December 11, 2001
Science, Biological, Medical (genetics, illness/mental illness, death)
[1] What do I think about the first successful (albeit short-lived) cloning of human embryos for the purpose of deriving stem cells? Readers with a low tolerance for ambivalence are advised to ‘quit’ now because my answer will neither condemn nor celebrate the news from Worcester. At the risk of making matters worse I must […]
[1] Upon hearing that both houses of Congress approved legislation to allow the use of the Capitol Rotunda for their prayer session, the ubiquitous-and by now frenetic-Barry Lynn, Executive Director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AUSCS), complained: “If members of Congress want a religious service, they can go to their houses […]
[1] On a recent flight to Pittsburgh, several professors from a near-by university sat behind me discussing the danger of mixing religion and politics, particularly if the mixing is done by the likes of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, whom my fellow academicians compared to Islamicists like Osama Ben Laden. That outrageous and false comparison […]
Christian Living, Discipleship, and/or Spirituality
[1] I’ve just returned from seeing Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and for the first time I understand what all the fuss is about. Well, maybe not ALL of it. [2] I understand the best seller sales. I understand how people of all ages have been captivated by the story. I understand why the […]
Ecumenical and/or Inter-religious, Government (Civil), Military, War, Armed Conflict
[1] Osama bin Laden and his mentor Sayyid Qutb are fundamentalists. So are Jerry Falwell and, in a slightly more complicated (because also pentecostalist), Pat Robertson. [2] Bin Laden & Co. are Muslims, who would rather kill you than let you connect them in any way with Protestant fundamentalists. Jerry Falwell & Co. are Christians, […]
November 18, 2001
Christian Living, Discipleship, and/or Spirituality, Ecumenical and/or Inter-religious
Copyright © LET’S TALK. Used with permission. From Let’s Talk, Volume 6, Issue 2 [1] Comparing our two moral traditions is probably a dangerous undertaking for a Roman Catholic (or for a Lutheran, for that matter). I shall therefore begin with words from a mentor, James Gustafson. In his important work, Protestant and Roman Catholic […]
Military, War, Armed Conflict, September 11
[1] Silence. My important memory of September 11th was the silence that fell over Canada in the wake of the horrific attacks. It was not a quiet silence, but rather the very veneer of a people who with their U.S. neighbors were silenced by the dark mystery of evil, by a world they no longer […]
Martin Luther (incl. Luther's Writings)
Excerpted from: Piety, Politics, and Ethics: Reformation Studies in Honor of George Wolfgang Forell, Carter Lindberg, Editor (Copyright © 1984 by Sixteenth Century Journal Publishers, Inc., Kirksville, Missouri) Used with Permission. [1] Being asked to contribute to a Festschrift always presents one with the problem of relating one’s contribution to the opus of the individual […]
Asian Continent, Christian Living, Discipleship, and/or Spirituality, Military, War, Armed Conflict, South American Continent
Preached in Christ Chapel, Gustavus Adolphus College on November 9, 2001 Exodus 3:13-20 [1] Well, the Federal Reserve has cut the prime rate by another half-percent. . . . Things are looking up for the New York Stock Exchange; a few days ago, I heard, it closed at its highest level since September 11. Inflation […]
October 18, 2001
Gender and Women's issues; Feminist/Mujerista/Womanist Theologies, Vocation
Copyright © 1995 WORD & WORLD, Luther Seminary. Used with permission. From Word & World, Volume XV, Number 3, pp. 272-278. [1] Luther’s teaching and practice of vocation has impacted women’s lives dramatically, but history’s jury is at odds over the results. Should we praise the doctor and his doctrine or vilify them? Is Lutheran […]
