Monthly Archives: October 2010

October 28, 2010

“An African-Brazilian Woman of Poor Origin”

At the time of writing the outcome of a national election in Brazil is still undecided. The candidate of the left-of-center party, endorsed by the enormously popular President Lula (prevented by the constitution from running for another term) was way … Continue reading

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October 22, 2010

More Wisdom from Geneva

In its issue of October 19 The Christian Century, house organ of well-meaning mainline Protestants, reported on a summit meeting at the United Nations of religious leaders and other humanitarians on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the so-called … Continue reading

Posted in Europe |
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October 20, 2010

Germany and its Muslims

I spent all of last week in Frankfurt at the one-hundreth anniversary of the German Society for Sociology, giving the opening lecture on Monday and participating in a seminar on Friday. A great honor to be sure, but on accepting … Continue reading

Posted in Europe, Islam, Secularism |
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October 15, 2010

Proposing a Cosmic Christ

On August 26 Raimon Panikkar died at age 91, in a village near Barcelona, the city in which he was raised. There have been obituaries in both the religious and the secular press. I read a fairly extensive one in … Continue reading

Posted in Hinduism, Inter-faith Dialogue, Religion, Sociology |
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October 12, 2010

Another Limit to Freedom of Speech

The Supreme Court this week heard a case which raises the issue of possible limits to the freedom of speech in the sharpest possible way. I had not been aware of this case until I first read about it last … Continue reading

Posted in Morality, Religion, Secularism, United States |
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October 8, 2010

School Trips, Textbooks and Islam

Wellesley is one of the wealthiest suburbs in the Greater Boston area, exhibiting a mixture of upper-class lifestyles and progressive politics typical of such communities. It is best known as the location of Wellesley College, which for years has been … Continue reading

Posted in Christianity, Islam, Morality, Religion |
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October 5, 2010

Rome and Canterbury

On September 22 The New York Times reported in some detail on the visit to Britain by Pope Benedict XVI.  The high point of the visit was Benedict praying side by side at Westminster Abbey with Rowan Williams, the Archbishop … Continue reading

Posted in Christianity, Europe, Secularism |
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