An Education Worthy of a Democracy

Article  by William Ayers:  Obama's announcement of 'yes we can' is here discussed in terms of public schools, not as factories, but where each and every student is viewed as a unique individual of infinite value.  7/3/2009

Moving Fast among Megaregions: Growth Policy for 2050

Article  by Richard Wells:  Planning theorists argue we need to rethink the spatial coordinates of the national economy.  7/3/2009

Democracy Imperiled in Honduras

Article  by Mark Weisbrot:  The Obama administration’s ambivalence will be noticed in Honduras and can very likely encourage the de facto government there to try and hang on to power.  7/3/2009

Palestinian Unified Call for Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions against Israel

Article  Andy Bichlbaum & Mike Bonanno remove their film 'The Yes Men' from Jerusalem Film Festival as a way to observe the Palestinian call for a boycott.  7/3/2009

Biblical Literalism, Free-Market Ideology and Anti-Science Are Political Trinity

Article  by Robert Parham:  An unholy political trinity is the creed of conservative evangelical politicians like Paul Broun of Georgia. This is not Christianity, it's a false religion.  7/2/2009

Protestant Pastors Act for Health Care Reform

Article  More than 600 pastors around the country have launched a radio ad campaign for affordable health care for all families. Presbyterian pastor Joe Harvard records an ad in North Carolina.  7/1/2009

The Time for Global Economic Governance is Now

Article  by Joseph E. Stiglitz:  America's financial markets have failed to do what they should have done, manage risk and allocate capital well. Poor countries are hurting most. It's time for change.  7/1/2009

The Creative, Saving, and Healing Justice of Christ

Article  by Jurgen Moltmann:  Here Moltmann says that the picture of destructive judgment of heaven and hell is godless and unchristian and fails to witness to the God who is faithful to the creation God has made.  6/30/2009

The Triumph of God's Creative Justice

Article  by Jurgen Moltmann:  Excerpts from an address by Jurgen Moltmann on his 83rd birthday in June, 2009. This is a statement of Protestant gospel for today, Translated by Marc Batko.  6/30/2009

Truth and Rhetoric: The Corporate Domination of Public Consciousness

Article  by Chris Hedges:  This article is dealing with one of the most significant issues today, how corporations have changed the culture and what to do about it.  6/30/2009

Islam, Europe, and History: Across the Frontiers

Article  by Martin Rose:  New interpretations of the traditional stories told by Europe of its own past and its encounters with the Islamic world.  6/26/2009

Catholic Inflammatory Rhetoric Helped Kill Lutheran Doctor

Article  by Ed Knudson:  Catholic bishops and other anti-abortion extremists use hostile language creating a public context supportive of violent acts whether they intend such or not.  6/25/2009

Lay Congregational Leaders Too Influenced by Media-Defined Religion

Article  A study by the ELCA defines a problem in that church body. Lay leaders have absorbed non-Lutheran views from the contemporary media.  6/18/2009

Economic Prophecy: The American Empire is Bankrupt

Article  by Chris Hedges:  The most important meeting of the 21st century so far is happening at Yekaterinburg, Russia this week. The dollar is the issue, along with military and economic superiority.  6/17/2009

A Big Turning Point for Protestant Faith

Article  by Ed Knudson:  Everybody seems to be saying historic Protestantism is going away. Rather, it faces a new moment of history full of exciting possibility.  6/14/2009

The Media Murder of Jeremiah Wright

Article  by Ed Knudson:  Another killing took place during the time a guard was shot at the Holocaust Museum. The media cannot distinquish between true prophets and fakes.  6/13/2009

The Coming Collapse of the Middle Class

Article  The most important fact about the economic system in the last half of the 20th century is vast numbers of women in the workforce.  6/13/2009

Anti-Abortion Terrorists are Inside Most Hospitals

Article  by Ed Knudson:  Why are women who need medically justified abortions forced to go to abortion doctors? The eyes of anti-abortion terrorists are watching.  6/12/2009

Prominent Religious Leaders to Urge President Obama to Create a Torture Commission

Article  by Jerry L. Van Marter:  Eight heads of faith groups and other religious leaders join for a public witness at the White House to deal with torture.  6/11/2009

More Right Wing Violence: Guard Shot at Holocaust Museum

Article  by David Saperstein:  In an interview the head of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism discusses this most recent incident of political violence.  6/11/2009

How Could an Abortion Doctor be a Lutheran?

Article  by Ed Knudson:  A Lutheran pastor explains the background on Lutheran ethical teachings that may have influenced how Dr. George Tiller understood himself and his vocation as a physician.  6/11/2009

Conservative Media: Militia-Style Vigilante Rhetoric

Article  by Eric Boehlert:  People bear responsibility for how they talk. Bill O'Reilly's relentless attacks on George Tiller helped create the conditions for his murder. Tell Fox News to stop it.  6/10/2009

Civil Courage and Public Responsibility

Article  Here is a segment of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's last writings in prison before he was hanged by the Nazis. He speaks against moral fanaticism.  6/7/2009

A Rabbi's Wisdom: Murder is Murder and Abortion is Not

Article  by Arthur Waskow:  The editor of the Shalom Report honors Dr. George Tiller with this excellent article on Hebrew wisdom and learning from practical experience.  6/6/2009

Media Treat Far-Right Views as Mainstream

Article  by E.J. Dionne Jr.:  The perception informing this article can help pastors properly interpret political consciousness in media today.  6/5/2009

Agonizing about Life: The Patients of Dr. Tiller

Article  by Ed Knudson:  Those who hate this 'abortion doctor' are bearing false witness. They lie about what's at stake in abortion. Here are some facts and some truth.  6/3/2009

Wichita Police and FBI Fail to Protect a Caring Doctor

Article  by Amy Goodman:  Law enforcement officials apparently didn't take anti-abortion terrorists seriously, leading to the death of George Tiller.  6/3/2009

The Truth about Mercy Abortions

Article  A health care worker discusses abortion after 24 weeks, the kind performed by Dr. George Tiller.  6/2/2009

Religious Right Shares Blame for Tiller Murder

Article  by Frank Schaeffer:  The son of an evangelical pro-life leader, Francis Schaeffer, apologizes for his role in creating a culture of hate and hostility.  6/2/2009

Dr. Tiller Saved Women's Lives

Article  by Frances Kissling:  A past president of Catholics for Free Choice writes about the work of a doctor killed in Kansas.  6/1/2009

Kierkegaard in Contemporary Philosophy

Article  by Gordon Marino:  A biography of Soren Kierkegaard and a reprint of his work are here reviewed placing Kierkegaard in relation to philosophers writing today.  5/31/2009

Liberation Theologian Chosen as Envoy to Vatican

Article  by John L Allen Jr.:  Some call Miguel Diaz a 'Cuban liberation theologian'. This article discusses meanings of his appointment by Obama.  5/29/2009

Sotomayor Would Be the Sixth Catholic Justice

Article  by Michael Paulson:  Catholics make up 23 percent of the population, but will have 67 percent of the seats on the Supreme Court. What kind of Catholic will Sonia Sotomayor be?  5/27/2009

Conservative Egalitarians

Article  by Sam Pizzigati:  A book by Benjamin Page and Lawrence Jacobs suggests Americans are ready for Class Warfare after all.  5/25/2009

Afghanistan: Another March of Folly

Article  by Norman Solomon:  Another president is preaching one thing and doing another. There is a terrible logic about dependence on military solutions for political problems, as learned in Vietnam.  5/21/2009

The Longer Reform is Delayed, the Bloodier the Revolution

Article  by John Kay:  The financial media is beginning to see that it is oligarchs and financiers, fixers and traders, who are the real cause of the current economic suffering of millions.  5/20/2009

Rumsfeld's Pentagon Uses Bible to Promote War

Article  by Nathan Schneider:  Difficult as it is to believe, George Bush was sent bible passages to encourage him in waging the illegal war in Iraq.  5/20/2009

Catholicity and Abortion: Obama at Notre Dame

Article  This is a transcript of the controversial speech of President Obama at Notre Dame where he recalls Father Ted Hesburgh and Cardinal Bernardin.  5/19/2009

The Social Creed of 1908 Updated for 21st Century

Article  by Gene TeSelle:  Presbyterians and others have been working to update a significant statement of Protestants concerning economic justice.  5/8/2009

Primarily a Pastor: The Social Gospel of Walter Rauschenbusch

Article  by Julian Gotobed:  There is no more important figure in the history of public theology than Rauschenbusch. Here is a full introduction to his work.  5/8/2009

Pentecostal Corruption: Prosperity Gospel is a Scam

Article  by Pen Itent:  A teacher in a private school of the religious right shows how Pentecostal pastors are betraying their members.  5/7/2009

The Public Theology of Harry F. Ward

Article  In 1918 Harry Ward gave a talk which continues to have relevance today in relation to both international peace and economic justice.  5/6/2009

Celebrity Culture Produces Junk Politics

Article  by Chris Hedges:  Brand Obama will not prosecute the Bush administration for war crimes. It effectively masks the wanton internal destruction and theft being carried out by our corporate state.  5/6/2009

John Calvin Would Have Seen This Crisis Coming

Article  by Henry G. Brinton:  The Protestant Reformer, born 500 years ago, could teach us a thing or two about fiscal idolatry, diplomacy and democracy. But would we listen?  5/5/2009

Constructing a Past Usable to the Present

Article  by Andrew J. Bacevich:  The United States has its share of sins to confess as a nation, about Cuba, The Bomb and Cold War, Iran and Afghanistan.  4/28/2009

A New Social Mission for the Church: Labor Organizing

Article  by Nancy MacLean:  Might the nation’s churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples again have a role in rescuing a wayward economy? About Francis Perkins, Hilda Solis, and Kim Bono.  4/28/2009

Reinhold Niebuhr and the Prospects for Justice in America

Article  by Mark Jensen:  Some folks still show up to hear something about Niebuhr, the best known public theologian of the 20th century and one who has been called 'Obama's theologian'.  4/24/2009

Fundamentalism: A Pathological Condition of Christianity

Article  by Donald W. Dayton:  A book on fundamentalism by James Barr is reviewed with a focus on the false doctrine of biblical inerrancy and its difference from evangelicalism.  4/23/2009

Liberation Theology in the Wesleyan and Holiness Tradition

Article  by Donald W. Dayton:  The preferential option for the poor is discussed here in reference to John Wesley and the holiness movement which emerged from Methodism.  4/23/2009

A Protestant Liberation Theology

Article  by Frederick Herzog:  A review of a book by Richard Shaull on the relation of the Reformation and Liberation Theology.  4/23/2009

Crossing the Divide: Luther, Feminism, and the Cross

Article  by Cheryl Peterson:  A review of a book by Deanna A. Thompson who joins a growing list of Protestant feminist theologians examining 16th century reformers.  4/22/2009

Reconsidering U.S. Power in a Time of Economic Crisis

Article  by Mark Engler:  Neoconservatives wanted this country to follow the British in a quest for world domination. Recent events open the way for a more hopeful future.  4/20/2009

Dubai: Built by Slaves, a Medieval Dictatorship, Ecological Disaster

Article  by Johann Hari:  Dubai was meant to be a Middle-Eastern Shangri-La, a glittering monument to Arab enterprise and western capitalism. But as hard times arrive in the city state an uglier story is emerging.  4/16/2009

The Manna Story and the Sabbath Principle

Article  by Peter Laarman:  We should not confuse big-time criminality with small-time folly. This moral obfuscation allows the far greater misfeasance of corporate creditors to get airbrushed out of the picture.  4/10/2009

Real Protestants are the Religious Left Today

Article  by Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou:  Debates over a 'religious center' actually fail to represent the truth of how religious leaders have changed history.  4/8/2009

Prophetic Disruption

Article  by Ed Knudson:  A justice ministry for responsible development in Tacoma, Washington, is discussed with a focus on immigant workers at a Point Ruston luxury development.  4/2/2009

WCC Urges Global Economic Justice at the G20

Article  Samuel Kobia sends a letter to Gordon Brown about the G20 meeting and proposes increased role for the United Nations.  4/2/2009

The Corporate Domination of Higher Education

Article  by Chris Hedges:  Facing the truth of how much economic institutions dominate society makes it possible to imagine how it should be different.  3/29/2009

Obsessive Financial Deviants

Article  by Matt Taibbi:  The global economic crisis isn't about money - it's about power. How Wall Street insiders are using the bailout to stage a revolution.  3/22/2009

John Rawls: Secularized Calvinism, Moralized Protestant Vocationalism

Article  by Michael Weinstein:  A postmodern critique of a significant book on political philosophy.  3/19/2009

World Heading for Major Upheavals in 2030

Article  An apocalyptic scientific scenario is presented by the chief science advisor in Britain, John Beddington.  3/19/2009

No Return to 'Normal' Economic Policy

Article  by James K. Galbraith:  This is an indepth analysis of Obama's economic policy advisors and why a very bold approach like the New Deal is now necessary for people to have jobs and the elderly to have income.  3/19/2009

World Water Day on March 22

Article  Access to water should be a human right says the Ecumenical Water Network of the World Council of Churches. Local congregations can be involved.  3/19/2009

The Religion of John Rawls: An Anti-meritocratic, Egalitarian Conception of Distributive Justice

Article  by Joshua Cohen:  This is an extremely interesting essay about one the foremost political philosophers of our times. Thomas Nagel is the second author of this.  3/19/2009

A Global Justice Rebellion

Article  by Mark Engler:  A portion of Mark Engler's book is presented here on new ways to organize the global economy including ideas from the World Social Forum.  3/18/2009

Towards a Postmodern Theology of the Hem

Article  by John McKeever:  From Dublin, Ireland, McKeever speaks of theology for the growing numbers of people at the edges of society, in the informal sector of surplus populations, at the doorsteps of the church.  3/15/2009

Economic Hard Times Means Trouble for Non-Profits

Article  by Eyal Press:  The ACLU and lots of others who depend on contributions are finding their givers no longer are able to give.  3/14/2009

Moral Interpretation: The Right, The Real, and the Good

Article  by Ed Knudson:  Basic categories for ethical reflection are presented in a simple concept scheme which can be useful for thinking about any moral issue in personal or social-political-economic life.  3/11/2009

Obama Encouraged to Change Immigration Policies

Article  NCC General Secretary Kinnamon calls on Obama, Napolitano to signal a new day in immigrations policy after a raid in Washington State.  3/11/2009

A Moral Force that Confronts the Society

Article  A Lutheran laments his church's inability to stand up for the homeless, quoting John Steinbruck of Luther Place in Washington D.C. and Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  3/11/2009

March, 2009: Ecumenical Advocacy Days: Enough for All Creation

Article  Come to Washington D.C. to learn and organize and visit members of congress. Includes list of sponsors.  3/10/2009

Congregations: Put a Farmers Market in Your Parking Lot

Article  The local food movement may provide opportunities for ministry in many local neighborhoods.  3/10/2009

Grief over Dead Gods: No More Magic Market

Article  by Ed Knudson:  The three gods of Republican politics are failing them; the grief will be extensive; here is some pastoral counseling.  3/10/2009

Secularity Gains, Primary Protestants Decline, Catholics Move

Article  Northern New England becomes least religious area according to a new report, the American Religious Identification Survey. The 'Nones' grow in every state. Only 76% of Americans now 'Christian'.  3/9/2009

A Proper Role for Religion in the Public Sphere

Article  by Craig Calhoun:  A secular society has a stake in listening to religious voices. This author discusses what Habermas has been saying about religion and politics.  3/8/2009

Unbridgeable Gaps: Habermas on Religion and Critical Theory

Article  by Fred Dallmayr:  Early Frankfurt School members showed much interest in the liberating potential of religion. Habermas has done less so says this author.  3/8/2009

Congregations as Communities of Interpretation

Article  by Ed Knudson:  The bible contains many communities of interpretation, not one view of God or ethics. This presents the possibility of a new Protestant Public Theology manifested by pastors in local congregations.  3/7/2009