Aug

27

The Moral Lives of Foreign Correspondents

August 27, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Visiting a slum in Nairobi is like walking through a haunted house: a horror around every corner. You have to step carefully to avoid slipping into the open sewers. You see and hear and smell that people are living in situations very close to hell on earth. It’s hard to fight the overwhelming urge to […]

Aug

23

Using Economics to Improve Your Faith Life

August 23, 2007 | 10 Comments

In his entertaining new book, Discover Your Inner Economist: Use Incentives to Fall in Love, Survive Your Next Meeting, and Motivate Your Dentist, economist Tyler Cowen considers the following scenario: You are about to walk into an art museum. You aspire to appreciate the many works of art you will see, in part because valuing […]

Aug

21

God’s Social Networks: Evangelicals Leading the Way Online

August 21, 2007 | 1 Comment

If you’re someone who believes life was better before Google and that “face-to-face interaction” is the gold standard of human relationships then read no further: You’ll only shake your head and be vaguely depressed to learn that people are now “going to church” through their computers and creating virtual faith communities online. Surely this is […]

Aug

17

CNN’s “God’s Warriors:” Good Watching, But the Book Is Better

August 17, 2007 | 16 Comments

When ReligionWriter’s husband first saw a press copy of CNN’s new six-hour documentary, “God’s Warriors,” lying around the house, he said he looked forward to learning about famous heroes and soldiers in the Jewish, Muslim and Christian traditions.
He was disappointed, then, when the first segment, “God’s Jewish Warriors,” which will air next Tuesday, Aug. 21, […]

Aug

15

Religion and the Presidential Candidates: Fun Facts

August 15, 2007 | 1 Comment

 

 
Question: What does the current field of presidential contenders have in common with the Supreme Court bench? Answer: It is disproportionately Catholic.
Using the handily compiled religious biographies of the presidential candidates (which number 16, if undeclared Fred Thompson is included) from the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, ReligionWriter discovered these interesting tidbits.
Six out […]

Aug

13

Romeo and Juliet in Saudi Arabia, and Romeo’s a big disappointment

August 13, 2007 | 1 Comment

Get on a plane to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Rent a house, find a job, settle in. Learn Arabic, make friends, spend years in the country. Still, you will never get as full a glimpse into the lives of young urban Saudi women as you will from reading Rajaa AlSanae’s novel, Girls of Riyadh, published in […]

Aug

8

“Whether You Pull the Trigger or Not…” Q+A with Aidan Delgado

August 8, 2007 | 1 Comment

As he writes in his memoir, former soldier and Buddhist Aidan Delgado has been called everything from a “man of principle” to a communist “barking moon-bat” for his decision to become a conscientious objector while serving in Iraq and his activism since then to protest the war and call attention to atrocities committed by American […]

Aug

6

A Buddhist at Abu Ghraib: Conscience in the Crossfire

August 6, 2007 | 1 Comment

Everyone has their 9/11 story — “What were you doing when the planes hit?” — but Aidan Delgado’s surely deserves the prize for Most Ironic. He was at an Army recruiting office, signing on the dotted line for an eight-year enlistment with the Army Reserve, seeking to escape the “elitism” and “petty sophistication” of his […]

Aug

1

Is the Abortion Debate Obsolete? Q+A with Liza Mundy

August 1, 2007 | 1 Comment

The complex ethical issues of assisted reproduction explored in reporter Liza Mundy’s new book, Everything Conceivable, (and reviewed earlier this week on this site) can make the abortion debate look outdated. ReligionWriter called up Mundy to discuss the new meanings of “reproductive choice,” the voice of religious leaders in answering these ethical questions, and what […]

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