So forgiveness pre-requires understanding the mistakes of the past? here hear re this opposing this me-first, America-first, white-first, male-first approach>…
Weekly lessons in theology and public life • Since 2011
Tag: Featured
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Lesson 6: The Big Question
Read MORE: Lesson 6: The Big QuestionA week ago, I intended to answer the question “How do we overcome our conflicts and recover our decency?” in my study. I found myself casting aside one draft after another, feeling my answers might be correct, but they surely…
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Lesson 5: Hitting the Bottom?
Read MORE: Lesson 5: Hitting the Bottom?The pope’s latest encyclical “Magnifica Humanitas” is subtitled “On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence.” That is what the rules of civility do. They provide guidelines for safeguarding the human person. To be civilized is to…
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Lesson 4: Accountability
Read MORE: Lesson 4: AccountabilityDuring this series, readers reported on the loss of civility in driving, sports, and especially social media. Last week I focused on public and private conversation. All observed that a change had taken place. There is less decency today than…
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Lesson 3: Proverbs
Read MORE: Lesson 3: ProverbsThe closest thing to the “Rules of Civility” in the Bible is the Book of Proverbs. The “Rules” are supposedly the guidelines for success that George Washington used. Proverbs are purportedly those recorded by King Solomon from his experience. The…
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Lesson 2: The Rules
Read MORE: Lesson 2: The RulesThe first and the last of George Washington’s “Rules for Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation” pretty much capture the spirit of the other 108. Number 1 is “Every action done in company ought to be with some…
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Lesson 1: Rules of Civility
Read MORE: Lesson 1: Rules of CivilityI became fascinated with rules of civility when reading Amor Towles’ book of the same name. One of the main characters tries to make it in Manhattan by using George Washington‘s “Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and…
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Lesson 11: Immigration. For Example
Read MORE: Lesson 11: Immigration. For ExampleLet me end this series using immigration to illustrate what I’ve found. I chose the topic after a number of you said you would appreciate a theologically informed evaluation of the Trump administration. It seemed that repentance, viewed as rethinking,…
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Lesson 10: Repentance and the 250th Anniversary
Read MORE: Lesson 10: Repentance and the 250th AnniversaryOne of the reasons I chose to write about repentance was the fear that we would hear a lot of bad theology as we celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary. Most of those planning and participating in the religious events are…
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Lesson 9: Rethinking Nature
Read MORE: Lesson 9: Rethinking NatureIn a modern technological society, rethinking our relationship with nature is critical. Living most of the time in an artificial world, we tend to lose contact with our natural environment and with that, an appreciation of our dependence. In the…
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Lesson 8: A Global Society
Read MORE: Lesson 8: A Global SocietyA major factor in our present inability to establish a common understanding of truth is certainly globalism. In the past, geographic separation resulted in different lifestyles developing in the eastern and western worlds. You see that in their religions: Judaism…
Recent Comments
An extremely timely topic. Thanks, Fritz!
yes we need to forgive our leaders yet make sure they do the right thing – which they aren’t.