Features
The exploding sky
As a teenager in Hawaii, I watched a nearby test of a nuclear weapon. It was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen.
The wisdom of folk horror
Around the world, filmmakers have used a horror framework to explore the fears and nightmares of their societies.
The monsters we fear
Religion and horror often ask us to reflect on the same set of questions.
Soul-altering substances
What implications does the psychedelic renaissance have for faith and spirituality?
The pedagogy of Ancient Aliens
Why I teach ancient astronaut theory as part of Intro to Religion
A better response to the decline of the Christian West
Some fight to preserve what is fading. Michel de Certeau shows how this is an enormous theological error.
Honoring the mothers of environmental justice
Dollie Burwell and Hazel Johnson have been under-recognized in environmental studies—and relegated to mere footnotes in church history.
Anorexia in the communion line
As I stealthily slipped the body of Christ into my pocket, I prayed that no one was watching.
Prayers rising past the immanent frame
Charles Taylor helps me understand my church’s architecture—and my own struggles with faith.
AJ Muste’s Christian nonviolence
Once a household name among progressives, the activist and minister influenced generations that followed.
My UCC church’s listening experiment with our evangelical neighbors
I hoped our shared faith would provide enough common ground. I was a bit naive.
An old man dreaming dreams of psalms
Paul Simon isn’t religious, but the voice he heard in his sleep seems to be.
Strange sounds in deep water
In 1958, Frank Watlington was listening for Soviet submarines when he stumbled onto an alien world.
The faith leaders who helped preserve abortion access in Kansas
In the fight over an antiabortion amendment, Protestant pastors and Catholic sisters worked to show that there is more than one faith-based view.
Discerning the body
Bodies get sick. What becomes of a church body when we enact unity at the table while ignoring our brokenness?
Preservation of church and planet
“The least green thing,” says Bob Jaeger of Partners for Sacred Places, “is to tear down and replace the building.”
Getting ultrareal about the church
Ultrarealism, a concept I learned from distance running, begins by seeing things as they really are.
Ordinary violence
Peacemaking is a crucial part of the Christian life—but it isn’t just about war.
The corrosive power of regret
What does it take to find self-compassion and embrace self-forgiveness?
Walter Earl Fluker’s call to the Black church
In King’s time, the goal was to stir the churches to struggle. Now it’s to wake the dead.