Latest Articles
Returning home: In Kosovo
For many there wasn't even time to say good-bye. CNN had reported that Serbs were leaving Kosovo in droves and that the refugees' old towns and villages suddenly stood open....
An economist’s reflections in a time of prosperity
For those who remember the days of recession, high unemployment and high inflation in the 1970s, the state of the American economy in 1999 is remarkable....
Kubrick’s search
Rarely does blatant commercial hypocrisy sit so close to artistic excellence as was the case at the Hollywood screening of Stanley Kubrick's final film, Eyes Wide Shut....
Simon the supportive: Matthew 16:21-27
Peter tries to be supportive. Jesus calls him Satan.
The gardener in question
I have to sow my seeds in a propagator to maintain a temperature of 70-85 F? The parable of the sower doesn't say anything about that.
To Begin Again
A fragment of a prayer—"Remind me of the person I used to be"—poignantly sums up the theme of Naomi Levy's book about finding one's way back to hope and strength after great grief....
Reclaiming a peculiar faith
Three senior pastors of large mainline churches describe, in the words of one, their "ascent out of liberalism." They offer fragmentary glimpses of how a postliberal church, exiled from cultural pr...
Let your yes be yes: Perjury then and now
Now that the President Clinton-Monica Lewinsky affair is off the front pages, it may be possible to comment on the moral and legal issue of perjury without arousing a host of partisan arguments....
Religious claims, public interests
When freedoms clash—when we're not sure where my rights end and yours begin—we customarily turn to the courts to resolve the matter....
Chords of remembrance: A family’s commitment to public life
Now that we know his flaws, not many of us can romanticize John F. Kennedy or his presidency....
Anne Lamott’s divine comedy: Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith.By Anne Lamott. Pantheon, 275 pp.
Read the sidebar interview, 'God lets me start over.'...
Feed my dogs: Matthew 15: 21-28
Given current trends in North American Christianity and culture, I can easily imagine a day when a child, seeing a crucifix for the first time and asking her mother what on earth it might be, will ...
Blood and water
"Blood is thicker than water." Though I didn't always know precisely what they meant by it, this is a saying I heard from relatives on my mother's side throughout my childhood....
Ordinary people and the Holocaust
The 20th century has been scarred by the mass murder of ethnic groups in Armenia, Nazi-occupied Europe, Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Kosovo. On a smaller scale, hate crimes against certain groups also erupt in this country. What factors converge to make such violence possible? Can anything be done to prevent it?
A good value
In his influential Theory of Justice John Rawls speaks of a "difference principle," a way of legitimizing social differences....