Caring for the poor, tending to the least among us and embracing the outcast are ethical ideals promoted by most major religions. And many people of faith practice them in quiet ways. But how do those tenets apply in the...
We had an excellent exchange last week about how to sustain a meaningful interfaith dialogue. But two days later, Fort Hood erupted with violence. An Army psychiatrist who was about to be deployed to Iraq took the lives of 13...
We had a meeting of Texas Faith panelists last week, and the discussion was so good that some of us stayed around for an extra hour. The after-conversation that Joe Clifford, Lillian Pinkus, Amy Martin, Ric Dexter and I had...
The storm over the Cameron Todd Willingham case has focused public attention on the death penalty and stirred debate in the Texas governor's race. Willingham was executed in 2004 for setting a fire that killed his three children. He maintained...
Richard and Mayumi Heene may face criminal charges in the "Balloon Boy" incident of last Friday. Many believe that the couple staged the incident to gain publicity for their family; it has been reported that father Richard Heene has been...
David Letterman dramatically confessed on his "Late Show" program that he had been the target of an extortion attempt having to do with sexual affairs he had with office subordinates. The Letterman affair -- or, so to speak, affairs --...
The number of Americans who don't identify with any religion is growing. A new study by Trinity College suggests that more than one in five Americans will identify themselves as "Nones" in religious terms in 20 years (up from 15...
Talk show host Glenn Beck landed on the cover of Time Magazine this week, after a powerful start as a Fox News host. Beck is most famous these days for his updated version of American exceptionalism and for promoting a...
A year ago this week, the nation walked straight into a frightening economic collapse. Lehman Brothers fell, and soon thereafter Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson was meeting with bank executives around the clock to stave off further damage. Amidst all this...
In her new book, former White House speechwriter Peggy Noonan notes the toxic trend in our recent public discourse: "What we need most right now, at this moment, is a kind of patriotic grace ... a grace that takes the...
Following the death of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, novelist Joyce Carol Oates reflected on the senator's role in the Chappaquiddick death of Mary Jo Kopechne in the fullness of the his life. Writing in The Guardian, Oates said: Yet if...
Despite the cries at town-hall meetings, the House's health care bill contains no "death panels" that would force end-of-life decisions upon elderly Americans. But the protests certainly have revealed a deep anxiety among some voters about the end of their...
I spent two months this summer as a Templeton Foundation journalism fellow in science and religion, attending Cambridge University seminars on various aspects of the dialogue, historical and contemporary, between science and religion. It was surprising for me to discover...
Religious historian Randall Balmer's written a new book, "God in the White House," in which the Columbia University professor suggests we've moved too far away from John Kennedy's line that his faith would not have the final say in his...
This week's question comes from our own Texas Faith panelist Amy Martin, and it certainly is appropriate given that we're still enjoying summer, a time many of us associate with play. Here it is: We live in society where so...
For three days, members of a Senate committee pressed Sonia Sotomayor on her view of the law and how individual experience affects judicial decisions. And for three days, Sotomayor was careful to avoid political blunders that might derail her confirmation...
Demographics are destiny. Just ask those of us in the newspaper world, where we wonder if enough young people will turn to papers or some other version of what we produce. Politicians think about demographics when it comes to projecting...
Texas Faith moderators and panelists are taking a break this week. We will return for duty next week. Meanwhile, please join the conversation about our previous posts....
John Calvin's 500th birthday rolls around next month, and the theologian's influence will be observed in ceremonies and seminars across the country. Our own Texas Faith panelist Cynthia Rigby is participating in Calvin conferences in North Carolina and Russia this...
President Obama wove together numerous themes in a compelling address in Egypt Thursday. He talked about bridging religious differences, expanding women's rights and America's role in the Mideast. At the very end, he said: javascript:void(0); "We have the power to...
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