In the United States, it’s tax season. While much can be said about taxes, taxation, why they’re necessary, what the rates are, who pays them and who doesn’t, and why we Americans complain about them, here we will focus on three issues: how simple some nations’ tax forms are compared to ours; how our tax […]
Present
Blog posts relating to the present such as social justice issues
Lent 2021
In the Western church calendar, Lent begins this year on February 17, 2021, which is Ash Wednesday. Here is a selection of past blog posts that are appropriate for Lent. 6/10/2016 The Place of the Religious Life in the 21st Century 7/8/2016 Prayers for a Hurting World 7/15/2016 Trinities: Historical Alternatives to “Father, Son and […]
Honoring Black History Month
In honor of Black History Month, and in recognition of our deep racial divides, we offer here the list of past blog posts focusing on African Americans, slavery, the Civil Rights movement, the Lost Cause narrative and Confederate monuments, racism, and related topics. 2/5/2016 Reincarnation and Genetics: A Novel Approach to Facing Racism 7/29/2016 SPLC […]
Lessons Learned by Surviving the Trump Era
We have been through an unprecedented and, frankly, horrifying time in our nation’s history. We have seen mobs of pro-Trump rioters storm the Capitol (at Trump’s instigation), cause the work of the Congress to grind to a halt, bring about injury and death to fellow Americans, the calling up of the National Guard, the second […]
The Band-Aid Approach: The Inadequacy of Charitable Giving for Tackling Social Problems
The United States consistently ranks among the most “generous” countries in the world – we citizens routinely rank very high in the categories of helping someone we don’t know, donating money to charity, or volunteering our time to an organization. A Marketwatch article from December 2019 cites results from the World Giving Index, an instrument […]
Thanksgiving Takeaways: Honoring Traditions and Educating Ourselves with New Data and Insights
We in the United States have experienced one of the most unique Thanksgiving seasons ever. We are in the midst of a long, tragic pandemic, we have just come through most of our election season (!), and we have seen a reawakening of racial justice activism. What, in this challenging age, can we Americans preserve […]
Now We Get to Work!
It’s Friday the 13th, but for many of us, that feels like a very positive date on the calendar! Despite what Donald Trump and his supporters might say and wish, they have been defeated at the polls, and it is time for him to prepare to move out of the White House (the People’s House). […]
Reincarnation and Karma: Valuable Concepts for Religion Professionals (and the Rest of Us)
In the New (Christian) Testament parable of the wheat and the weeds, which we explored a few years ago, we noted that the doctrine of reincarnation and its cognate, karma (the law of cause and effect), appear to have been perniciously eradicated from Christian belief and dogma, leaving Christianity and thus the West, from at […]
Index to the Fifth Year
Thank you for your interest in these blog posts! Here is a listing by topic for posts since October 2019. (Some topics overlap.) Social and Racial Justice, Diversity Giving Thanks for Our Native American Neighbors – Nov. 22, 2019 The House Financial Services Committee: A Report Card for 2019 – Dec. 27, 2019 Trump and […]
The Inspiring Hymns of the Rev. Dr. Carl Daw
We sing a lot in the Episcopal Church! It’s not that members of other Protestant denominations don’t sing (they certainly do), but our liturgies – depending on the individual congregation, priest, and music director – are routinely peppered not only with hymns but also chants, responses and intoned prayers. We sing many beautiful hymns – […]