What Does Invoking God Get You in Ethics?
Not much, says Julian Sanchez, and he’s right. Over the past decade, I’ve moved away from religious faith as an explanation for why the universe exists, why it is the way it is, and...
Tagged: Religion
Gospel Power Plays
Richard Beck of Experimental Theology reads Jesus’s statement “Call no man on earth father” as an attack upon patriarchal power structures and upon power plays in general: So the issue isn’t really about gender,...
Religion for Atheists
Ned Resnikoff challenges the supposedly easy path of superficially translating religious ritual and practice into forms that an atheist might find acceptable and beneficial: A fully developed theology is born out of conflict and...
Where Religion Begins
If I were asked today why I am religious, I would have to begin somewhere, and I would begin where religion begins. Religion begins (and ends) with love. By love I mean the unconditional,...
Pacifism: Its Moral Value and Insufficiency
As an action aimed at social betterment, pacifism–the refusal to return violence with violence–almost always fails miserably. In his essay “Non-violent Man and History,” philosopher Paul Ricoeur, himself a pacifist, shined a light on...
A Clarification on Unethical Religiosity
Seems my foray into biblical mythology distracted from my larger objective, which was to draw attention to the paradoxical conflict that can arise between being religious and being ethical–or, to put the conflict in...
When Being Religious Means Being Unethical
This past weekend I listened to the tale from Genesis in which God tests the obedience of Abraham by commanding him to sacrifice his son, Isaac. It’s easy to brush aside the troubling ethical...
Remaking Star Wars
The Star Wars films have their cinematic gems–and lightsabers, which better be well-stocked in heaven–but if the stories were ever to be retold, I’d want someone other than George Lucas in the lead X-wing. ...
Dust to Dust
I find it easier to get into the liturgical spirit of Ash Wednesday than that of Good Friday, perhaps because that latter is only a few days from the celebrations and festivities of Easter...
Santorum, Obama, and Theological Politics
There’s always a danger of reading too much into a vague statement some politician makes, especially when the statement is presented without context, so I want to tread carefully when examining the following quote...
