October 30, 2024
The problem with political religion should be obvious. Politicians make big promises but are bad saviors. Political parties make fanatical communities but bad churches. When politics become religion, Christian unity is poisoned and our more meaningful relationships die.
February 17, 2017
By Patrick Nullens Anne Frank, then 13, showed astonishing wisdom when she wrote in her diary: “But feelings can”™t be ignored, no matter how unjust or ungrateful they seem.” While writing this, she was hiding from the dark powers of Nazism, a political system based on pseudoscience and strong nationalistic emotions. Anne Frank in 1940, at about age 11, while attending school in Amsterdam, Netherlands. (Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons) Unfortunately, and rather ironically, we are masters in ignoring the vast impact of our feelings, just and unjust alike. Take, for example, certain Evangelical leaders who tirelessly argue biblical
June 24, 2015
By Jim Tune It”s no longer 1910 or the age of men. And if there once was a Christian age, it has come and gone. As recently as 1967, one might have argued that Canada was a Christian country. July 1, 1967 marked Canada”s centennial birthday celebration. Thousands gathered in Ottawa, the nation”s capital, for the festivities. The celebration began with a prayer service, which was carried on national television and was a centerpiece of the day”s events. The crowd waited expectantly as dignitaries arrived for the service, including all the main political leaders of the day: the prime minister
September 8, 2011
By Darrel Rowland In some ways it seems everything has changed. But some observers say reaction to 9/11 has been only a blip amid trends that began even before the tragedy. Flying is a hassle. We know what IED stands for. Osama is dead. Saddam, too. And so are almost 10,000 Americans. We”ve learned about Kabul and Fallujah the way previous generations found out about Iwo Jima, Panmunjom, and Pleiku. Scars in our largest city, our capital, a Pennsylvania field. Scars on our psyches, our souls, our kids. A bold president with a bullhorn promising justice. Members of Congress from
By Mark A. Taylor When I was a kid, my parents told me how we should view the fellow who delivered the Sunday sermon. We most certainly would never call him “reverend.” “He’s just a man like every other man,” my parents said. “We don’t revere him.” Years later, when I became a minister, no one called me “reverend.” But I was quickly introduced to two of the tasks people seek “reverends” to perform: funerals and weddings. And soon I came to feel fulfilled by the former while I often dreaded the latter. Not that I was ever happy someone
April 14, 2026
James Thompson
April 14, 2026
David Faust
April 14, 2026
Sandy Mayle