One of the basic concerns underlying the health care debate today is health care inequality.  Health care inequality is a species of economic inequality.  In the next entry in this reflection, I will ask what we should think specifically as Christians of health care inequality.  Here I want to pose four questions.  First, is economic/health-care inequality unjust in itself?  Is the inequality unjust in its extent–that is, is it so severe that it has become unjust?  Would we be better... Read more

1.  Yesterday’s upbeat economic news is followed by today’s downbeat indicators.  Of course, most people on both sides of the political spectrum believe that the economy will eventually turn around.  The question then becomes: how will the success or failure of Obama’s policies be measured?  Obama’s approval rating has fallen to 47%, the lowest yet (with 52% disapproving).  Presumably Obama will receive a bump in his approval ratings when the economy turns around — whether or not he deserves credit... Read more

Since we’re completing our month-long discussion on the triumphs and travails of working as a person of faith in the secular marketplace, we are beginning a two-week discussion (and partly as a response to the Public Square’s reflections on abortion) on adoption, foster care and other ways of responding to the needs of orphans. The Bible is clear about God’s passion for the orphan and the widow–and what matters to God should matter to His church.  I will begin tomorrow... Read more

Over the past month at the Evangelical Portal at Patheos we have been discussing the challenges and joys of being a Christian in the secular workplace.  It is ironic that Protestants, who began their tradition by affirming the priesthood of all believers and the sanctity of work and family life, should have fallen into the trap of viewing only “ministry” work as a religious vocation.  Most jobs are ministry insofar as they serve the needs of others and serve for... Read more

1.  Sojourners, the magazine and website produced by Call to Renewal, a movement of liberal Christians devoted to social and political reform, has taken up the fight for the Democrats’ health care reform.  Although Sojourners and Call to Renewal are not explicitly aligned with either party, and seek to engage both parties on moral and religious issues, they have fought against the “Religious Right” and the Bush administration for years, and it’s no secret where their sympathies lay.  President Obama... Read more

UPDATE: New poll numbers for the Obama health care reform plan are discussed here. 1.  After attention was focused on the Congressional appropriations bill in which members of Congress bumped up the order of new executive jets for themselves and other government VIP’s, now John Murtha, the powerful head of the Appropriations Committee, is saying the jets order may be scrapped.  It is possible that I was wrong in my characterization of the order.  According to Murtha, this is not... Read more

One of the more interesting of the articles that we have had on the Evangelical Portal, as a part of the Faith@Work Consultation, was William Miller’s first meditation on trust and its significance in the workplace.  He found his way to the heart of this scholar of philosophy and religion by posing a question through Socrates and finding an answer through Jesus, or specifically through Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Trust, of course, is a rare and valuable commodity, and... Read more

Somehow I missed this: an excellent article at the Wall Street Journal on new policies from the American Psychological Association on how some, who are conflicted about their sexual identity, may be guided away from the homosexual lifestyle.  This is one of the few examples of balanced journalism that one will find on a hot-button religious subject.  (H/t Get Religion.) Read more