‘The Cross and the Olive Tree: Cultivating Palestinian Theology Amid Gaza,’ edited by the Palestinian theologians (and brothers) John and Samuel Munayer, can teach us much about a faith-based, justice response to the situation in the Middle East today.
Theology
Posted inBooks
Review: The American antichrists of our age
in ‘Defying Tyrants,’ Matthew Taylor argues that modern-day Christians concerned about the rise of Christian supremacist movements may benefit from recovering the early church’s understanding of the concept.
Posted inFaith and Reason
How ‘deep canvassing’ can help Catholics change minds on immigration
Studies show that the more religious you are, the more likely you are to hold negative views toward migration. This is a challenge to the Catholic Church—but also an opportunity to use church teaching to change hearts and minds.
Posted inFeatures
In a world where the glamour of evil rules, Catholics must create beauty
If you want justice, work for beauty.
Posted inBooks
Review: Rowan Williams on bringing back solidarity
In ‘Solidarity,’ Rowan Williams offers one imperative that reverberates through his book: If we are to recover a sustainable spirit of solidarity, we must work, both interpersonally and politically, to go beyond too-easy, sometimes performative declarations like “I feel for you and stand with you.”
Posted inFaith and Reason
Pope Leo is focusing on children for the World Day of Migrants. So should we.
The current U.S. mass deportation campaign has increasingly affected immigrant families and their children—many of whom are U.S. citizens. Children and youth are silent victims.
Posted inFaith and Reason
What’s wrong with the right-wing ‘heritage American’ story
Many arguments against migration suggest that only certain groups of people (the “blood”) are suitable to live on this land (the “soil”) and that only those belonging to those groups are true Americans. This is intellectually refined Trumpism—it is also immoral and un-American.
Posted inFaith and Reason
A.I., Dostoevsky and the very human fear of freedom
The danger is not that A.I. will ever “replace” human intelligence but that we will welcome its rule.
Posted inShort Take
What Christians lose when we stop reading
What happens to the church when the people of the book no longer choose to read? We ignore this question at our own peril.
Posted inFaith and Reason
Thomas Merton: Monk. Mystic. Existentialist?
A lifetime of re-reading Merton has convinced me that the existential note ringing through his body of work is key, not only to making sense of his wide-ranging thought, but to any real understanding of the man himself.