Faith Angle Forum

07/30/2024

Elizabeth Oldfield is a realist with what she calls a "low anthropology." So why did she decide to move in with another family, living in a close proximity, low privacy environment?

Drawing on the monastic tradition, Oldfield describes her decision to live in community and to practice regular communal meals and prayer as a way to mitigate her lack of will power, and to order time, ensuring it is aligned with her community's values and deepest desires. Listen in: https://buff.ly/4dgeqFm

07/29/2024

On our podcast author Elizabeth Oldfield and Damir Marusic discuss Oldfield's view that truth is relational, and ultimately is a person. Listen in as they explore left and right hemispheric ways of knowing, and what can happen when spiritual practice precedes belief: https://buff.ly/4dgeqFm

07/26/2024

On the latest Faith Angle Forum podcast, Elizabeth Oldfield and Damir Marusic discuss the nature of truth and faith, and how for Oldfield, spiritual practice and community represent a different, and perhaps better place to begin the conversation about truth: https://buff.ly/4dgeqFm

07/26/2024

On the latest Faith Angle podcast, Elizabeth Oldfield sits down with Damir Marusic to discuss her new book "Fully Alive: Tending to the Soul in Turbulent Times" and the connections she sees between the real problem of evil and spiritual formation (or deformation). Listen in: https://buff.ly/4dgeqFm

07/24/2024

On our latest podcast Elizabeth Oldfield and Damir Marusic discuss Oldfield's new book "Fully Alive: Tending to the Soul in Turbulent Times." It's a conversation that minces no words even when their views differ on sin, grace, evil, and the possibilities for human community.

We hope you'll check it out:

On this episode, we are joined by Elizabeth Oldfield to discuss her newly-released book Fully Alive: Tending to the Soul in Turbulent Times. After beginning her career covering religion for the BBC, Elizabeth for a decade ran a London-based think tank called Theos, which seeks to stimulate the debat...

07/19/2024

"More than 300 million people worldwide are in need of humanitarian assistance and protection to stay alive. Tragically, an estimated 120 million people have been forcibly displaced due to persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations and events that seriously disturb the public order.

"The global need is great. But as leaders of Christian humanitarian organizations, we too often see incongruence between donor interest and the actual greatest situations of need. It is essential that the church be thoughtful and discerning in how we extend compassion around the world, not merely taking our cues from which crises generate media interest."

- Myal Greene & Carol Bremer-Bennett for

(RNS) — We too often see occasions of incongruence between donor interest and the actual greatest situations of need.

07/18/2024

From Knox Thames at RNS:

"Too often, the temptation to make general critiques less disruptive to bilateral relations wins out, but vague comments have little impact on conditions on the ground. Seeing these diplomats address individual situations where religious freedom abuses occur is a crucial starting point and powerful expression of U.S. concern.

"But, for the event to have lasting impact, new diplomatic efforts must follow to press countries to reform. Not just words “expressing concern,” but consequential diplomacy willing to extract a cost if egregious abuses continue. Congress has given tools to the State Department, like the “country of particular concern” designation or Global Magnitsky Act, to back up words with consequences to end persecution. However, they often go underutilized or are forgotten.

"For the United States to credibly pronounce human rights to matter, then it must matter in all our relationships, friend and foe alike. Promoting these values will cause bilateral complications, and some will argue that the United States cannot afford to waste precious diplomatic capital on human rights in our increasingly complicated world. Yet, if the State Department ignores core American values in conducting American diplomacy, we do a disservice to our country and the world we want to lead. And millions will continue to suffer."

Read it all: https://buff.ly/3xXvMHW

07/17/2024

Charles J. Russo writes for RNS: "Officials have vowed to keep fighting for permission to open the [Catholic] school as [an online] charter – which would be a controversial first for the country."

(The Conversation) — Officials have vowed to keep fighting for permission to open the school as a charter – which would be a controversial first for the country.

07/16/2024

In one of his first interviews since the incident, Mr Trump told conservative US media he felt that he had been saved "by luck or by God".

“The most incredible thing was that I happened to not only turn [my head] but to turn at the exact right time and in just the right amount," he said, adding that the bullet that grazed his ear could have easily killed him.

"I’m supposed to be dead, I’m not supposed to be here,” he said. Read it all:

The former president says he was lucky to survive Saturday's attack.

07/15/2024

Author Robert D. Putnam sat down on ⁦The Daily NYT along with Lulu Garcia-Navarro for an interview discussing polarization, social capital, 1965, trustworthiness, isolation, the place of politics, and hope.

Listen in to the whole conversation here: https://buff.ly/468gxsA

‎Show The Daily, Ep 'The Interview': Robert Putnam Knows Why You’re Lonely - Jul 13, 2024

07/12/2024

Princeton professor Lauren A. Wright argues that conservative students have a distinct advantage in college in that they receive exposure to a diversity of ideas:

"Right-wing commentators relish painting elite college students as ignorant, weak, and unprepared to meet the real world. Students have bolstered this perception by struggling to articulate positions on issues for which they profess deep concern.

"But this grim picture leaves out an important distinction: Conservative students, rather than being coddled, face significant intellectual and social challenges in college. These challenges impart educational advantages by forcing conservatives to defend their points of view. Liberal students, surrounded by like-minded peers and mentors, have less opportunity to grow in this way."

Read it all:

Right-wing culture warriors ignore the value of being surrounded by ideological opponents.

07/11/2024

What will the Supreme Court tackle in its next term? Kelsey Dallas has a helpful overview for Deseret of some of the more notable issues the court will be considering:

- Gender-related health care for minors
- Ghost guns
- Age-verification on po*******hy sites
- A major environmental law
- CBD products

Not on the docket? "A First Amendment religion case. Religious freedom played almost no role in the 2023-24 term, breaking a streak of several years in which it took center stage."

Read it all:

The Supreme Court ruled on presidential immunity, abortion and gun rights, among other issues, this term. Here’s what it will debate next.