I opened my Facebook account to find the most delightful quote. It comes from the actor and comedian John Fugelsang. “Obama is not a brown-skinned, anti-war socialist who gives away free healthcare. You’re thinking of Jesus.” Worth a moment of two to think about… And, while no socialist fix, far, far from anything worthy of that designation; the health-care program the president and congress were able to deliver is something wonderful, inspired by our better angels, and very much is,... Read more

One of the more disturbing thoughts for me is how easy it is to become an oppressor. Stanley Milgram’s famous experiment at Yale in 1961 revealed a frightening fact. It appears following some fairly easy steps the majority of people will move from administering a slight electric shock to administering what they understand to be lethal shocks to people seen as unwilling to obey instructions. Similarly, a decade later Philip Zimbardo ran an experiment at Stanford where people were divided... Read more

NEXT YEAR IN JERUSALEM The Immigrant Dream and the Quest for a Promised Land James Ishmael Ford A Sermon Delivered at the First Unitarian Church of Providence in Rhode Island, on the 28th of March 2010 Text The spirit of God ahs sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and release for prisoners, to comfort all who mourn, to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil... Read more

I’m a Zen Buddhist and a Unitarian Universalist. For me, it’s peanut butter and jelly. Strawberry, thanks for asking. But, my natal lineage is Christianity, and I’ve long sense gotten over any resentments. I don’t believe in a conscious deity in charge of this mess (And, if such existed, it probably shouldn’t be called God…), I’m bored too easily to stick with the single pathway of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures (although I do believe they contain everything necessary to... Read more

THE NECESSITY OF ATHEISM Percy Bysshe Shelley The Necessity was published as an anonymous pamphlet on this day in 1811. The author was soon exposed as a student at Oxford and he was duly expelled from the university. I gather he would go on to write verse… An expanded version of his meditation was published in 1813. And it is worth a read. However, this is the anniversary of that first broadside, and so here is the original… A CLOSE... Read more

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640 Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy Read more

By my count Oscar Romero was murdered thirty one years ago. I’m not the biggest fan of Noam Chomsky, but what he said in this video clip also using scenes from a movie about the archbishop, are simply true. I think the question this raises is how do we live in this world of suffering? I think the answer is simple enough, although rather hard to do. We need to look into our own hearts. And this is no easy... Read more

 Read more

A bit more than a year ago I cast my ballot for Barack Obama. I didn’t vote for him to come to Washington and make kissyface with the Republicans, although I hoped he could lift the level of rhetoric a bit. I voted for him to drive through some major and some smaller issues of concern to a country that claims to care for its citizens and the world. I voted for him most of all to address the terror... Read more

DEMETER’S JOURNEY, AND OURSA Hymn to the Goddess 21 March 2010 James Ishmael Ford A Sermon delivered at theFirst Unitarian ChurchProvidence, Rhode Island TextBecause I could not stop for Death,He kindly stopped for me;The carriage held but just ourselvesAnd Immortality. We slowly drove, he knew no haste, And I had put awayMy labor, and my leisure too,For his civility.We passed the school, where children stroveAt recess, in the ring;We passed the fields of gazing grain,We passed the setting sun.Or rather,... Read more