Setting the record straight

“What’s an American Muslim to say to Herman Cain?” Dilshad D. Ali asks, struggling with how best to respond to the nasty anti-Muslim rants of the Republican presidential candidate. What makes this debate even trickier is that even though many American Muslims feel compelled to provide a sane, intelligent response when faced with anti-Islamic rhetoric, [...]

Responsibility is differentiated, mutual and complementary, not exclusive, binary and competitive

One point, 10 reiterations, 10 links to longer, more thorough expressions of and arguments for that same one point: Responsibility is differentiated, mutual and complementary; responsibility is not exclusive, binary and competitive. Responsibility is differentiated, mutual and complementary; responsibility is not exclusive, binary and competitive. Responsibility is differentiated, mutual and complementary; responsibility is not exclusive, [...]

If we can make it there …

This is a joyful Saturday night in New York after yesterday’s vote to legalize marriage equality for same-sex couples in the Empire State. My favorite reaction to that good news was Patrick Nielsen Hayden’s two-word summary/response: “Love wins.” And I commend Republican state Sen. Mark Grisanti for his very honest, and very American, explanation for [...]

An inescapable network of mutuality

So Franklin Graham says that churches, rather than governments, are responsible for meeting the needs of the poor. Either one or the other, zero-sum, in competition, etc. This is not the view of most Christians or of most Christian churches. Nor is it an easy view to reconcile with the Christian Bible, which is full [...]

"It's all middle game"

Hey, did you hear what infamous lying historian David Barton said about net neutrality? He … Wait, sorry. Who cares what a confirmed and unrepentant evil liar like David Barton says about anything? And why would anyone think to ask him about it. Was someone sitting around thinking, “Hmmm, this business about the free flow [...]

Unsanctioned

"Sanction" is one of those words — like "cited" or "sanguine" — that can mean opposite things. This can be confusing. "The bus driver received a citation from the city" might mean she was ticketed — punished — for a traffic violation. Or it might mean she was rewarded and commended for excellence. In the [...]

Establishment

A federal judge has ruled that the establishment by Congress of a National Day of Prayer conflicts with the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. I'm not a constitutional scholar, but I believe the legal term for this ruling is "no duh." I happen to like the idea of a day of prayer, and of [...]