Texas Faith

When I lived in Texas, I was asked to be a contributor to “Texas Faith” published by the Dallas Morning News beginning Aug 26, 2008. Here are links to some of my articles there along with the prompts: 

Texas Faith: Religion's role at the Democratic National Convention

Aug 26, 2008 - Welcome to Texas Faith, our new discussion of religion, politics and culture. Texas Faith is a weekly online feature that will draw upon the expertise ...

TEXAS FAITH: How did your faith shape -- or reshape -- you in 2011?

Dec 20, 2011 - Let's take a break from thinking so hard about topical events and use this week to explain what religious insights you may have had this ...

TEXAS FAITH: Should the word sin be part of our political vocabulary?

Oct 25, 2011 - With all the talk about religion and politics in a non-stop cable TV culture that routinely takes up matters of faith in a political context, ...

TEXAS FAITH: What does the Occupy movement say about American society?

Oct 18, 2011 - First, we had the Tea Party movement. Now, we have the Occupy Wall Street movement. Both are citizen-driven efforts to get our leaders' attention. At ...

TEXAS FAITH: Does just war theory legitimize Anwar al-Awlaki's slaying?

Oct 04, 2011 - After Osama bin Laden was killed, we talked about whether, drawing from your religious perspective, you would have sanctioned his death if you had been ...

TEXAS FAITH: How do you interpret the Genesis creation story?

Aug 23, 2011 - Gov. Rick Perry made plenty of news last week, including offering the observation that creationism is taught alongside evolution in Texas schools. He later was ...

TEXAS FAITH: Are humans to serve the Earth? Or is the Earth to serve humans?

Feb 29, 2012 - This week's question comes from a suggestion by panelist Daniel Kanter and it follows up on remarks that Rick Santorum made recently in speeches and ...

TEXAS FAITH: What happens when the pew and the pulpit don't see eye-to-eye?

Feb 21, 2012 - In this essay from the Washington Post's On Faith blog , Robert P. Jones drew several conclusions from polling data about the flap over Catholic ...

Texas Faith: Beyond King, which religious leader(s) has had a major impact on American politics ...

Jan 17, 2012 - On Monday, we paused to honor the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He arguably had the greatest influence of any religious ...

A fault line on Obama's left flank?

Nov 25, 2008 - Fascinating interplay of opinion in this week's Texas Faith , our discussion of religion and politics. The question is whether there's a fault line between ...

Texas Faith: How does religion explain the world's suffering?

Sep 23, 2008 - Texas Faith is our weekly discussion of matters of religion, politics, and culture. Read about our panel here . We'll take a break from politics ...

TEXAS FAITH: How can we have a real interfaith dialogue?

Nov 03, 2009 - We had a meeting of Texas Faith panelists last week, and the discussion was so good that some of us stayed around for an extra ...

Texas Faith: Are Texans immoral for supporting the death penalty?

Oct 27, 2009 - The storm over the Cameron Todd Willingham case has focused public attention on the death penalty and stirred debate in the Texas governor's race. Willingham ...

TEXAS FAITH: What's the moral thing to do about Afghanistan?

Oct 13, 2009 - The situation in Afghanistan involves two competing realities. One is that more Americans believe we should get out of that war, and the other is ...

TEXAS FAITH: Do we put too great a premium on our biological lives?

Aug 25, 2009 - Despite the cries at town-hall meetings, the House's health care bill contains no "death panels" that would force end-of-life decisions upon elderly Americans. But the ...

Texas Faith: Is health care a moral imperative?

Jul 28, 2009 - The debate over health care has revolved, perhaps appropriately, around cost, availability and the limits of partisan compromise. But is health care more than a ...

TEXAS FAITH: How do changing demographics shape the pew, pulpit and theology schools?

Jul 14, 2009 - Demographics are destiny. Just ask those of us in the newspaper world, where we wonder if enough young people will turn to papers or some ...

Texas Faith: Believers and the Fourth of July

Jun 29, 2009 - We are all about to enjoy the wonderful ritual of the Fourth of July. The ceremony honors many parts of our tradition as a nation, ...

Texas Faith: On the recent intersections of religion and politics

Apr 21, 2009 - Texas Faith is our weekly discussion of matters of religion, politics, and culture. Read about our panel here . Our question this week spins off ...

Texas Faith: Can the Pope's trip ease relations with Muslims and Jews?

Apr 07, 2009 - Pope Benedict travels to Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories in May, the third papal visit in modern times. For this Pope at this moment, ...

Texas Faith: Can Pope's visit ease relations with Muslims and Jews

Apr 07, 2009 - Pope Benedict travels to Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories in May, the third papal visit in modern times. For this Pope at this moment, ...

TEXAS FAITH: The Obama era and common ground

Feb 09, 2009 - It's the Obama era, and searching for common ground has been given a new lift. The president even talked at the National Prayer Breakfast Thursday ...

TEXAS FAITH: What does "soul" mean to you?

Jun 08, 2010 - Our Sunday opinion section, Points, ran an intriguing piece last month by Stephen Asma, a professor of philosophy at Columbia College Chicago. He starts it ...

Texas Faith: Should government practice social justice (like expanding health care)?

Mar 23, 2010 - Cable TV talker Glenn Beck says Christians should leave churches that preach social justice. Here's what Beck had to say: "I beg you, look for ...

TEXAS FAITH: Why are millennials dropping out?

Mar 02, 2010 - In this piece for Politics Daily , the Dallas Morning News' Jeff Weiss did some digging into a Pew Center report about the religious identity ...

TEXAS FAITH: Should religious groups advocate for specific candidates?

Feb 10, 2010 - In a recent decision, the Supreme Court opened the door for corporations and labor unions to contribute directly in support of political candidates. Some conservative ...

TEXAS FAITH: How does a faith adapt without losing its meaning?

Jun 16, 2009 - In his new book, "God's Continent, Christianity, Islam and Europe's Religious Crisis," Philip Jenkins argues that Europe is really not being Islamized, that Christians from ...