Religions for Peace
The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, as well as the ensuing war between a global coalition led by the United States and the Taliban in Afghanistan have made many wonder about the relationship between religion and terrorism. The United States and its allies have been at p
Lessons From Memories Grown Cold
The world has changed forever. This now familiar mantra rang truest for me in the wake of the first allied retaliatory strike in Afghanistan. I knew it was coming; I just did not know what the it would be. Speaking before the press corps in the wounded Pentagon, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfe
Disarming Terrors of the Past and Future
As the American memory of Thanksgiving fades and the pace quickens before Christmas, I hold before me a large postcard collage crafted by the Shalom network of the School Sisters of Notre Dame. Two compelling imagesa plume of smoke bulging from the World Trade Center, and a woman, apparently Afghan,
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
As the church looks for new ways to respond to the needs of poor immigrants in urban areas like New York City, are there lessons we can learn from efforts to help earlier arrivals? Although The Godfather might lead us to believe that joining the Corleone family was the dream of every young Italian i
Editorials
The Debate Over Military Courts
Military tribunals have been around for a long time in the United States, and they have often been controversial. The very idea of such courts is now provoking dissent both here and abroad. On Nov. 13 President Bush signed an executive order permitting individuals who are accused of terrorism and ar
Faith in Focus
Profoundly Invisible
It is Friday, 9:15 p.m. Bruce backs the outreach van out of the parking area of Boston’s Pine Street Inn. It’s well packed with blankets, various articles of clothing, sandwiches, hot and cold water, instant hot chocolate and soup packets, some crackers and a case of oranges. Sean and I
Books
What to Do About Religion and Culture
It began innocently enough An anxious evangelical graduate student trying to reconcile Christian humility with intellectual pride through the study of C S Lewis A kindly professor devising an independent reading course which turned into a seminar then a large class finally a slender book Wesl
Weighing the Evidence
Whether one agrees with the specific conclusions of the author or not one has to admit that the book delivers on the promise of its subtitle In readable dispassionate language which is itself highly unusual for a book on this topic the author takes the reader through the major issues of the c
Television
Television After Sept. 11
In light of the events of Sept. 11, television seemsif this is possibleeven more banal than before. Despite the estimable Walter Cronkite's pronouncement at the much-delayed 2001 Emmy Awards that television helps to unite us and heal us and blah, blah, blah, it's hard not to look on the majo
Poetry
Nine One One
Once again the nightmare. The blueblack plume,
The Word
Voice From a Galilean Jail
Echoing through the readings today are messages of hopefor people almost three millennia ago for people at the beginning of the first millennium and for people today Amid the turmoil of internal injustice and invasion by the Assyrians Isaiah proclaims Be strong fear not Here is your God he c
News
Signs of the Times
Outcry on Cloning and Prenatal SelectionThe Vatican condemned the cloning of human embryos by U.S. scientists, rejecting claims that the research produced simple cells and not human individuals. Despite the scientists’ stated humanitarian aims, the research represents a new form of discriminat
Politics
Faith
Culture
Vatican
Scripture
Podcasts