Video
Twitter
RSS Feed
Archive: October 18, 2009 - October 24, 2009
Why I Believe
God exists, but what God? I mean the God that is all-powerful, all knowing, the God who is the Creator of the cosmos. By definition if such a God exists, there is only one God, because only one being could logically be omnipotent.
By John Mark Reynolds | October 24, 2009; 11:17 PM ET | Comments (0)
Catholic Church says, 'Welcome home'
By responding to the requests from these Anglicans, the Vatican is not poaching on someone's property, but is putting out a welcome mat at the Church's front door for people who have long desired to enter in.
By Thomas G. Bohlin | October 23, 2009; 12:18 PM ET | Comments (15)
Catholics and Anglicans: Related but can they live together?
Will even the most conservative Episcopalian contemplating a move to Rome accept the centralized authority of Roman Catholicism where bishops and pastors are appointed and decision come top down? And will Roman Catholics be content with the Episcopal propensity for doctrinal latitude and disciplinary ambiguity?
By Margaret O'Brien Steinfels | October 23, 2009; 11:42 AM ET | Comments (12)
Give us your misogynists and bigots
What major institution most deserves the title of greatest force for evil in the world? In a field of stiff competition, the Roman Catholic Church is surely up there among the leaders.
By Richard Dawkins | October 23, 2009; 12:54 AM ET | Comments (98)
Cause for sadness and celebration
Pope Benedict's invitation must be seen as an opportunity for Anglicans to consider the claims of church unity against the strengths and attractions of the Anglican tradition before they send their RSVP's. Nevertheless, if - and it is a big 'if' - large numbers of Anglicans from the Church of England leave for Rome, I fear for our national church.
By George Carey | October 22, 2009; 1:46 PM ET | Comments (31)
Ecclesiastical kindergarten games
In this embarrassing conflict the Pope seeks to gain an advantage by making Roman Catholic Christianity more welcoming to those Anglican clergy and members who cannot adjust to new truth and new consciousness, while the Archbishop grieves over the results of his own inept leadership.
By John Shelby Spong | October 22, 2009; 12:41 PM ET | Comments (56)
Hate crimes are different
We know all too well that hate crimes are different from other crimes. They are more than individual murders, beatings, and assaults. Rather, they seek to terrorize entire groups of Americans.
By David Saperstein | October 22, 2009; 12:31 PM ET | Comments (82)
Throw-away lives
Where education, including religious education is insufficient to shape moral character, federal legislation must be the force to stay violence. Hatred is taught and needs to be unlearned. As long as hate crimes are not named by society, and called out as such, they become normalized.
By Katharine Henderson | October 22, 2009; 11:44 AM ET | Comments (4)
The Jewish Writer?
Today, too often, we are guilty of trying too hard to reduce writers and others into easy categories. Something profound can be lost when we compromise identity in this way.
By Erica Brown | October 22, 2009; 11:37 AM ET | Comments (0)
Fair is fair
Fair enough. We've been doing the inviting for years. We welcome the Pope to the business of welcome. We all know that religious boundaries and "brands" mean a good deal less than they used to. As far as I can see, the Pope's invitation continues a de facto period of pilgrimage.
By William Tully | October 22, 2009; 11:04 AM ET | Comments (5)
Vatican's cynical and opportunistic overture
The Vatican's sudden overture to disaffected Anglicans strikes me as both cynical and opportunistic in that Rome is making the overture at what might be viewed as a moment of crisis or weakness in the Anglican Communion.
By Randall Balmer | October 22, 2009; 9:50 AM ET | Comments (10)
Religions need to live and let live
If the prophetic traditions spent less time counting their flock and more time tending to them and their needs and also inspiring them to better co-exist in a multi-faith world, we would have much less violence to worry about and far more compassion and empathy to address the real problems we all face.
By Ramdas Lamb | October 22, 2009; 4:57 AM ET | Comments (5)
When the only motive is hate
When hate leads to crime--and hate is the only motivation--it seems clear that such a crime is particularly severe.
By Aseem Shukla | October 21, 2009; 4:31 PM ET | Comments (0)
Episcopal Unorthodoxy
The only thing that has divided the Anglican community is the failure of orthodoxy on the part of the Episcopal Church in the United States. The Catholic Church didn't contribute to that. Sadly, the Episcopalians did it to themselves.
By Charles "Chuck" Colson | October 21, 2009; 4:04 PM ET | Comments (13)
Moving beyond hate
What we need to understand and do as a society is to address head on what causes such hatred. I see two issues: fear caused by ignorance and greed for power. Resentment, prejudice, and hatred are typically caused by fear, which is most often the product of ignorance.
By Ramdas Lamb | October 21, 2009; 2:23 PM ET | Comments (1)
Laws against discrimination
A law may stop people from showing their hate but it will never eliminate hate. A law can only protect a person from the physical manifestation of hate, but it cannot transform the hater.
By Arun Gandhi | October 21, 2009; 2:13 PM ET | Comments (6)
Where law takes over from morals
Law has to take over where religion can't hold the line. In the case of where religion is plainly saying the same general thing as the law ("don't steal" or "don't kill"), we still need laws to enforce these things in the civil code.
By Leo Brunnick | October 21, 2009; 1:31 PM ET | Comments (6)
A crime should be a crime, but...
Making these types of crimes part of the hate-crime law at least signals to the LGBT community that there is some sensitivity to the danger they are in, as well as the overall discrimination they face.
By Susan K. Smith | October 21, 2009; 11:48 AM ET | Comments (0)
Vatican's move a dishonest distraction
Too often, organized religion sets itself up as a sort of god on earth, pushing people away from the real God as it jams oppressive doctrine and rules down the throats and into the spirits of people seeking to know who God is.
By Susan K. Smith | October 21, 2009; 11:24 AM ET | Comments (11)
Business as usual for Vatican Enterprises, Inc.
The Roman Catholic Church is facing a huge drop in revenue thanks to a dramatic decline in its customer base in the wake of years of sexual abuse scandals, shameful cover-ups and costly legal settlements. Its stock has never been lower. It urgently needs to acquire more customers.
By Paula Kirby | October 21, 2009; 11:12 AM ET | Comments (19)
Rome's new home for Anglicans
The experience of the new emigres will be closely watched by other Anglicans -- and will strongly affect the prospects of long-term Anglican-Catholic unification. History is being made.
By Austen Ivereigh | October 21, 2009; 10:56 AM ET | Comments (4)
Motivation matters in criminal cases
At the same time as it punishes particularly nasty crimes proportionately, the demarcation of hate crimes and added penalties for them sends a clear message that bigotry, racism, homophobia, etc are not acceptable in our society.
By Pamela K. Taylor | October 21, 2009; 10:35 AM ET | Comments (5)
Catholicism and Anglicanism: the end of an era
The theological gulf between Rome and Canterbury had become wider, not narrower, since Vatican II. An honest recognition of that fact might lead to a more fruitful, less fantasy-driven theological dialogue, as well as to new and intriguing historical explorations of just what the English Reformation entailed, back in the 16th century.
By George Weigel | October 21, 2009; 9:01 AM ET | Comments (35)
The divisiveness of Christian unity
Pope Benedict's bold move to embrace disaffected Anglicans paradoxically opens a path for Christian unity while also reemphasizing the doctrinal difficulties in bringing Christian denominations closer together.
By Mathew N. Schmalz | October 21, 2009; 8:53 AM ET | Comments (6)
Welcoming the Vatican's welcome of disaffected Anglicans
Why does a rabbi care about whether or not the Catholic Church becomes more welcoming of disaffected Anglicans? In this case, it's because I welcome all moves which increase diversity within religious community. But whether or not this new move will accomplish that remains to be seen.
By Brad Hirschfield | October 20, 2009; 5:27 PM ET | Comments (5)
Vaccination: the moral imperative
In reality, however, I suspect that opposition to the H1N1 vaccine has less to do with religion and more to do with the widespread mistrust of scientific medicine: a stance which is as baffling to me as religious belief.
By Paula Kirby | October 20, 2009; 3:09 PM ET | Comments (2)
Hate is not a religious value
All crimes are not equal. We see this not only in how our legal framework metes out punishments based on the crimes committed, but in how we as individuals are affected by some crimes more or less than others. The issue of hate crimes is far more than a law-and-order issue; it is also a moral and religious issue.
By Welton Gaddy | October 20, 2009; 2:52 PM ET | Comments (102)
Hate is no crime
What would free speech amount to if the speakers had no legal right to their biases? I believe that it is hateful to have on the books any laws criminalizing anything even remotely qualifying as "hate speech."
By Willis E. Elliott | October 19, 2009; 10:47 PM ET | Comments (11)
Crime is Crime is Crime. Not.
It is most helpful to see hate crimes legislation as a reflection of changing social boundaries and mores. For this reason, the debate should be joined over more substantive consideration of which ethical or ideological system is most appropriate for the society we wish to create and protect.
By Mathew N. Schmalz | October 19, 2009; 7:36 PM ET | Comments (0)
Freedom to hate
I don't want to hold the accused guilty of having an opinion, in addition to the crime committed, because even a reprehensible criminal deserves a free speech right to express an opinion. We have the right to hate, but not to commit crimes.
By Herb Silverman | October 19, 2009; 6:31 PM ET | Comments (46)
Crimes against community: a special kind of hate needs a special kind of law
It takes a special kind of hate to make a hate crime. It takes the kind of hate that targets a whole community through the torture and death of one of its members. In religious terms, this makes such a crime not just sin, but evil. In the language of law, it makes it a hate crime.
By Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite | October 19, 2009; 5:32 PM ET | Comments (3)
Hate crimes an extra menace to society
For the victim, a crime is a crime is a crime. But for society, a crime has more significance if its intent is to undermine basic human rights.
By Susan Jacoby | October 19, 2009; 2:14 PM ET | Comments (187)
Not to vaccinate is a sin
When we refuse a child a vaccination we are violating the rationale for having children. We are unnecessarily endangering others. Not only is one's own child at risk. Vaccinations are a barrier against contagion. In unvaccinated populations everyone is at risk.
By David Wolpe | October 18, 2009; 6:45 PM ET | Comments (37)
