I recently heard a healthy middle-aged man describe the effects of COVID-19 on his life. COVID-19, he said, hasn’t affected him at all; he, his aging parents and his very elderly grandmother have not been ill. He may not be vaccinated. I found his viewpoint surprising. While no one I know or love has contracted…
How can a Christian support politics and economics that result in a world where over 700 million people live on less than $2 a day?
Larry Richards is a friend of mine from high school who has become a very popular speaker among conservative Catholics in North America. I watched one of his social media posts recently and he made a point that few would disagree with, but it’s a message many may not like. Larry pointed out that according…
Ignorance is the surest path to misunderstanding. And if it’s not addressed, misunderstanding quickly descends into intolerance
“Amen and awoman.” This was how a U.S. congressman concluded a prayer recently in the House of Representatives. No doubt he meant to be inclusive of both men and women. However, he sounded ridiculous. That’s because the word “amen” comes from Hebrew and means “so be it.” Amen has nothing to do with gender. This…
Movements always endure if they embrace equality, justice, pursuit of truth, and a deep respect for each person with no exceptions
My favourite textbook in university was entitled Marxism, an American Christian Perspective. Other students would hear me talk about it and ask, “Aren’t those two perspectives diametrically opposed? Didn’t Marx call religion ‘the opiate of the people’? Aren’t the Christian churches opposed to Marxism?” The most fundamental disagreement between the two schools of thought is…
Trump has blatantly contravened many of the commandments. He exhibits none of the qualities God teaches and which we should value
By Dominic Covvey and David Zitner Contributors Both of us were raised in religious traditions, one as a Christian and the other as a Jew. The Bible has definitely affected our lives. One of us was more affected by the Old Testament, the other by the New. One even studied in a monastery, immersed in…
Uncertainty, constant change, anxiety, isolation and loss have become our universal companions. But this too will pass
Over the next days and weeks, people of faith will have to be flexible and creative because COVID-19 has upended religious celebrations. Passover, Easter and Ramadan will have to be observed virtually in the home, making use of online streaming of religious services. FaceTime, Skype or Zoom will be useful in exchanging greetings in lieu…
Chinese President Xi Jinping has concocted a devious plan to revise the Bible to make it more in line with his country’s totalitarian ideology
Imagine this hypothetical scenario: A world leader decides they’re going to arbitrarily change the text of an historically important religious document to suit their needs. Some people might complain about this decision in private, but the world leader is far too powerful to either publicly criticize or condemn. So these changes are made in short order…
In the interests of diversity and inclusion, society shies away from Christian manifestations of Christmas
In the interests of diversity and inclusion, society shies away from Christian manifestations of Christmas. Battles loom over nativity displays, the traditional “Merry Christmas” greeting and Christmas trees. Public schools banned carols from school concerts years ago. There is, some argue, a war on Christmas. While some seek to eliminate anything that remotely resembles religious…
Across traditions and time, there has been a longing for light to brighten the darkness of winter
I had a striking visual of light in darkness early one morning this week. A bright light, probably the planet Venus, shone with extraordinary clarity and pierced an otherwise black sky. Given my Christian faith and the time of year – less than a month until Christmas – my thoughts turned to the legendary Star of…
As religions evolve, they take on social aspects, developing rules and regulations. At their worst, they become a means of social control
It seems that nothing in the world has caused more war and destruction than religion, yet many of the greatest leaders embraced spirituality as a central source of their strength. How do we come to understand this apparent dichotomy? Perhaps the issue is that people have created religion to understand the deeper spiritual nature of…