The Common Good

Results for Life and Peace

We Are Christ: Broken and Shared For the Life of the World
Originally Posted: 05/06/2013 - 11:18am | Type: Blog

A respectful, bright young high school student asked me yesterday if Baptism and the Eucharist were not merely symbols. "When Paul talks about Christ being 'in us' or about 'putting on� ...

After Rhode Island, Is Gay Marriage ‘Inevitable’? Conservatives Say No
Originally Posted: 05/06/2013 - 11:05am | Type: Blog

WASHINGTON — Rhode Island on May 2 became the 10th state to approve same-sex marriage, and the Delaware Legislature holds a key vote on May 9 on the same issue. But Brian Brown, president of the National Orga ...

'I Believe You:' The Silence and the Shame of Sexual Violence in Church
Originally Posted: 05/20/2013 - 11:49am | Type: Blog

Several years ago, Amee Paparella was an eager student at a state university in Ohio. A conservative Christian, she quickly signed up to join the campus ministry. What she found in the group surprised her. “It ...

Yoga As a 'Connection to God'
Originally Posted: 05/03/2013 - 4:28pm | Type: Blog

At the beginning of the year, I embarked on a two-month sabbatical to recover from a rough 2012. I needed to recharge, and resolved to rest, spend time with the people I love most, and find some kind of physic ...

Wide Majorities of Most U.K. Faiths Support Assisted Suicide
Originally Posted: 05/03/2013 - 12:40pm | Type: Blog

A new poll finds overwhelming support for assisted suicide for the terminally ill among Anglicans, Catholics, Hindus, Sikhs and Jews in Britain, with Baptists and Muslims the only groups that oppose changes to ...

Pentagon Refutes Reports of Anti-Christian Policies
Originally Posted: 05/03/2013 - 1:21pm | Type: Blog

Christian conservatives have grown increasingly alarmed in recent weeks over reports and rumors that the Pentagon is considering new policies aimed at discriminating against Christians and disciplining or even ...

Beneath the Stereotypes, a Stressful Life for Preachers’ Kids
Originally Posted: 05/03/2013 - 11:57am | Type: Blog

The day Franklin Graham was born, he received a telegram. “Welcome to this sin-sick world,” the Western Union message said, “and to the challenge you have to walk in your daddy’s footsteps.” ...

DRONE WATCH: An Alternative to Guantánamo?
Originally Posted: 05/03/2013 - 10:45am | Type: Blog

Is the Obama administration using drone strikes as an alternative to taking prisoners? A hunger strike by detainees has Guantánamo back in the news. But has the Obama administr ...

Julian 'J-Kwest' DeShazier on Rhymes & Reasons: The Stories of Hip-Hop
Originally Posted: 05/03/2013 - 10:43am | Type: Blog

For nearly a decade, the ministry of Julian “J.Kwest” DeShazier has been an exploration in the relationship between music and faith. As artist, this Chicago native has used his unique rhythm to tell stories of ...

National Day of Prayer: Text of Presidential Proclamation
Originally Posted: 05/02/2013 - 3:03pm | Type: Blog

Text of President Barack Obama's Proclamation for the National Day of Prayer. Editor's Note:  Below is the text of President Barack Obama's Proclamation for t ...

We Don't Need Your Cookies
Originally Posted: 05/01/2013 - 4:01pm | Type: Blog

When we complete a task, it is good to celebrate the end result, but what do we really remember? Is it not the people, the things we did, and the lessons learned in the process of completing the task? ...

What Jim Wallis, Chicago, and Free-Market Economists Can Teach Us About the Common Good
Originally Posted: 05/01/2013 - 4:00pm | Type: Press

April 26, 2013 Sojo in the News Tyler Castle ...

The High Price of Cheap Clothing
Originally Posted: 05/01/2013 - 3:52pm | Type: Press

April 30, 2013 Sojo in the News Warren Olney ...

President Obama Sides With His Guantanamo Bay Protesters
Originally Posted: 05/01/2013 - 3:31pm | Type: Blog

Tuesday, President Obama repeated his belief that Guantanamo Bay needs to be closed. President Obama broke his silence to comment on the current hunger strike of over 90 men at Gu ...

Former Pope Benedict XVI to Return to the Vatican on Thursday
Originally Posted: 05/01/2013 - 12:25pm | Type: Blog

More than two months after his resignation, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI will return to the Vatican on Thursday to live in a small convent that has been recently renovated for his needs. ...

More Than 100 Million Women Lead Migrant Workers Worldwide
Originally Posted: 05/01/2013 - 10:24am | Type: Blog

If migrants worldwide were their own country, it would be the fifth most populous in the world today. More than 100 million are women. If migrants and refugees worldwide were thei ...

Sojourners’ Jim Wallis Ponders Immigration, Guns at Washington National Cathedral
Originally Posted: 05/01/2013 - 9:39am | Type: Press

April 30, 2013 Sojo in the News Jeff Walton ...

N.J. Catholics Outraged Over Accused Priest’s Access to Children
Originally Posted: 04/30/2013 - 4:50pm | Type: Blog

Amid calls for a Vatican investigation, Newark Archbishop John J. Myers is facing fierce criticism for his handling of a priest who attended youth retreats and heard confessions from minors in defiance of a co ...

The Spirituality of Sports and the Common Good
Originally Posted: 04/30/2013 - 4:35pm | Type: Blog

I like Wallis’s three rules, but I think there is an important one missing when it comes to the common good. If the common good is for everyone, then how do we treat the team that loses? And if we happen to lo ...

Religious Leaders Push for Kidnapped Bishops’ Release
Originally Posted: 04/30/2013 - 4:27pm | Type: Blog

Religious leaders from around the world have stepped up their pleas for the safe return of two Syrian bishops who were kidnapped April 22 by armed men as they were driving near the war-torn city of Aleppo. ...

Modern Hymn Writers Revive a Lost Musical Art
Originally Posted: 04/30/2013 - 2:22pm | Type: Blog

Most songwriters in Nashville want to get their songs on the radio. Keith and Kristyn Getty hope their songs end up in dusty old hymnbooks. NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Most songwriters in ...

Seeking a path to common good
Originally Posted: 04/30/2013 - 1:32pm | Type: Press

April 28, 2013 Sojo in the News San Antonio Express-News ...

‘In a Time of Hunger:’ The New Archbishop's Social and Spiritual Challenges On The Road to Canterbury
Originally Posted: 04/30/2013 - 9:52am | Type: Blog

“[O]nly 40% of churchgoers are convinced that the new Archbishop of Canterbury can resolve the problems of the Church of England," said the new Archbishop, Justin Welby, in his Easter sermon last month. & ...

What We Find On Higher Ground
Originally Posted: 04/30/2013 - 10:00am | Type: Blog

Of course the higher ground, the refuge from tragedy, is God’s. People seem to sense that instinctively, regardless of faith tradition. The harder, more humbling realization is that all of it — the flooded pl ...

If Someone Hits You, Hit Them Back
Originally Posted: 04/30/2013 - 8:12am | Type: Blog

The “if someone hits you, hit them back” mentality is destroying black men at an alarming rate. Dads, teach your boys to talk it over, look the other way, or keep walking when things begin to escalate. ...

Will Former Palin Adviser Help or Hurt Bishops’ Media Woes?
Originally Posted: 04/29/2013 - 6:05pm | Type: Blog

A former adviser to Sarah Palin and an attorney with a long record of advocating conservative causes, will become the first spokeswoman for the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the USCCB a ...

Old-School Confessional Revives Saying ‘I’m Sorry’
Originally Posted: 04/29/2013 - 5:44pm | Type: Blog

Confessions among American Catholics have been on the decline for decades, a trend many theologians attribute to changes introduced by the modernizing reforms of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). ...

Jim Wallis Returns to the CultureCast with Christian Piatt
Originally Posted: 04/29/2013 - 3:06pm | Type: Blog

Christian moderated a discussion with Jim at Powell’s Books last week to talk about his new book about nurturing the common good, called On God’s Side. Not to get all braggy here, ...

DRONE WATCH: Protesting Drones
Originally Posted: 04/29/2013 - 4:43pm | Type: Blog

U.S. and U.K. protests against drone killings. This weekend saw protests on both sides of the Atlantic against drone killings. In the U.S., more than 250 people marched o ...

Jim Wallis Returns to the CultureCast
Originally Posted: 04/29/2013 - 10:05am | Type: Press

April 24, 2013 Sojo in the News Christian Piatt ...

Stories That Change the World
Originally Posted: 04/29/2013 - 10:03am | Type: Press

April 25, 2013 Sojo in the News Jim Wallis ...

Creating a Culture of Unity Through Interfaith Cooperation
Originally Posted: 04/29/2013 - 9:42am | Type: Press

April 27, 2013 Sojo in the News Rachael McNeal ...

Prayer in Times of Grief: Q&A With National Day of Prayer Honorary Chairman
Originally Posted: 04/29/2013 - 10:11am | Type: Blog

The honorary chairman of this year’s National Day of Prayer (May 2) says prayer was the only thing that got him through his son’s death five years ago. When fellow megachurch pastor Rick Warren lost his son Ma ...

Radical Theology: The New 'White' Religion?
Originally Posted: 04/29/2013 - 9:31am | Type: Blog

While we’re busy navel-gazing and discussing the meaning of Nietzsche’s “death of God,” non-Anglo religious leaders were busy dealing with real-world problems right in front of them. ...

Fr. Michael Lapsley’s 'Redeeming the Past: My Journey from Freedom Fighter to Healer'
Originally Posted: 04/29/2013 - 8:46am | Type: Blog

To know former anti-apartheid warrior Father Michael Lapsley today is to rejoice in how, as taught by St. Paul, “suffering is for the salvation and hope of others.” Most American ...

'Paranorman:' Unmasking the Myth of Redemptive Violence with Cartoon Zombies
Originally Posted: 04/29/2013 - 8:46am | Type: Blog

Not surprisingly, if you look for Christian reviews of Paranorman you will see many focus on warnings to stay way from the occult. Sadly, this response misses the profoundly deep moral message behind this film ...

Leaning In, Mommy Wars, and a Dose of Humility
Originally Posted: 04/29/2013 - 11:39am | Type: Blog

Over the last several weeks, I’ve been trying to figure out exactly why I feel so bothered by Sheryl Sandberg’s book, Lean In. Over the last several weeks, I’ve been trying to ...

If You Eat Food, Read This
Originally Posted: 04/29/2013 - 7:50am | Type: Blog

If you eat food, here are two newish books you should know about. If you eat food, here are two newish books you should know about. You may already have met Robert H. Lusti ...

DRONE WATCH: Drones on the Border
Originally Posted: 04/26/2013 - 3:54pm | Type: Blog

Immigration reform legislation proposes 24/7 border surveillance by drones.   The U.S.-Mexico border is currently patrolled by 10 Predator surveillance drones. The immigration ...

DRONE WATCH: Drones Controlled From U.K.
Originally Posted: 04/26/2013 - 3:53pm | Type: Blog

British military now controlling drones over Afghanistan from the U.K. The British military has been flying drones in Afghanistan for several years, firing 350 weapons, includin ...

DRONE WATCH: Israel Shoots Down Drone
Originally Posted: 04/26/2013 - 3:53pm | Type: Blog

Israel shoots down drone off of its northern coast. An Israeli jet shot down a drone off its northern coast on Thursday. While some Israeli officials said they believed it was a ...

The Demonization of 'Terrorism'
Originally Posted: 04/26/2013 - 1:50pm | Type: Blog

The recent explosions at the Boston Marathon and subsequent media coverage exposed yet again a dangerous trend in U.S. culture: rushing to judgment in labeling and prosecuting crimes, and throwing away long-he ...

After 10,000 Emails, Victoria’s Secret Continues Business as Usual
Originally Posted: 04/26/2013 - 12:36pm | Type: Blog

Victoria's Secret's statement about “Bright Young Things” — what Sojourners has always made clear was a campaign, not a line — does not address Sojourners’ central concerns over reinforcing confusion ...

Furious with Senate, Activists Go After the Roots of Gun Culture
Originally Posted: 04/26/2013 - 1:40pm | Type: Blog

The Senate’s vote against background checks shows that public opinion is not the driving — or defining — force behind America’s gun culture. In fact, to find that force, you don’t have to look any farther than ...

Atheists Postpone Protests After Bangladeshi Disaster
Originally Posted: 04/26/2013 - 10:06am | Type: Blog

Several atheist protests planned for Thursday outside Bangladeshi embassies and consulates were postponed in the wake of Wednesday’s building collapse that killed at least 244 people in that country’s capital, ...

On Victoria's Secret: Speaking Up for Our Daughters
Originally Posted: 04/26/2013 - 7:12am | Type: Blog

I believed that Victoria’s Secret was putting profits above girls’ self-esteem, self-pride, and self-worth. I wanted my voice to be heard even though I had no idea if they would even listen. I wanted to share ...

Catholics Try Their Hand at Old-Fashioned Evangelism
Originally Posted: 04/25/2013 - 5:37pm | Type: Blog

On a recent rainy Saturday, about 125 Catholics packed a basement conference room, many of them older, most of them lay people. Many were representing their parishes. On a recen ...

Jerusalem Court Upholds Women’s Prayer Rights at Western Wall
Originally Posted: 04/25/2013 - 5:03pm | Type: Blog

JERUSALEM — Women who want to wear prayer shawls while praying in the women’s section of the Western Wall are not breaking the law, according to a landmark decision handed down Thursday by the Jerusalem Distri ...

The Most Interesting Woman in the World
Originally Posted: 04/26/2013 - 11:25am | Type: Preaching the Word

five foreign gods since the Assyrians (see 2 Kings 17:30-31) and the one Samaria worships now ...

Half of Christian Young Adults Say Marijuana Should Be Legal
Originally Posted: 04/25/2013 - 10:42am | Type: Blog

Half of young Christians favor the legalization of marijuana, says a new survey out today from the Public Religion Research Institute. Half of young Christians favor the legaliz ...