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Will Mindfulness Change the World? Daniel Goleman Isn’t Sure

By Jay Michaelson

…to-social-psychologist for the TED Talk set. And his new book, Focus, is a New York Times bestseller. But before any of that fame, Goleman was a hardcore Buddhist meditator—and remains one today. His early books were about the development of the contemplative path, and throughout his work has run the theme of how meditative practice, in secular or spiritual contexts, can lead to greater happiness and peace—and conversely, how the disconnects in ou…

The Lethal Mix of Religion and War, Or, Why the World Ended in 1099

By Jay Rubenstein

…crusade veteran named Bohemond traveling around France in 1106 preaching a new crusade. Bohemond was a fascinating character. Initially the great hero of the crusade, he ended up a complete failure, dying a nearly forgotten man back in Italy where he started. As such he struck me as a compelling symbol for the entire crusade movement. There were definitely tearstains on my keyboard when I cut out that chapter. What are some of the biggest misconce…

Why I’m Grateful for 2012, The Rapture, and other Millennial Delusions

By Jay Michaelson

…destruction, that’s in store.) From what I can tell, with one foot in the New Age world, 2012 chatter seems to have died down somewhat. But there are still plenty of true believers. On the religious right, the world basically ended already: on November 6, with the reelection of a Kenyan Muslim Socialist to the presidency of the United States. The degree of the tragedy depends on the degree of the extremist describing it. For Republicans, it was a…

Obama Gets Religion in Indonesia

By Hussein Rashid

…Indonesia as an equal in his speech. Unlike Cairo, where the (Arab) Muslim world was treated as unequal potential partners, the Indonesians are treated as a country worthy of America’s respect. Cairo was aspiration, and Jakarta was the real. There are huge differences in political processes in play. Indonesia is a democracy with strong civic institutions and a thriving civil society. The Arab world is dominated by autocracies, while Afghanistan an…

Did the Dalai Lama Just Call for an End to Religion?

By Richard Schiffman

…e, and forgiveness can and do promote inner values. But the reality of the world today is that grounding ethics in religion is no longer adequate. This is why I am increasingly convinced that the time has come to find a way of thinking about spirituality and ethics beyond religion altogether.” It is easy to sympathize with the Dalai Lama’s frustration. After millennia of being preached at by priests and prophets, humanity is still addicted to war…

God Bless Islam with Courageous Leadership

By Ebrahim Moosa

…I testify that all servants of God are one family… Make me and my family truthful to you in every moment of life in this world and the next. Oh powerful and generous one, hear and respond to my prayers… My second prayer is that God bless Islam with a religious leadership that has a modicum of Solomonic wisdom and tons of moral courage. Why these two prayers? I think many Muslims have forgotten the message of humanism and solidarity with all creat…

Sacred Real Estate: What Makes Washington’s WWII Memorial So Dreadful?

By Michael A. Elliott

…ctable and fluid. The Lincoln Memorial, for instance, has acquired a whole new symbolic register thanks to its role in the African American freedom struggle of the last century, particularly as the site of Martin Luther King Jr.’s oratory. Who knows what work it might perform in the future. And who can tell what the World War II Memorial might mean to Americans decades from now. If we are lucky, its unapologetic braggadocio will look like a histor…

Atheists and Christians Compete to Give More

By Lauri Lebo

…page posted a response: “If r/Christianity builds a hospital in the Third world, we are going to build 10! Let the X-mas Wars and the overall battle for goodness in the world begin!” On Dec. 9, a member of the atheist group set up a fundraising page for the group Doctors Without Borders on the charitable donation site FirstGiving.com. Crymes, after encouraging members of the Christian group to donate to the atheists’ campaign, created her own Fir…

The Wandering Evangelical

By Philip Majorins

…ach other. When they sent us out into the world, I am not sure our elders knew exactly how flat the world had become. Much of this is due to the rapid advancement of the information age within my formative late-teenage years. We inadvertently took a bite from the tree of knowledge and we can’t turn back. We are now all grown up and own Mac laptops. We find Stephen Colbert mildly prophetic, read the Huffington Post, and we eagerly awaited every new…

Let us Pray for the Jews

By Pamela Eisenbaum

…ell as the appeal to “remove the veil from their hearts.” According to the New York Times, the new prayer may be translated as follows: “Let us pray for the Jews. May the Lord Our God enlighten their hearts so that they may acknowledge Jesus Christ, the savior of all men.” The prayer also expresses hope that “all Israel may be saved.” What many may not realize is that both the old and the new Good Friday prayers are citing the apostle Paul. The re…