The Secular Attack on Religion

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 8:08 pm By Robert Hunt

This past week two citizens of the UK took their claims to the European Court of Human Rights after losing their appeals in Britain. What? Perhaps Muslims facing discrimination? Sikhs or Hindus suffering racist epithets? No. Christians. One a counselor whose employer dismissed him for questioning whether he could council gay couples, the other a nurse whose employer asked her to remove her cross necklace. They are represented by Christian Concern, which says they are “the tip of the iceberg.”... Read more

The Puritan Impulse – Again

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 8:08 pm By Robert Hunt

Down through history different religious groups have displayed a puritan impulse. When they command the power of the state it becomes deadly. A story I’ve told often is of my first American ancestor, Jacob Hunt. He arrived in Puritan Boston in the 17th century and was quickly expelled for his religious views. The Puritans hadn’t come to America to create a modern pluralist society. They came to purify their society of anything less than their own perfect Christianity, possibly because... Read more

Evangelism fails without Dialogue

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 8:08 pm By Robert Hunt

American Christians wonder, indeed should wonder, why Christianity is in decline in our nation. Why are people leaving the church? Why are so few people coming to Christ? Why are non-Christian religions growing? I want to suggest that is because we Christians have failed to meet the essential pre-condition for preaching a credible gospel. We live in a time when the front page news of America tells us of burning the Qur’an, attacks on mosques and synagogues, violence against Muslims... Read more

Shaping Interfaith Leaders

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 8:08 pm By Robert Hunt

Can we parlay good interfaith relationships into actual political cooperation? It may take more than interfaith work projects. In a recent blog David Bornstein documented, and praised, efforts to unite persons of different religions in mutually agreeable work projects. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/12/a-better-way-to-talk-about-faith/?emc=eta1 This is a timely reminder of the very effective Interfaith Youth Corp that is spreading across college campuses. By working together young adults shape themselves into a new generation of interfaith leaders who know and are comfortable with people of... Read more

Irreconsilable or Incommensurate?

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 8:08 pm By Robert Hunt

At a recent inter-religious dialogue event a colleague noted how quickly, in the question and answer period, Christians moved the focus from the topic of the dialogue to the question of who is “saved” and how. Only diplomacy on the part of all the leaders kept the conversation from breaking up. Back in the day when a divorce required a reason we would hear a couple claim that they had “irreconcilable differences.” The assumption was that marriage required some basic... Read more

Blaspheme Laws: The Enemy of Dialogue

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 8:08 pm By Robert Hunt

On June 6th we learned that the Turkish government has charged one of its citizens “with insulting Islamic values in Twitter messages, the latest in a series of legal actions against Turkish artists, writers and intellectuals for statements they have made about religion and Turkish national identity.” (Turkish Pianist Is Accused of Insulting Islam) The official charge was “publicly insulting religious values that are adopted by a part of the nation.” India has similar laws, and despite possessing a vibrant... Read more

Abraham’s Children?

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 8:08 pm By Robert Hunt

Last Wednesday I attended an interfaith dialogue event of exceptional quality. A rabbi, a pastor, and an imam each spoke on Abraham and his role in their distinctive faiths. The presentations were well grounded in the respective traditions, winsome, and affirming of religious diversity. And left me profoundly dissatisfied. Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger explained how Abraham was the biological father of the Jews and the spiritual father of all other “nations” that embraced the ethical vision he exemplifies. Pastor Doug Skinner... Read more

Religious Freedom and the Arab Spring

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 8:08 pm By Robert Hunt

The June 1 New York Times offers this headline: “Russian Church Is a Strong Voice Opposing Intervention in Syria” The reason is simple. “the Russian Orthodox Church, . . . fears that Christian minorities, many of them Orthodox, will be swept away by a wave of Islamic fundamentalism unleashed by the Arab Spring.” A view closer to that of the US and other Western government is expressed by Andrew Tabler, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy,... Read more

What Kind of Citizen? What Kind of State?

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 8:08 pm By Robert Hunt

Running through a days worth of international news on Tuesday I found a number that help us see just how diverse and complex concepts of citizenship, religion, and state have become worldwide. In Nepal efforts to write a constitution have broken down completely. At issue? Is the state divided into geographical divisions, each of which is multi-ethnic? Or is it divided into ethnic divisions. Behind these quarrels are not only the politics of distribution of power and wealth, but the... Read more

Immoral Moralism

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 8:08 pm By Robert Hunt

A few years ago, when there was a hot debate among Methodists about having SMU host the Bush Library, I was the target of a singular public accusation. Because I did not oppose the library my name was added to an email blast of those who were “torturers.” The logic was simple, indeed simplistic. If you weren’t against the Bush library you must be in favor of Bush’s policies. Bush supposedly had a policy favoring torture. That means you must... Read more