In November 2007, the Committee on Ethics of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) published Committee Opinion # 385 entitled, “The Limits of Conscientious Refusal in Reproductive Medicine.” The committee opinion sought to “maximize accommodation of an . . . . Continue Reading »
The naked public square has been hung with paraments, and those who preferred it unadorned have not quite known what to make of it. Even before controversy erupted over Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s jeremiads, 2008’s presidential candidates had kicked up the level of God-talk notches previously . . . . Continue Reading »
From left to right: Andrew Young, Dr. King, Richard Fernandez, RJN. (The crease is a newspaper fold, as we were not able to obtain the original photograph.) This was a news conference on April 4, 1967, precisely one year before Dr. King’s death. This is a week of remembering. Wednesday . . . . Continue Reading »
We should start raising money for a secret Christian commando force¯the special-action arm of the Poor Clares, maybe, or the rapid-response team of Beeson Divinity School.Well, probably not. But why, in fact, shouldnt we? Violence works, after all. The mere threat of violence . . . . Continue Reading »
The question of my title is not a lament. My question is not, Why are there no more prophets? I have something more literal in mind: Where do we find prophets, and, specifically, where do we find them in the Bible? What is their physical and social location?To judge by popular American perceptions, . . . . Continue Reading »
Whenever most people hear the term “egg donor,” they usually consider this a good thing, as most of us assume that anyone who donates is altruistically motivated and thus engaged in something intrinsically good. And besides, it’s for a great cause, so everything is all right, yes? Nothing . . . . Continue Reading »
I remember how I felt two hours after my daughter Penny was born, when I first found out that she had Down syndrome. I sifted through my brain for some scrap of information about this thing that had just happened to our family. All I could come up with was early death and mental . . . . Continue Reading »
Through Mary he received his humanity, and in receiving his humanity received humanity itself. Which is to say, through Mary he received us. In response to the angel’s strange announcement, Mary said yes. But only God knew that it would end up here at Golgotha, that it had to end up here. For . . . . Continue Reading »
In his delightful comic romp Slouching Towards Kalamazoo , novelist Peter de Vries describes an amusing debate on the existence of God between an atheist dentist and a Methodist minister. The minister had previously published a pious essay for the local secular paper¯an op-ed piece that was . . . . Continue Reading »
People often say that religion has become more important in politics. In a way unimaginable in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, these days politicians, pundits, and pollsters give explicit attention to religion. In his famous speech nearly fifty years ago, John F. Kennedy tried to reassure his . . . . Continue Reading »