Christianity

God(s), Same-Sex Marriage, and the Colossal Joke

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How can individuals and denominations who all claim to know the True God/Gods while apparently praying to the same God(s) be touched in such different ways and have such differing visions of divine will? Does God/Do the Gods send us mixed and often contradictory messages? Does God/Do the Gods change his/her/their mind(s) from time to time?

Culture

Before the Dawn

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On this fast day, I remember that many U.S. people worry, like anyone anywhere, about the hardships a new day may bring, in a dangerous and uncertain time that seems to be dawning on every nation and the species as a whole. In the U.S., we carry the added knowledge that most of the world lives much more poorly – in a material sense, at least – than we do, and that were the sun to truly rise upon the U.S., with familiar words of equality and justice truly realized, we would have to share much of our wealth with a suffering world.

Culture

Birthwrong: Meet the Pranksters Celebrating the Jewish Diaspora

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Birthwrong is simultaneously a criticism, a parody, and a genuine alternative to Birthright and the many other organizations running similarly uncritical Israel tours. We aimed to celebrate life and history in the Jewish diaspora, particularly in Spain. The key principle of the trip was non-Zionism, rather than anti-Zionism.

Christianity

Religious Discrimination and Bullying

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Imagine a protest rally where organizers wore “F— Christianity shirts” and were encouraged to bring weapons to the rally in support of Second Amendment rights. Now, replace “Christianity” with “Islam,” and you have the Draw Muhammad contest in Phoenix, at the same Islamic community center that so-called lone shooters Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi once attended.

art

Why Schools Should Include Hip-Hop in the Curriculum

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It’s true that commercial hip-hop is often sexist, misogynistic, homophobic, and violent. The same is true of contemporary cinema, television, sports, and wider American culture. This is precisely why we should create spaces for our students to critique these messages.

Inter-Culturalism

The Seeds of Intolerance

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Hate disguised as free speech is a particularly ugly thing. Google Maps labeling the White House as N****r House is no less disgusting as a French magazine drawing the Prophet Muhammad in a stereotypical or untrue sketch. As I see the intolerance among us grow and ultimately divide us, I fear for the world we will leave our children and grandchildren in. Instead of learning to live in peace and love, we still think of ourselves as Muslims, Jews, Christians, white, black, brown, Israeli, Palestinian.

Culture

Acceptance Weighs More Than Denouncement

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Contrary to the expectation of the American Freedom Defense Initiative, Muslim leaders have condemned violence and supported the right to free speech. Most openly exhibit tolerance and follow the Qur’an when it states “And the servants of the Gracious God are those who walk on the earth in a dignified manner, and when the ignorant address them, they say, ‘Peace!’