Like many children growing up in the US, I had dreams of becoming the president. My political career got off to a pretty good start. In high school, I was Freshman Class President, Junior Class President, and then Student Body President my senior year. During college, I was involved in the Student Senate and my senior year I was the Vice President of the Student Body. I was well on my way to becoming President of the United, don’t you... Read more
It’s been a few days since the tragic murder of three young Muslims in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The lives of Deah Shaddy Barakat, Yosor Muhammad, and Razan Razan Mohammad Abu-Selha were cut short. They were murdered, shot in the head, by Craig Hicks. Hicks is an avowed atheist. Prominently displayed on his Facebook page is a meme that claims, Of course I want religion to go away. I don’t deny you your right to believe whatever you’d like; but I... Read more
I’d like to end my series on the obstacles to love with a few last thoughts about what love is. We’ve been talking about obstacles to love as tangled patterns of desire and then trying to get ourselves untangled by learning that desire itself is triangular (we learn what to desire by imitating the desires of others). We looked at five different patterns of desire to better understand how the triangle of desire operates in our relationships: Best Friend Forever,... Read more
My inner feminist recoils when I hear the term “Son of God.” I get the same feeling when I hear “God the Father.” I mean, isn’t that just patriarchal language that elevates men above women? If so, shouldn’t we do away with such violent patriarchal language about God? It’s true that each of the Gospels call Jesus “the Son of God,” but here’s the catch: when the Gospels call Jesus the “Son of God” they subvert all forms of violence,... Read more
In my book, “The Wicked Truth About Love: The Tangles of Desire”, I identified 5 obstacles or “tangles” that trip us in our love relationships. In previous blogs, I’ve given an overview of the Best Friend Forever, Celebrity Chef, Super Hero and Rock Star tangles. Today’s article is about the last tangle in my book. On Friday, the day before Valentine’s Day, I’ll explore what it looks like to get untangled and back on track to healthy, happy relationships of... Read more
Ahh, we love drama, don’t we? Okay, maybe you don’t, but this year’s Grammys didn’t disappoint in creating some scandal. Kanye West was at it again. In 2009 Kanye interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech for best female video at the MTV Video Music Awards. As Swift was talking, Kanye took the stage and protested, claiming that Beyoncé deserved the award. And on Sunday night, in straight mimetic fashion, Kanye pulled a Kanye. René Girard would be proud – after all,... Read more
In Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 in my series we’ve been looking at obstacles on the way to true love by focusing on the triangular nature of desire – that we learn what to desire by imitating the desires of others. You might be wondering how we choose who to imitate. Each of us in our daily life encounter many, many people to imitate. Family and friends are obvious choices and so are celebrities and even popular fictional... Read more
“That was a total buzzkill.” The Nationwide commercial just finished. Entitled, “Make Safe Happen,” it stars a sorrowful young boy. He talks about his dreams of learning to ride a bike, learning to fly, traveling the world with his dog, and getting married. But he never did any of those things. Why? He explains, “Because I died from an accident.” Then we see various “accidents” – a tub overflowing, toxic chemicals scattered under a sink, and a flat screen television... Read more
Thanks for joining me for part 3 of my series identifying stumbling blocks on the road to true love. After I made such a (hopefully) convincing case in Part 1 and Part 2, with any luck you now agree that desire is a triangular thing, that we learn what to desire and who to love by imitating the desires of others. In this post I’d like to look at the third pattern of desire in my book about love, the... Read more
As a Seattle Seahawks fan, born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, I hate Tom Brady. With a passion. Of course, my hatred for Tom has grown since Sunday’s Super Bowl. I’m sure you’ve heard by now that Tom and his Patriots beat my Seahawks in a heartbreaking loss, made worse by how the game ended. My Seahawks had the ball on the one (1!) yard line with seconds left and three downs remaining. Despite having the best running back... Read more
Teaching Nonviolent Atonement
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In