golden rule

Image via RNS/Reuters/Kevin Lamarque

“This magnificent grace, this expansive grace, this ‘Amazing Grace’ calls me to reflect. And it calls me to pray. It calls me to ask God for forgiveness, for the times that I’ve not shown grace to others, those times that I’ve fallen short.”

John Stoehr 6-07-2012
God bless America sign, Tony Mathews / Shutterstock.com

God bless America sign, Tony Mathews / Shutterstock.com

While liberals aren't as guilty of showmanship as conservatives (Keith Olbermann is the exception), they are as guilty of not taking politics seriously. Conservatives often resort to name-calling in the absence of debate, but liberals ignore whole categories of discussion. Like patriotism and religion. I suspect the reason is discomfort with talking about them, and I suspect that that's partly because they don't want to risk sounding like conservatives.

Well, it's time we got over that.

Mark Silk 2-02-2012
Over easy. Image via http://bit.ly/xaNg0h.

Over easy. Image via http://bit.ly/xaNg0h.

At this morning's National Prayer Breakfast, President Obama made clear just how pure a postmillennialist Midwestern mainline Protestant he is.

He spoke of how we as individuals acting in community "help bring His kingdom to Earth." And he emphasized the connection between his piety and his public efforts to to make that kingdom a reality.

In 1884, Romney’s great-grandfather, Miles Parker Romney, fled to Mexico from Utah. Miles Parker Romney was a practicing polygamist and he wanted to protect his family from persecution. Mitt Romney’s father was born in Mexico, his family returned to the United States and took up residence in Michigan.

While Romney wouldn’t agree with his ancestor’s practice of polygamy, I am sure he understands his great-grandfather’s desire to do what he thought best for his family. Luckily for Miles Parker Romney, there was a country that allowed his family to settle and try and find a better life.

What is unfortunate is that candidate Romney doesn't seem to have that same kind of empathy for families today who are also in difficult positions.

Good will is a primary element of moral conduct. This is an important idea in the thought of philosopher Immanuel Kant. A good will is good in itself because it does not depend upon whether or not the person will benefit from a particular action or not.

If all we notice in President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize Lecture is a justification of war, we will miss the 21st<
Cathleen Falsani 11-16-2009
Compassion is, by one definition, "a deep awareness and sympathy for another's suffering."

Ben White 9-11-2009
The decision by Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill to release on compassionate grounds the convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi has been ferociously and strongly condemned i
Jim Wallis 8-12-2009
As a nation, we are engaged in making decisions about our health care that will impact our families and communities for generations to come.

Joel Allen 7-17-2009
In the fall of 1997, I began a graduate program in Bible at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Richard Killmer 2-02-2009
I'm grateful for President Obama's swift action to halt the use of torture by signing an executive order that requires the CIA to comply with the Army Field Manual, closes secret prisons, ends rend