Postcard from Belgium

I just returned from a fabulous conference at the Katholieke Universiteit in Leuven, Belgium on “Augustine and Postmodernism: A New Alliance Against Modernity?” (9-11 November), hosted by Lieven Boeve and Tom Jacobs–who did a wonderful job both pulling together a stimulating team of scholars for this colloquium, and then providing unparalleled hospitality that nourished our…

God’s Politics?

I don’t mean to keep flogging the same horse, but man I find Jim Wallis frustrating! A couple of recent occasions for new ire: 1. On the flight over to Belgium, I caught up listening to some of Krista Tippett’s Speaking of Faith podcasts, including a conversation with former Republican Senator and Episcopal priest, John…

Praying for Ted

This morning, while trying to undo autumn’s leafy deposits across the backyard, I found myself–much to my surprise–praying for Ted Haggard. To be sure, Haggard represents almost everything I loathe about the Religious Right and the Babylonian captivity of evangelicalism (captured so well in Jeff Sharlet’s Harper’s piece a while back). And news of these…

A Miscellany

Just a few recent pieces of note that others may find of interest: A wonderful essay by Alasdair MacIntrye: “The End of Education: The Fragmentation of the American University” over at Commonweal (HT: Jeff Bouman) Martin Marty on “theocracy” in Sightings Brian Leiter, with whom I’m not often prone to agree, has an interesting post…