I’m done with Substitutionary atonement. I’m done with the magical notion that human beings need to sacrifice in order to appease an angry God. Sixteen people died at the hands of Sgt. Bales last week. Sixteen innocent Afghanis dead. It’s not entirely clear what happened, but one thing we can say: life had betrayed Sgt. Bales. Something had gone terribly awry, rage overwhelmed the moment, and erupted in a horrifying act of violence. René Girard, an anthropologist of significant influence,... Read more

Some Americans believe that taxation is theft, and that taking care of the poor and vulnerable is the business of charity alone. Others call for a “flat tax” which they claim is more fair than progressive taxation, which imposes a higher rate of tax on those of higher incomes. Such ideas once represented a fringe of the political spectrum, but now they are expressed by serious candidates for the presidency. Since religious language is being used to support these ideas,... Read more

By Jennifer Gutierrez Director of Urban Ministry for the California Pacific Conference of the United Methodist Church Why are mainline denominations dying?  I was recently in a trustees meeting for one of these denominations.  The trustees were grilling a representative from the committee that works with campus ministry.  The overall concern of the trustees seemed to be that their investments in campus ministry over the years had not yielded significant returns.  They were experiencing increased debt, and were not willing to... Read more

“The sheer range of religions represented led me to assume that they have few presuppositions in common. This assumption was supported by the fact that the main reason they meet is in order to learn about each other’s traditions.” Nate Gonzales, undergraduate student at the University of Southern California, made this astute observation in a paper he wrote about the USC student Interfaith Council, of which he’s an active member. (It might come as no surprise that he has been... Read more

On my forehead, A sign of the cross, Smudged in ash from the fire That burned down the McMansion of my hubris, And, with it, The money I should have given away, The television I used to numb my senses, The carpet I should have been called on, The doors I should have opened to others, The envelopes I should have used To send letters of love, The wise books I shelved prominently So that others would think I had... Read more

A Poem for Sundays there is a place beyond belief, where faith is true and false this promised land I incarnate god and god incarnates me, and together with the incarnations of humanity, we seek to find, create to destroy, this Jehovah, this God, this Christ. in the land of milk and honey, curdled sweet. a river of creeds runs over rocks drowning, quenching deserted throats. the wrath of god entombed in its violent weight the love of god kneeling... Read more

I am one of those Christians who believes in angels and demons. But I think the traditional Christian understanding of these things needs a major makeover. Seems to me the Tempter comes in many forms, and is just as likely to dote a three-piece-suit and wingtips as he is to have horns and a pitchfork. And perhaps the angels look more like the bums in the alley than the feathered white babies on Hallmark cards. Read more

  (on a hike at Devil’s Punchbowl near Pearblossom, CA) Mountain-shaped silhouettesMark the the tall pale stalk Of a spent yucca:Are these its last lines of praiseFor the land where it stands? Above, the yellow pineSighs with the deep gratitude I feelAs wind vibratesIts long-needled vocal chords. Below, in the canyon,Slabs of pale sandstone tilt sunward.The fault line that lifts themCarves a long notch into the mountains beyond,And drives a crack Through my imagination. A thin bright stream shapes the stoneWith tumbling... Read more

By Cynthia Bolbach, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) One question I’m asked almost more than any other is, “So, where do you see hope in the PC(USA)?” A comprehensive answer would take up more than the word limits of this column. But two things stand out. First, all across the denomination persons are realizing that our structures – borne of the corporate mentality of the 1950s – have to change for us to proclaim the gospel effectively in a... Read more