The word sacred has two related dimensions. One dimension of something sacred is that it connected to God, or whatever is the object of religious devotion, reflection, and faith. The second related dimension is that something sacred is worthy of veneration. And this second dimension is where we get into trouble when we talk about the sacredness of Earth. Because some religions, and I think it fair to say both Buddhism and Islam are of this sort, have strong suspicions... Read more
“By publicizing the views of ISIS as Islamic you are helping their cause.” That was more or less the accusation being made at the Council of Foreign Relations lunch at the Parliament of the World Religions. The target of the accusation was Graeme Wood, the journalist whose excellent article in the Atlantic on the Islamic justifications for ISIS raised the ire of many Muslim leaders. What Mr. Woods article does, and you should read it to the end, is report... Read more
One role of religion in human society is to continually affirm that the fears and anxieties about those outside a society are uniquely real, to use the expression of Clifford Geertz. I sit at the Parliament of the World’s Religions; a gathering of those dedicated in the name of religion to overcoming hatred among peoples. So it may seem strange to talk about religion affirming fear and anxiety of the other. After all, the parliamentarians here in Salt Lake City... Read more
Congress needs to get off its knees and back to work. Another shooter, another group of young people turned to corpses, and another group of American politicians feeling terrible sorry and praying for the families of the deceased. And as it turns out, more proof that American Christian congressmen are really no different from Saudi Muslim princes. When tragedy strikes they just shrug their shoulders and blame it on someone else. They fail to act, but accept no blame for their... Read more
If your religion teaches you that under some circumstances you have no moral responsibility for the loss of life of people who entrust themselves to your care, those who do business with you need to know “buyer beware.” “It was God’s will.” Those were the words pronounced by the grand mufti of Saudi Arabia. It was an act of God beyond human responsibility, he said of the tragic deaths of more than 700 people who were participating in the Hajj... Read more
Once again I found posted on Facebook the accusation that progressive Christians who “preach tolerance” were actually intolerant. Specifically they were intolerant of the those who don’t believe in same-sex marriage or oppose abortion rights. And more specifically they are intolerant of Kim Davis’ decision to not issue marriage licenses to gay couples out of religion conviction. After all, shouldn’t we be tolerant of those who have different beliefs? This argument is based on a serious misunderstanding about tolerance. Tolerance... Read more
We need to get out of the weeds of blame in the Ahmed Mohamed case, and over his sudden celebrity as well. He is a story, but not the story we need to understand. But we’ll start with him. In the week of September 11th the case of Ahmed Mohamed of Irving rocketed, in 48 hours, to national prominence. A young man with an inquiring mind and a natural impulse to please his teachers found that his homemade clock didn’t... Read more
Yesterday I learned from the Washington Post and New York Times that President Obama got the votes necessary for the multi-nation treaty with Iran over its nuclear program to stand. It was heralded as a victory for Obama’s foreign policy and I personally was glad to see it happen. But I’m not celebrating. First because in the raucous run-up to the victory the debate about the treaty created vitriolic accusations ranging from accusations of fostering genocide to war mongering to... Read more
A county clerk in Kentucky says her religious freedom is threatened by signing government documents. A flight attendant for ExpressAir in Detroit says her religious freedom is violated by being asked to serve alcoholic drinks. We have two people refusing to do one of the jobs they are paid to do because it violates their freedom of religion. It is confusing. First many of their co-religionists (Christian and Muslim respectively) have no moral scruples about doing these jobs. And it isn’t easy... Read more
Although I come from a long time West Texas family I confess that we were not of the horses and cattle sort of Texans. More doctors, educators, and journalists to be honest. But I still love my boots and watching a good rodeo – because the culture of cattle and horses belongs to the deepest essence of not merely Texas, but American civilization from Patagonia to Alberta. And that means, among many other things, sorting out cattle. Cattle want to... Read more
Robert Hunt: Interfaith Encounters
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