Search for "best site for airline tickets cheap phone number 1-800-299-7264"

AIG: On Charisma and Routinization of Greed

By Louis A. Ruprecht

…t simplicity and broad comparative reach. The prophet, Weber suggested, is best defined as the unique bearer of charisma. No sooner had Weber offered his “unified theory” of the prophet than he subdivided the essential concept again, noting that there were two very different kinds of charisma with which he had to deal. On the one hand, there is the charisma of personality; on the other, there is the charisma of office. The two forms rarely, if eve…

The Convergence of Passover and Easter Can Leaven (or Unleaven) the Interfaith Family’s Holiday

By Samira K. Mehta

…Seders at their partners’ churches, many find the practice complicated at best and alienating at worst. While the power differential between Christianity and Judaism makes Jewish celebrations far less problematic, within families aspects of the holiday table can also be alienating for Christian family members. A Passover seder is a (potentially) long, ritualized meal, some (or all) of which may take place in Hebrew. There are songs that are often…

Irony Repeats Itself: Reconsidering Reinhold Niebuhr in the Trump Era

By Gary Dorrien

…mocracy necessary.” Liberal democracy is worth defending because it is the best way to restrain human egotism and will-to-power, not because it fulfills an ideal. In 1944, Niebuhr still believed that political democracy needed to grow into economic democracy to attain social justice and protect democracy itself. But he was almost done with saying so, and he no longer believed that his country was capable of socializing the economy, unlike what his…

Céad Mile Fáilte: Open Hearts, Shifting Power Paradigms, and the Irish Same-Sex Referendum

By Gareth Higgins

…ance much in the way of beloved community. But if, as Rohr also says, “the best criticism of the bad is the practice of the better,” then Ireland’s ethically sensitive activists—of all faiths and none—have a beautiful opportunity. It’s simple—the best that we know of Irishness centers on one noble and vital gift: hospitality. Céad mile fáilte, we say— “a hundred thousand welcomes.” The invitation being offered to Ireland’s spiritually committed in…

Men Without Guns: A Tribute to Larry McMurtry

By Amy Laura Hall

…ce, writer of Hillbilly Elegy, has made a mint. Larry McMurtry did the opposite. McMurtry died in March, having spent much of his 84 years arranging words to help readers sympathetically hear life in West Texas. He’s best known for Lonesome Dove, due to the abiding allure of the very myth of the West that McMurtry wrote at a slant. Dwight Garner notes in his New York Times obituary that McMurtry offered “unromantic depictions of a long mythologize…

Bad Karma: Life Lessons From Earl

By Anthony B. Pinn

…the possibility that the United States as a nation has not lived up to the best of its democratic ideals, has not represented in its internal practices and foreign policies the commitment to freedom that fuels its rhetoric. And, while we’re at it, we might throw into the mix some attention to our materialism and its awkward and distorting presentation. There is something useful in examining the policies and practices of our nation and demanding th…

Open Carry Racism: The Right Wing Fever Dream that Predates Trump

By Jason C. Bivins

…ers of which refuse to do so. Get Out may never have been fated to win the Best Picture Oscar, but it’s still the movie that best answers the question how did we get here? while pointing to the “black mold” in the basement. But what needs to be acknowledged is that while Trump is truly exceptional in his disregard for laws, norms, and institutions, he’s also a recognizable product of a half-century’s con game. Significantly, it was with Ronald Rea…

Silence of Latino Religious Leaders Enable GOP Tolerance of Trump Spectacle

By Arlene M. Sanchez Walsh

…e is the GOP now, whose branding with Latino/a voters was next to nil? The best-case scenario is that it can’t get any worse. And where are the religious leaders who’ve dedicated a significant portion of their cache to claims that they can work with the GOP and get them to tone down the invective against their church members? Well, there are always those spurious religious freedom cases to rally around, making sure the local panaderia doesn’t make…

Into the Darkest Moment of a Dark Year Comes the Saturnalia, a Time for Drinking, Swearing, Gambling, and the Circle of Life

By Farah Abdessamad

…d break from 2020? “December liberty,” as Roman poet Horace called it, the best of days! The Saturnalia used to be a beloved ancient Roman pagan festival, which was held right before the winter solstice, from 17 to 23 December in the old Julian calendar. It was a time of unlicensed celebration referring to a golden age without morality and rules. It praised life, and the mysteries surrounding the sun’s disappearance from our lives. It promoted rol…

Catholic Healthcare Is Not the Enemy

By Frances Kissling

…er the “gotcha” is believed. The past couple of years have produced a fair number of examples of a similar mindset on my side: we’re right, they’re wrong and the end justifies the means. Significant loss of access to abortion, the success of efforts to stigmatize providers, and the recent attacks on family planning are frightening us and contributing to the desire to destroy the demon. Recent events in the small town of Bartlesville, Oklahoma high…