In a recent report in the Washington Post, it was revealed that the Bush White House issued a manual on how to prevent protesters from attending any of the president's public appearances...

Having just returned from a trip to Mexico, I want to share some experiences of the widespread need and the thirst for a spirituality that is not stuck in dogma, doctrine and sectarian politics. Mexico is an interesting country with an ancient civilization...

Last night I went to see a performance of John Patrick Shanley's stunning play, "Doubt". The usual theatrical marketing hype of words such as "powerful", gripping", or "riveting", insult the depth of this play and the complexity of the moral issues it arouses...

In a recently published book entitled, The Jesus Family Tomb, co-authors Simcha Jacobovici and Charles Pellegrino make their case for having discovered a tomb in Jerusalem that contained the ossuaries of personages known to history as Jesus son of Joseph, his Mother Mary, his brothers Jose, Simon, and James, Mary Magdalene and a Judah son of Jesus hinted at by legend but unrecorded in scripture...

Our co-founder, Dr. Sadik Malki, called me from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia today with an impassioned plea that we renew our efforts to lift the Oneness of God above the sectarian strife that has not only infected the Middle East but the world. Coming from someone whose daily life experience is far more impacted by that strife than my own...

Last week, two of the most preeminent leaders of the world spoke out. Each represents hundreds of millions of people. Each holds an office many revere as a bastion of Western civilization's noblest aspirations and highest ideals. Each claims a deep personal faith and spiritual conviction, in the service of truth and virtue...

Most of us have been raised under a social paradigm that anger is a negative emotion, and constitutes inappropriate behavior. We are told from infancy to "be nice" by parents, relatives, teachers and clergy, almost as if it were one of the Ten Commandments. It is not.

What has been labeled "multiculturalism" is now a politically correct topic of public discussion. Pundits debate whether or not American schools and universities should include multiculturalism as an essential part of our educational curricula, as if it were merely an option rather than a necessity...

In a January 29 article in The Washington Post concerning a Swedish pastor's condemnation of homosexuality as a cancer infecting Swedish society, one passage jumped off the page summarizing a position that is endemically problematic, and currently is the cause of increasing polarization around the world. And it has nothing to do with homosexuality.

When I was parish priest, I was constantly approached by people whose needs were not being met effectively, if at all, by social services and local or state government. I was acutely aware of the material and financial limitations of the institutional church to do what the government was not able to do.

Barely twenty-four hours into the Twelve Days of Christmas, Christianity's liturgical mythologization of the birth of Jesus and the recognition of his infant holiness, South Asia was rocked by one of the worst natural disasters in a century. The juxtaposition of the sublime and horrific is so staggering that it might leave many seriously questioning the premise of a loving God and a persuasive Savior.

In a conservative online publication called Morning Call, an extraordinary claim was recently made:

“Jesus speaks through the Republicans
I hope the election of George W. Bush is seen as a wake-up call to all the liberal Democrats who oppose God's will.

We are currently facing the most hotly contested American presidential election in a century. Moreover, it is an election in which the religious right has been motivated by the current Administration's appeal...

The recent tragic bombings in Madrid are more than just another violent headline in the news. More than part of a nasty chain of reprisals and revenge wrought by the twisted thinking of Al Qaeda or other fanatics.

In this age of genetic engineering, cloning, in vitro fertilizations and a host of other medical advances challenging our notions of what is possible, we are also challenged to consider whether the fact that we can do things means we should do them.

Mel Gibson's film, The Passion of the Christ, has lead to heated debates about historical fact, Biblical accuracy and spiritual truth. The three are not synonymous. Therefore, when dealing with a topic...

The political and social furor over gay marriage is an emotional time-bomb pressed into the service of religious and political competition.

Abdication of responsibility and personal power is a chronic problem in human society. Most people are quite willing, even eager, to be told what to think and how to behave, so long as the one or ones dictating the thinking and behavior are deemed persuasively credible and "right."

Right wing Christians dueling with civil libertarian liberals over the legalities of any reference to God seem to miss a vital point.

The greatest threat to national security may prove to be the rhetoric of the religious right.

Liberal thought today urges cooperation between religions and cultures in the interest of the common good. This "nice idea" quickly encounters roadblocks to its implementation when there is an attempt to get religious leaders to demonstrate solidarity across sectarian lines...

An article in the October 4 issue of the New York Times speaks of Canadian TV journalist Irshad Manji as a voice of reform on Islam.

The Pew Forum held on July 10, 2003 to discuss God and Foreign Policy offered a number of useful insights into a significant divide...