9, 2009; 3:36 PM ET | Comments (9)
Karen Armstrong's Cheshire Cat Compassionate God
Armstrong and her fantasy deity smile, and preach compassion. But "it" smells of the library rather than the street, and she does not pray to it. But we God-believers can be grateful to her for insisting that there is a there there, which is an ever-so-small but real advance on atheism
By Willis E. Elliott | October 9, 2009; 2:44 PM ET | Comments (6)
Thanks, But No Thanks, From A Happy Atheist
The fact that there are many Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Pagans, and atheists whose lives are models of concern for their fellow humans--and many whose lives are sinkholes of selfishness--suggests that religious belief, or the lack of it, has little to do with our daily decisions on behalf of good, evil, or apathy.
By Susan Jacoby | October 9, 2009; 10:17 AM ET | Comments (564)
Wisdom and Compassion
I would say that the most contradictory evidence for faith in God: believers marked more by arrogance than compassion or make-believe than wisdom.
By Brian D. McLaren | October 9, 2009; 10:11 AM ET | Comments (3)
Why are We in Afghanistan?
The national interest of the United States is to place under pressure those who would destroy the United States. It is not to conquer and subdue the people of Afghanistan. Can one be accomplished without the other?
By John Shelby Spong | October 9, 2009; 9:34 AM ET | Comments (1)
The Best 'Case for God'
What I believe attracts the skeptic is a willingness on the part of religious people to wrestle with truth and to follow it no matter where it leads.
By John Shelby Spong | October 9, 2009; 9:28 AM ET | Comments (11)
Obama and the Nobel Peace Prize
I was surprised by the news that President Barack Obama had won the Nobel Peace Prize, because I didn't know he was in contention. But I am not surprised that world has taken notice of his efforts to breach the...
By Susan K. Smith | October 9, 2009; 8:09 AM ET | Comments (3)
Looking for God in All the Wrong Places
I believe there is no scriptural text, no argument from nature, no human or divine words, and no example of human kindness that works to inspire faith until there is a "Why?" that springs from the human heart.
By Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite | October 8, 2009; 11:30 PM ET | Comments (1)
Proof of God Never Stands Still
The reason that the Kingdom of Heaven is within is that God is a state of consciousness; there is nowhere to look but within. The deity may be infinite, all-pervasive, and ever-present, but proof of God is on the move, shifting as fast as our own perceptions.
By Deepak Chopra | October 8, 2009; 9:01 PM ET | Comments (9)
Exhibit A: Jesus
Beauty, Justice and above all Jesus.
By Nicholas T. Wright | October 8, 2009; 4:25 PM ET | Comments (8)
Good Believers Make the Best Case
I personally think a strong, good life built around faith in God is the best evidence. The example of a person-or a population of people-who act on their faith is the best kind of proof. Such people are not an argument for an unseen reality but they are evidence of God working.
By Richard Bushman | October 8, 2009; 4:22 PM ET | Comments (3)
The Case for 'Faith', not 'Belief'
When we are talking about God, nobody has the last word because what we call God lies beyond the reach of speech. Equating 'faith' with 'belief' is a recent aberration and one that is peculiar to modern Western Christianity.
By Karen Armstrong | October 8, 2009; 4:09 PM ET | Comments (118)
Making the Case for 'Belief' in God
In the history of theology, two of the most compelling ways to make the case for God resided in these two questions: What is the basis for moral truth? Why is there something rather than nothing?
By Rebecca Goldstein | October 8, 2009; 3:51 PM ET | Comments (3)
A Case For Nothing
It seems that Karen Armstrong and I would agree that nothing is sacred, but from opposite sides of this pun. Ms. Armstrong believes in a god about which or whom you can say nothing, and I see no thing worthy of worship
By Herb Silverman | October 8, 2009; 1:00 PM ET | Comments (21)
Nothing Has Changed
There is clearly a significant force of extremists who have merged an ideology with some of the more incendiary paragraphs in the Qur'an. It is a volatile mix. Sadly, there is no religious solution.
By Charles "Chuck" Colson | October 8, 2009; 12:23 PM ET | Comments (2)
History and Community
For the Jewish tradition, the greatest appeal to a non-believer is not personal experience or the expression of Scripture. It is found in history and especially in community.
By David Wolpe | October 8, 2009; 12:21 PM ET | Comments (1)
Go and Study
Not armed with extensive knowledge of Judaism's history, culture and ritual, many Jews today can be neither functional nor competent within their faith. How many of us read the Torah and quake from the voice of God?
By Erica Brown | October 8, 2009; 11:43 AM ET | Comments (0)
Gandhi Would Dislike Pen, But Give Proceeds to Poor
Would Gandhi like a gold pen in his memory? No, but when it came to raising money for the poor, he sold his autograph, his photograph and his books.
By Arun Gandhi | October 8, 2009; 7:51 AM ET | Comments (4)
How is Moral Responsibility Determined?
We exacerbated the situation in Afghanistan and helped create the problem. Now it is our duty to try to help rectify it.
By Ramdas Lamb | October 7, 2009; 2:52 PM ET | Comments (0)
No Moral Obligation in Afghanistan
I wish we could leave Afghanistan. I wish we could find a way to deal with the Taliban and al-Qaeda without this war. Militarily, though, I think we have no choice. Morally, we have no voice.
By Susan K. Smith | October 7, 2009; 1:59 PM ET | Comments (3)
Our Mistakes Haunt Us In Afghanistan
In Afghanistan and Pakistan, pluralism is dead and buried. No modern society constructed on the foundation of religious law, Sharia in this case, ever avoided the trap of intolerance, persecution and hate.
By Aseem Shukla | October 7, 2009; 1:58 PM ET | Comments (3)
An Example of How Islam Can Help Afghanistan
We will no doubt make far more strides toward democracy, personal dignity, and basic civil and human rights for Afghani citizens by helping people like Edhi than we will fighting the Taliban.
By Pamela K. Taylor | October 7, 2009; 8:51 AM ET | Comments (8)
Religion Must Be Part of Afghan Solution
We must understand that Islam itself is not the enemy - only the misguided interpretation of Islam on one hand and the incomplete application of its principles that has led to corruption and insecurity on the other.
By Feisal Abdul Rauf | October 6, 2009; 11:51 PM ET | Comments (29)
Afghans Want What You Want
If we worked through the profoundly Islamic vision in Afghanistan, what would our policy be? We would pull back from engaging extremists in far-flung military battles and turn our attention to protecting civilians.
By Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite | October 6, 2009; 1:41 PM ET | Comments (2)
Good Religion Gone Bad
Good religion rightly applied is likely the only long-term solution to the intractable conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere. Even if good religion grinds too slowly for most of us, it is far superior to religion gone bad.
By Robert Parham | October 6, 2009; 8:54 AM ET | Comments (5)
Our Real Obligation to Afghanistan
If we really desire freedom for the people of Afghanistan, we will not make the same mistakes, but defend the rights and dignity of the oppressed and respect the rights of the Afghani people to govern themselves.
By Matt Maher | October 5, 2009; 10:37 PM ET | Comments (5)
Theocracy: Always a Problem, Never a Solution
I'm pessimistic about a positive outcome in Afghanistan without a fundamental separation of religion from government. There has never been a theocracy that resulted in a decent standard of living for its citizens, or where minorities were treated with both tolerance and respect.
By Herb Silverman | October 5, 2009; 7:45 PM ET | Comments (31)
Religious Problems Demand Religious Solutions
Religion will be part of the solution in Afghanistan when those who call themselves religious have a vision of the world which accords full dignity and equality to all people, regardless of the faith they follow, including no faith at all.
By Brad Hirschfield | October 5, 2009; 5:11 PM ET | Comments (9)
We Should Help, But Can We?
Should we be fighting in Afghanistan? There is a clear moral imperative. But 'ought,' as Kant taught us many years ago, implies 'can.' To say we have a moral obligation means that we are able to fulfill it. Here there are serious doubts.
By David Wolpe | October 5, 2009; 5:07 PM ET | Comments (6)
Weapons of Mass Demonization
Perhaps this is the new parable of engagement--a Global Zero moment that will put the genie of nuclear weapons back in the bottle for good.
By Katharine Henderson | October 5, 2009; 8:25 AM ET | Comments (0)
Michael Moore and Capitalist Immorality
What is now broken in our American capitalist system is that the drive for acquisition is completely unregulated; capitalism has become uncoupled from democracy and its systems.
By Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite | October 4, 2009; 4:32 PM ET | Comments (8)
