How Should We Spend Our Goodwill?
The New York Times reports on the controversy over the presence of Christian religious symbols on Euro coins: It therefore came as a rude surprise when, late last year, the National Bank of Slovakia...
View ArticleI Guess It’s Chocolate
One of the misconceptions that recent literature on religion tries to take down is the idea that there is such a thing as “neutral” culture. Consider, for instance, the attention that Calvin College...
View ArticleThe Shortcomings of “Love What You Do”
Evangelical Christians love to cite this widely popular quote by Martin Luther King Jr: “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven...
View ArticleReceiving the Gift of Presence
My first post here at Fare Forward discussed the nature of providing Christlike presence to the grieving. An insightful commenter elaborated, saying,”I have a tendency in my life to close myself off to...
View ArticleChristian Symbolic Action
Regarding my most recent Fare Forward essay, two questions have been repeatedly asked of me. The first: Why think that symbolic action occupies such an important place in the Christian life? And the...
View ArticleEpic Mentality
In my house, my wife Katie and I are hoping that using consistent, relaxing music around bedtime will help to create a sleepy routine for our seven-month-old daughter. You may be surprised to learn...
View ArticleReligious Experience as an Assault on Autonomy
There’s a fascinating discussion going on right now about the nature of religious experience, which was kicked off by Ross Douthat and has come to involve such diverse writers as Noah Millman and...
View ArticleSocial Sin: Who’s Responsible?
Is it possible to take sin seriously when all of one’s collective responsibilities are understood in terms of protecting the individual right to define one’s own responsibilities? I’ve heard it said...
View ArticleThe Doomsday Machine
My wife and I did not see—and have no plans to see—R.I.P.D., The Lone Ranger, Olympus Has Fallen, and various other big budget movie offerings from 2013. However, not long ago, we sat in the comfort of...
View ArticleTo Work Is Not Quite to Pray
St. Benedict has often been (mis)quoted as saying, “Labora est Ora”. Or: “To work is to pray”. It is not clear precisely what was meant by this phrase when it first was propagated, but the guiding...
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