Faith Matters

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Bill Tammeus writes about religion and ethics. TypePad
URL: http://billtammeus.typepad.com/my_weblog/
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Saluting military chaplains: 2-3-12

20 hours 16 min ago
Happy Four Chaplains Day. Say, what? It was on this date in 1943 that four military chaplains -- a Catholic priest, two Protestants and a rabbi -- gave their lives to save others on a Navy ship that had been... Tammeus
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Help with Christian art: 2-2-12

Wed, 02/01/2012 - 22:15
What do you know about the art that draws its inspiration from your religious tradition? I freely admit that I'm not well educated about Christian art, though I do enjoy wandering through the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City... Tammeus
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Americans' charitable giving: 2-1-12

Tue, 01/31/2012 - 22:15
I mentioned here yesterday that Mitt Romney tithes to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which he's a member. Well, The New York Times has put together this interesting graphic comparing, first, charitable giving by Romney, Newt... Tammeus
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The centrality of paradox: 1-31-12

Mon, 01/30/2012 - 22:15
Christianity -- perhaps more than any other religion with which I'm familiar -- is characterized by paradox. And in his compelling new book, Night of the Confessor: Christian Faith in an Age of Uncertainty, Tomáš Halík, describes the central paradox... Tammeus
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It's about being like Jesus: 1-30-12

Sun, 01/29/2012 - 22:15
A bit over a week ago here on the blog I featured a remarkable new book, Life in a Jar: The Irena Sendler Project, by Jack Mayer, about the fabulous woman who helped to save some 2,500 Jewish children from... Tammeus
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Leaving a spiritual legacy: 1-28/29-12

Fri, 01/27/2012 - 22:15
Even if we don't intend to, we will leave behind a legacy of some kind when we die. Part of that legacy may be a massive financial fortune that can be used in lots of good (or not so good)... Tammeus
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Hellish theology on the fly: 1-27-12

Thu, 01/26/2012 - 22:15
It's so much fun, in a twisted sort of way, when politicians get into the business of theology and start drawing conclusions -- especially when those conclusions aren't up to them but are, rather, the prerogative of God. Earlier this... Tammeus
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The need for faith runs deep: 1-26-12

Wed, 01/25/2012 - 22:15
Because Chris, one of my stepsons, is a special-needs adult with developmental disabilities, I am tuned in to such people and especially to their spiritual sensitivities. Which leads me to this story: The other morning my wife had to take... Tammeus
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A religiously literate city: 1-25-12

Tue, 01/24/2012 - 22:15
What if Kansas City were to become the most religiously literate city in the country? Well, ways to accomplish that great and big idea already are in the works -- and you can help by adding your recommendations for how... Tammeus
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Preparing to visit Israel: 1-24-12

Mon, 01/23/2012 - 22:15
I am getting more and more pumped up about the trip I'll be helping to lead to Israel in April. This past Sunday, my two co-leaders, Rabbi Jacques Cukierkorn and Father Gar Demo, and I met with some of the... Tammeus
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Losing Europe's soul? 1-23-12

Sun, 01/22/2012 - 22:15
Several weeks ago, the chief rabbi of the United Kingdom, Jonathan Sacks, gave this cogent, indeed quite remarkable, address in Rome on the same day he met with Pope Benedict XVI. (That event is seen in the photo here today.)... Tammeus
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A book worthy of Sendler: 1-21/22-12

Fri, 01/20/2012 - 22:15
One of the major motivations for the book I wrote with Rabbi Jacques Cukierkorn, They Were Just People: Stories of Rescue in Poland During the Holocaust, was his trip to Poland and his getting to meet Irena Sendler (pictured below)... Tammeus
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The anti-religion instinct: 1-20-12

Thu, 01/19/2012 - 22:15
This may or may not have been the exact date in 1918 (various sources differ) when the folks who brought the world the Bolshevik Revolution decided to ban all religious instruction inside the new Soviet Union. Whether today is the... Tammeus
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An interfaith journal: 1-19-12

Wed, 01/18/2012 - 22:15
As regular readers of this blog know, I frequently write about and encourage interfaith, or interreligious, dialogue and understanding. So when I find a new resource that can be helpful with that necessary cross-connection, I like to pass it along.... Tammeus
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A Dickens of a time: 1-18-12

Tue, 01/17/2012 - 22:15
Almost every Christmas season in Kansas City, the KC Repertory Theatre (why must we Americans always spell theater the English way?) puts on "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens (depicted here). It's a nice way to remind ourselves to "keep... Tammeus
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Music's spiritual roots: 1-17-12

Mon, 01/16/2012 - 22:15
When I was considerably younger, I loved much of the music of Paul Simon (pictured here) and Art Garfunkel. I especially remember "Old Friends," which contains a line that says, "How terribly strange to be seventy." Well, Paul Simon himself... Tammeus
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A cautionary King Day tale: 1-16-12

Sun, 01/15/2012 - 22:15
Even for those of us who lived through the 1950s, '60s and '70s it's sometimes hard to bring back a sense of what it was like in the civil rights movement and how much was always at risk. I was... Tammeus
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Understanding Mormonism: 1-14/15-12

Fri, 01/13/2012 - 22:15
One of the fabulous things about the United States is that we Americans can openly debate all kinds of matters, from religion to sports to politics to sex to religion. And did I mention religion? And so even though for... Tammeus
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Almost friggatriskaidekaphobia: 1-13-12

Thu, 01/12/2012 - 22:15
On this Friday the 13th, I want to talk about something as irrational as friggatriskaidekaphobia, which means fear of Friday the 13th. Which is to say that I want to talk about an aspect of Islamophobia -- fear of Islamic... Tammeus
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Big Bible seller where? Norway: 1-12-12

Wed, 01/11/2012 - 22:15
I argue regularly that the world is full of people who are spiritually hungry. Often they are seekers who don't really know what they're looking for. They just know that the material world isn't giving them all the answers for... Tammeus
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