In a March 28 article on the present plight of the Pope and priestly pedophilia (wow, I didn’t intend that alliteration!), the NEW YORK TIMES wrote: “As archbishop, Benedict expended more energy pursuing theological dissidents than sexual predators.” They’re referring to the early 80s, when Pope Benedict was Cardinal Ratzinger presiding over the diocese of Munich. [...]
Posts from ‘March, 2010’
YOUR HOLINESS, LET’S MAKE A DEAL
Your Holiness, I hope this letter somehow reaches you. I think it might help you find a way out of the mess you are in. I’m referring to the accusations being made that you allowed a priest, Fr. Peter Hullermann, who had been identified as a pedophile in the diocese of Essen back in 1980, [...]
For the Vatican: “Poor Me” = Poor Response
A major part of the Vatican response to investigations into sexual abuse of minors by priests in Germany and more specifically into a sacerdotal abuser in the Munich archdiocese when Pope Benedict XVI was Archbishop Ratzinger, in charge of that diocese, has been “poor me.” The NEW YORK TIMES titled its article of March 13 [...]
Passion Allergy?
I came across a statement in Terry Eagleton’s Reason, Faith, and Revolution (highly recommended!) that rang true to my experience here at Union Theological Seminary: “Some postmodernists suspect that all certainty is authoritarian. They are nervous of people who sound passionately committed to what they say.” (p. 136) What Eagleton is saying applies, I think, [...]
God an Algorithm?
If you haven’t been able to read Robert Wright’s book The Evolution of God, and probably won’t have the time to do so, then I strongly urge you to view or listen to the interview of him by Krista Tippett, on her Speaking of Faith program. The interview gives the essence of this very provocative, [...]
Black Theology and Interreligious Dialogue
My colleague here at Union Theological Seminary, James Cone, wrote the following way back in 1992: Although I am a Christian theologian, I contend that a just social order must be accountable to not one but many religious communities. If we are going to create a society that is responsive to the humanity of all, [...]
Obama and the Middle Way
In the March 8 issue of The Nation, Katha Pollitt concludes an excellent article with: “What is the point of Obama being conciliatory and careful if his opponents are reckless and don’t want to conciliate.” (http://www.thenation.com/doc/20100308/pollitt). I’m sure many of us resonate with what Pollitt is urging: Get tough, Mr. Obama! All your reconciliation stuff [...]
