Yesterday, the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at USC Dornsife ran a forum on nuclear disarmament and deterrence. The University of New Mexico hosted the event at the Student Union Building. And UNM’s religious studies program, of which I am proud to be a part, was one of the sponsors. The venue made perfect sense. New Mexico is where the “Gadget” prototype of the atomic bomb was created and tested. The state is home to Los Alamos National Labs, which... Read more
On October 14, 2023, Israeli missiles struck the oldest church in Gaza. The Church of St. Porphyrius, built originally in 425AD, was sheltering hundreds of Palestinians seeking reprieve from Israel’s bombardments. At least sixteen Palestinians were killed by Israel in the strike. Photos of the disaster circulated online. And while American preachers were still mourning the Hamas attack on the Kibbutz on October 7, Palestinian Christians were raising their voices once again about the Palestinian predicament since 1918 (by historian... Read more
Sex and sexuality are some of the innermost aspects of human life. These things are deeply personal to us. And as personal as sex is to human beings, sex is also deeply pervasive throughout creation. Sex is, so to speak, the waterway through which life flows from itself. Politics is the ordering of human life. The questions of how far politics should delve into sex and sexuality are far from insignificant. What place government has on our bodies and desires... Read more
In 2017, the State of Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu made an interesting remark while addressing Christians United for Israel (CUFI), an organization founded by John Hagee. CUFI is the largest pro-Israel organization in the US. It seeks to build a broad-based coalition amongst all pro-Israel Christians and Christian communities. To the Christians, Netanyahu said, When I say we have no greater friends than Christian supporters of Israel, I know you’ve always stood with us . . . You stand... Read more
Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel led to the deaths of over 1,200 people, mostly Israeli civilians. Immediately after, Israel declared war on Gaza. The war has since killed over 39,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Back in March, UNICEF has said that Israel had killed over 13,000 children. These numbers, which obscure the lives and losses behind them, are conservative estimates. Academics Rasha Khatib, Martin McKee, and Salim Yusuf have recently argued that Palestinian deaths attributable to... Read more
This column is dedicated to the intersection of faith and politics. And while this area of reflection has developed considerably in popular culture, what is often ignored is the importance of how faith relates to economics. The film American Gospel (2018) gave many American Christians an introduction into how important it is to think about how the Gospel relates to economics. This film documented what is known as the Prosperity Gospel as preached by the likes of Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland, and... Read more
The first freedom guaranteed in the Bill of Rights is the freedom of religion. The First Amendment in the U.S. Constitution protects citizens from government establishments of religion. The government cannot coerce people to follow certain religious ideals. It cannot privilege one religion or sect above others. The First Amendment also protects Americans’ right to freely exercise their religion. Contrary to what many antagonists of religion may say, religion is not a purely private matter. Americans can practice their religion... Read more
2020 was the year that I awoke to the political world around me. It was a chaotic year for many, many Americans. This was the year I began to really ask myself, “How should Christianity relate to politics?” The Jericho March Prior to 2020, I was definitely interested in politics. Starting in 2016, I really began to think about race, culture, economics, and political power. But it wasn’t until 2020 that I found that there exists a very important link between... Read more
On Friday, the Supreme Court of the United States made a historical ruling that will have drastic effects on the lives of homeless Americans. In Grants Pass v. Oregon, the Supreme Court gave the green light for cities to outlaw and punish homelessness, so long as cities frame it as “camping” in public places. As Christians, this decision demands a strong, faithful response. For if there is anything positive that Christianity has had to offer the world of political thought, it... Read more
The relationship between faith and works is a difficult one for Protestants. Since the Protestant Reformation, Protestants have been careful to safeguard the doctrine of salvation by faith alone. We insist strongly that there is nothing that we do that can set us right before God. It is wholly the work of Christ by which we are saved. But sometimes this obsession with faith alone can get us into dangerous waters. It did for Martin Luther, the Protestant Reformer famous... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In