Episcopalians and those affiliated with the agencies of our church are to be treated with great skepticism as long as we persist in the error of living in the United States, but embraced unreservedly once we take up residence in the United Kingdom.
Three wavering Democratic lawmakers in the State Senate on Monday announced that they now support the legalization of same-sex marriage in New York, marking a potential turning point for the long-debated measure.
Escalating violence against civilians in Sudan’s disputed South Kordofan State is leading to a major humanitarian catastrophe with an estimated 300,000 people besieged, cut off from relief aid, and unable to escape fighting, according to a number of aid agencies and witnesses in the region.
It’s hard to avoid the more likely conclusion, however, that politicians who cry “Sharia!” are engaging in one of the oldest and least-proud political traditions — xenophobic demagoguery. One of the easiest ways to spot its use is when politicians carelessly throw around a word simply because it scares some voters.
Seven years ago, I asked Deacon Vicki Black, as sweet-souled a person as you are likely to meet, whether she would be interested in helping me beef up the content of the Diocese of Washington’s web site by providing a daily meditation excerpted from the vast library of Christian spirituality that she seemed to carry around in her head.
The Speaking to the Soul blog is on hiatus this week to celebrate Vicki Black’s four years of service to the Cafe. Vicki posted the last of her 1,557 entries on the Soul blog on Pentecost Sunday, and we invite you to read it and leave her a note in the comments, either there, or here.