Human Rights
-
Is the church’s message really “we don’t love you”?
•
5 min read
For us, the ultimate example of marriage is found in Romeo and Juliet, not Genesis. It comes from true, burning desire to not only have sex with a person, but to be with a person, commit to that person, sit alongside that person every single day. To partner and respect and give and share and live a life…
-
When is something redefined?
•
2 min read
When something is constantly evolving throughout history, when do we claim it is “redefined”? Do we say it every time? Of course we think of it in the big moments. When we think of marriage, we think of the current marriage equality movement, and an earlier generation’s movement toward the legal acceptance of interracial…
-
What Ben Affleck Should Have Said to Bill Maher
•
7 min read
Dear Bill Maher, I know you aren’t trying to condemn a whole particular religion. But you actually like condemning religion. You’ve done it before. So when you say it’s about “the ideas” rather than the people, I don’t buy it. The argument you made last week, and again this week, is based not on the ideas,…
-
a Homily for Lent 3A Text: John 4:5-42 The Story Our scene turns from Nicodemus, who seeks Jesus at night to an unnamed woman who stumbles upon him in the middle of the day. I think we are supposed to juxtapose these contrasting characters from chapters 3 and 4. Night/Day. Man/Woman. Named/Nameless. Leader/Commoner. Insider/Outsider. Hebrew/Samaritan.…
-
Jesus Offends Us
•
3 min read
John the Baptist is locked in a cell, full of doubt, wondering what the whole Jesus experiment is really all about. He is left questioning everything. What is my role in this? Was I wrong? What he’s really thinking is this: Jesus isn’t the Messiah. This Sunday’s gospel is Matthew 11:2-11, and just in case…
-
Scapegoats, Villains, and American Fear
•
5 min read
Terror In the wake of the bombings in Boston and the pursuit of the suspects, I’ve been trying to find a way to respond. Something that wasn’t part of the noise. Something that was honest to my experience of needing to watch, but knowing that the coverage would be far too speculative. Studies of the…