Content about Hospitality

November 8, 2011

Theologian Aaron Saari draws intriguing comparisons between the aims of the Occupy Wall Street movement and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

As the Occupy Wall Street movement grows, an increasing number of Republican legislators and media personalities are claiming that the members are overwhelmingly anti-Semitic. From Newt Gingrich to Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck to Bill Kristol, the charge of anti-Semitism is becoming a common trope.^[i]

November 4, 2011

Give Them Something to Eat

Thomas L. Shanklin reflects on the 2012 United Methodist General Conference in light of Jesus' teachings of radical hospitality shown in Matthew 14:15-18.

"When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, 'This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.' Jesus said to them, 'They need not go away; you give them something to eat.' They replied, 'We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.' And he said, 'Bring them here to me.' "
-- Matthew 14:15-18 (from "The Feeding of Five Thousand," NRSV*)

September 22, 2011

Church and State

Church and state intersect in plenty of ways this week, from the U.S. Supreme Court hearing a labor case on the "ministerial execution" to the barbarity of state-sponsored executions.

There's lots of church-state intersection in Faith and the Common Good on this first official day of fall, so let's get right to it.

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A case involving the firing of a teacher with a disability from a religious school has gone before the U.S. Supreme Court in what many see as a test of the traditional "ministerial exception" regarding hiring practices for religious organizations.

August 31, 2011

Fear, Inc.

A new report from the Center for American Progress outlines the forces and funding behind Islamophobia in the United States.

By Wajahat Ali, Eli Clifton, Matthew Duss, Lee Fang , Scott Keyes, Faiz Shakir

August 22, 2011

Putting Their Bodies on the Line

Opponents of a proposed oil pipeline through America's heartland are risking arrest for the next two weeks in daily sit-ins at the White House.

More than 100 activists, including people of faith, have been arrested since Aug. 20 at an ongoing sit-in outside the White House seeking to stop the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline from crossing the United States. Some 2,100 people, including actress and environmental activist Darryl Hannah, have signed up to participate in the daily demonstrations through Sept. 3.

June 20, 2011

Monday Mail: Wild weather, women's wages & world politics

Along with extreme weather effects, a Supreme Court decision on women vs. Wal-Mart and U.S. foreign policy toward Israel and Sudan, this issue of Monday mail mourns the passing of a Big Man.

Good morning, campers. It's 84 degrees at 9 AM in Dallas, feeling like 88 and promising a heat index around 102 degrees F later today. We have extreme fire danger warnings, high wind warnings, and high pollen warnings. Over the weekend a "rave"-style music festival in 104-degree heat resulted in the death of one person and dozens hospitalized, affected by the extreme conditions.

June 17, 2011

Faith & the Common Good June 17, 2011

Anti-Muslim sentiments, immigration and abortion top religion news headlines.

April 19, 2011

Supreme Court OKs State Funding Scheme for Religious Schools

The recent Supreme Court decision allowing Arizona to issue vouchers for religious schools significantly undermines the constitutional protection of the First Amendment against government establishment of religion.

March 4, 2011

Free speech or hate speech? Chick-fil-A, John Galliano and Westboro Baptists

The Supreme Court's ruling that protects hateful protests by members of Westboro Baptist church reminds Christians that although the Constitution may protect our "right" to free speech, if we're following Jesus, we're called to give up our rights for the sake of love.

January 30, 2011

Jews In the Civil Rights Movement

When I visited the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute last December, I learned about something that I had never known before. While we talked about the campaigns in the South in the 1960s, she mentioned the important role that Jews had in the Civil Rights movement. I decided to check out some books in the library to learn more.

January 24, 2011

Possible Areas Where Republicans and Democrats Can Work Together

For the past few months, there has been a lot of talk about the lack of bipartisanship in the past few years. In researching various conservative magazines, I think I found some areas where Democrats could possibly collaborate with Republicans on.

December 8, 2010

The Anatomy of Failure

President Barack Obama's political failures bear a disturbing likeness to those of Jews of Sephardic heritage, and the parallels offer serious warnings as well as insights, writes David Shasha, director of the Center for Sephardic Heritage in Brooklyn, NY.

Watching the abysmal failure of President Obama, a failure that has continued to intensify as time passes, in keeping his campaign promises to the American people I am reminded of the parallel failure of the Sephardic Jews. The president's complete lack of guts and courage mirrors that of the Sephardim in that both sit in pathological fear of their adversaries – a reality that has serious implications for all of us.

August 8, 2010

What We Don’t Know Is Killing Us

Americans have been deprived of their rights to truthful information, and it's time that Christians stood up to this erosion of the education needed for good citizenship, says media expert the Rev. William F. Fore.

A few months ago I discovered that I am living in an America that is different from the one in which I grew up. And many of the differences are not good. I want to focus on the one area that I believe is a key to most of the differences, namely the role of the mass media in our society.