Pope Francis and the Jews

Last updated on: September 22, 2015 at 3:28 pm By Guest Contributor

By Michael Deschamps. The Roman Catholic Church is an institution with nearly two thousand years of history. As far as religious institutions go, it is rather unparalleled; most religions have survived through the centuries through their followers but the institutions surrounded them have long ago crumbled. As such, the church carries a great deal of contradiction as it juxtaposes itself against the centuries of history that it carries. Naomi Klein noted in her article in The New Yorker about her... Read more

Chicago Jains Celebrate Ancient Ritual of Repentance and Non-Harm

Last updated on: January 21, 2021 at 9:04 am By Guest Contributor

By Brianne Donaldson. In the dimly lit basement of the Jain Society of Metropolitan Chicago last Thursday, 17 September, two hundred children, teenagers, and young professionals sit down upon the floor slowly, careful not to squash any insects. The gesture is largely ceremonial, as there are not many insects inside the meticulously clean and modern educational hall, which has been transformed for the night into a ritualized space for reverent self-reflection. These second- and third-generation Jains braved Thursday’s sudden downpour... Read more

Dangers of Legitimizing Bigotry

Last updated on: September 15, 2015 at 12:08 pm By Guest Contributor

By Richard Cizik. Last week, a Sikh American resident from the Chicago suburbs was brutally assaulted by a random stranger. The perpetrator told the man, “Terrorist, go back to your country, Bin Laden!” before the victim fell unconscious. This innocent individual—a member of his local community and a father of two—was identified with terrorists, and bigotry was used to justify a horrific beating. The origin of the word “bigot” dates as far back as 1598. According to Wikipedia, the story... Read more

The Martyrs of La Florida Missions

Last updated on: September 14, 2015 at 5:07 pm By Guest Contributor

By Jonathan Shea. In the run-up to Pope Francis’ visit to the United States, much ink has been spilled and many pixels exploded over the pending canonization of Bl. Junipero Serra, the founder of the California missions. The controversy, centering on how the native peoples of California were treated by the Spanish (be it the mission priests, colonial government, etc.) has been well-treated in both the Catholic and mainstream press. Remarkably, on the other side of the country the story... Read more

Outlawing the Jain Fast-Unto-Death Is a Bioethical Issue

Last updated on: August 17, 2015 at 1:15 pm By Guest Contributor

By Brianne Donaldson. On August 10, 2015, the Rajasthan High Court outlawed the ancient and rare Jain practice of fasting unto death on the basis that it is not “an essential religious practice” protected by Article 25 of the Indian Constitution protecting freedom of religion.[1] Nor is the “right to death” protected by Article 21 that ensures the right to life and property. This case highlights a fundamental bioethical tension between killing and letting die that remains unresolved in... Read more

Once in a While You Get Shown the Light: The Grateful Dead and the Bible

Last updated on: July 24, 2015 at 3:54 pm By Guest Contributor

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By Andrew R. McGaan. To commemorate their fiftieth anniversary, surviving members of the Grateful Dead returned to Chicago’s Soldier Field for three shows over the Fourth of July weekend. Though the band had not toured since the death twenty years ago of Jerry Garcia, its most iconic member, hotels across Chicago sold out within hours of the announcement. A leading broker said ticket demand was exceeded only by the Super Bowl. It became the largest live-streamed event in history and... Read more

The Moral Case Against Drone Strikes

Last updated on: July 24, 2015 at 3:29 pm By Guest Contributor

By Rabbi Michael Lerner. There was a brief and rare moment this year in which people openly discussed the U.S. lethal drones program. For a few days, the Obama administration apologized for a strike, the American people expressed shock, and the media took note. But that moment ended as quickly as it began, and only happened in the first place because a U.S. citizen was inadvertently killed by an American drone strike. For the remainder of the year, hundreds to... Read more

Liberal Protestants, Social Justice, and Antisemitism

Last updated on: July 10, 2015 at 2:06 pm By Guest Contributor

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By Mark E. Gammon. With the astounding pace of news over the last couple of weeks, it was easy to miss one small item. The United Church of Christ became the latest liberal Protestant denomination to endorse “boycotts and divestment from companies that profit from Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands.” As David Palumbo-Liu recently reported at Salon.com, the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement has made substantive inroads in the mainline American Protestant denominations, with resolutions either passed or under discussion by the... Read more

Global Poverty and Local Religiosity

Last updated on: July 12, 2015 at 12:15 pm By Guest Contributor

By Rabbi Francis Nataf. Many questions still remain as the United Nations completes the review of its Millennium Development Goals (MDG) scheduled for later this year. But perhaps the biggest question should really be former New York mayor, Edward Koch’s, trademark quip about personal performance, “How am I doing?” At the top of the MDGs was halving the number of people subsisting on less than $1.25 a day. And partly because the UN made it a public goal, that milestone... Read more

Time for a New Political Expression

Last updated on: July 8, 2015 at 5:48 pm By Guest Contributor

By Jyl Hall Smith. It is abundantly clear that Christians have divergent opinions on last week’s Supreme Court rulings regarding gay marriage and the Affordable Care Act. However, what becomes unclear in these times is how much Americans have in common in their political views. Pew research did a 25-year study, published in 2012, on trends in American values. They found that independents are the largest voting block at 38 percent, and that half of all independents, Democrats, and Republicans... Read more