the culture war with john oakley
The date: November 12, 2013. The issues were legion: * Because women can opt out of accidental pregnancy through abortion, should men be able to opt out, too, by not paying support? * Would you leave your kids at a daycare run by a man? * The HPV vaccine is now being made available in […]
symbols and an altered crest
Last week, I posted a response to a query regarding my beliefs and their seeming dissonance with the statements of faith of the United Church. I augmented that response with a picture, a crest fashioned from the United Church’s official crest but altered to replace the figures in the lower portion of the crest, an […]
essential agreement
As a result of various Facebook conversations taking place that pose questions about the appropriateness of my ministry as an atheist within The United Church of Canada, I’ve been asked by Evan Smith, who is in the process toward ordination, to address the issue. Here is her question, followed by my response. Hi Gretta. I […]
beyond belief – the united church observer conversation
It was an interesting call. David Wilson, Editor of The United Church Observer, calling to invite me to sit down with Connie denBok and have a recorded conversation. Connie is also a United Church minister but, unlike me, she doesn’t believe the word god should be left out of church. She hasn’t had a lot […]
cbc tapestry – letting go
It was wonderful to be able to share an hour with Mary Hynes of CBC’s Tapestry talking about the challenge and reality of letting go. Mary is a gracious, welcoming host so our conversation was incredibly comfortable and I very much enjoyed it. I’d love your feedback. Here’s the program. Letting It Go, CBC Tapestry […]
for the woman who had her husband phone
This morning after the Culture Wars segment of the John Oakley show (audio clips below), I did what every talk show panelist does too often: I thought of all the things I should have said. Charles McVety and I were well into a heated conversation on the topic of the day, whether or not Canada’s […]
united church boycott of goods from illegal israeli settlements
First, a disclaimer. I am not an expert in this area so I would recommend that you be intentional about seeking out information from a variety of sources that are able to provide more detail than that found here. The United Church national website has several links to the issue to which they have given […]
nurturing an empathic civilization
The world we want in 20 years begins this minute. Empathy is triggered when we consider the impact of our actions on the greater whole. But, when we’re born, we have only 15% of the neurons that route our decision-making to the parts of the brain that does that sort of thinking and we only […]
vidoyen – a new question and answer video library
Well, I’ve recorded my first answer to a question on Vidoyen, a new site for the collection of video responses by thought leaders, academics, lecturers and people like me who have something to say about a particular topic. I was asked whether it was possible to be religious or spiritual and an atheist. Here’s my […]
site-seeing
Here are a few of the sites that I enjoy visiting on the web and some of the alternative press that I read regularly and try to support the best I’m able. The list is only as long as my attention span is from one day to the next but I do hope to keep […]
too much information? only if you’ve been spared the experience.
While I was opining last night about gender inequity in healthcare and medical research after my third hot flash in as many hours, the twitter sphere was ablaze with remarks about the Fox interview on the subject of the costs of women’s health insurance compared to men. Obamacare is ruling that women, who have up […]
the perfect storm
At the CCPC conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia a few weeks ago, I spoke about the perfect storm into which I believe we are heading. It’s concocted, actually, by three other storms already raging: one brought about by environmental realities; one by social changes and challenges; and one by the lost of mainline religious institutions. […]
love must be learned
A simple but ever so hard truth from American short-story writer and novelist, Katherine Anne Porter (1890-1980).
indifference in the stars but noble truths here on earth
The Orion Nebula Tolstoy was right. There is only indifference in the stars. As they burst us into firestorm, there was no knowledge of doing so. The universe cares not what becomes of us as it carves its reality out in realms we will never touch or know. But we don’t […]
proud to be a member of the united church of canada
The following is an excerpt from my speech, The Perfect Storm, given at CCPC’s conference, Christianity: The Story Evolves, this week in Halifax. There are many other things that make me proud of the church of my heritage, but this brief synopsis got the point across. It was, of course, a prelude to a significant […]
stones
A quote (put to one of my photos) by William Arthur Ward (1921-1997), an American author, editor, scholar, teacher, minister, and administrator at what is now Texas Weslyan University.
preparing for halifax
It’s the day before I leave for Halifax to participate in the conference Christianity: The Story Evolves. I’m working on my speech. On Sundays, I speak without notes so writing a speech out is something I find challenging. I never know if I’m going to be able to be as intimately connected with my audience as […]
In My Heart
One of the rewrites in the new Sing It Forward. I love the tune, Tallis’ Canon, but could no longer sing the familiar words set to it. These bring the song, once again, back into our repertoire. In My Heart TALLIS’ CANON Deep in my heart, I yearn to find, to feel, amid life’s quaking […]
what is progressive christianity?
(Originally published, The Salt Shaker, Newsletter of West Hill United Church, March 2008.) There are a lot of different ways in which the term progressive is applied to Christianity. For many, a welcoming church that encourages the participation of others who were once barred from full participation—nowadays primarily either women or LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender)—is […]
why are you doing this?
Sometimes, I wonder. Usually, though, the reason is very clear to me. We’re killing each other and we’re killing our planet. Whether it is by slowly poisoning ourselves with chemicals or shooting one other, whether it is by extracting carbon from the earth and spewing it into the atmosphere or spilling millions of miniscule plastic balls […]
You must be logged in to post a comment.