Government (Civil)

[1] Whenever mainstream Protestant religious intellectuals and church leaders-let’s call them religious professionals-reach near unanimity on questions of political policy, especially foreign policy, it is time to be suspicious. They seem to have reached near unanimity in opposing American policy toward Iraq. [2] Now, it is axiomatic that on foreign policy questions those religious professionals […]

[1] In my initial article written just a few weeks following the terrorist attack on September 11, I expressed a concern that our heritage of just war thinking might help us to “grasp the underlying causes for the belligerence of the enemy” and “pursue every avenue that might contribute to understanding between the two sides.” […]

[1] Here in Columbus I often see flags for Ohio State, especially on game days. There are very few flags for other teams. Football unites Columbus. People who have never attended O.S.U. talk about the O.S.U. team as “us” and the opposing team as “them.” Refereeing decisions unfavorable to O.S.U. are often condemned. Supporters usually […]

An Ecumenical Problem [1] The question of the two kingdoms is one of the most pressing and delicate in contemporary religious and theological thought. No other aspect of Luther’s theology has been so fiercely attacked as this doctrine. Where Luther drew a clear line between spiritual and temporal authority, and expressly emphasised that under no […]

[1] In recent months, the President and other members of his administration have openly declared their desire and intent to achieve “regime change” in Iraq. And since previous methods of ousting Saddam Hussein-economic sanctions and coup d’etat-have obviously failed, the President is seriously considering even more dramatic options, including full-scale military invasion (Shanker). How should […]

[1] We are living in historic times. Two African Americans, Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice are serving in high profile political positions within the Bush administration. I’m glad their expertise is being called upon to resolve conflicts around the world. Powell and Rice, through their highly developed skills, pry […]

Setting the Table: The Retrieval of Civil Society [1] It is no accident that Habermas revised his sociological theory in the early 1990s by attending more closely to civil society. Already before the 1989 collapse of the Soviet Union, Central and Eastern European dissidents were focusing on the renewal of civil society, even in the […]

[1] In Minnesota, the ever-controversial Governor Jesse Ventura is under fire for declaring this 4th of July “Indivisible Day” at the suggestion of the Atheists of Minnesota for Human Rights. In the wake of a federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel decision declaring that the language “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance violates […]

[1] The recent controversy concerning the status of treatment of Taliban and al-Qaeda detainees at the Guantanamo base in Cuba offers an occasion for reflection about the seriousness with which our government undertakes its legal obligations. [2] When the U.S. signed the Geneva Conventions in 1949 which govern, among other things, the treatment of persons […]

[1] Kofi Annan, the General Secretary of the United Nations, recently received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work with the U.N. In his speech at the award ceremonies Dr. Annan observed that humankind is entering the 21st Century through “a gate of fire.” He was referring, of course, to the calamitous events of September […]