Chuck Gutenson

For the longest time, when Christians have thought about political engagement, they have often begun the discussion with the question: what is the biblical role of government? This is not a completely irrelevant question, but it does seem to start in the wrong place and ultimately get things backwards. Before...

Just when you think you've seen it all..... Friday was the opening of the new movie about William Wilberforce's struggle to end the slave trade in England during the latter part of the 18th century (Amazing Grace, trailer here). I suppose one should expect that all kinds of...

In an article written by Rupert Cornwell, posted yesterday in the Independent Online, the author comments that the Neo-cons are finally starting to realize the errors of their ways. Of course, we should not hold our breath waiting for Bill Kristol to see the light, as this fellow is...

I post today parts of another letter, this time from a different source, but still in Iraq. I offer it for your reflection, and ask that, whatever conclusions you draw, remember that these are letters written by men in very difficult, life threatening situations. For the whole letter, go to...

I have a friend who serves as a chaplain in Iraq. From time to time, we correspond and he gives me some insights from someone "on the ground." In what follows, I have taken some excerpts from a recent letter than he said I could share. If you want to...

Some time ago, I posted a piece by the same basic title (here for the long version, here for the shorter). In it, I asked what it would take for my evangelical brothers and sisters to awaken from their slumbers and see the extent to which the current...

I have always been fascinated with the way songs manage to comment upon, either explicitly or implicitly, on contermporary events. One of my favorites from that perspective is Pearl Jam's song "Yellow Ledbetter." Part of the difficulty is Eddie Vedder's tendency to slur the words when he sings them,...

Writing at the intersection of religious faith and politics is difficult. These are the twin topics, neither of which are to be discussed in polite company. Normal op-ed length tends to require a writer to engage in over generalizations that frequently obscure more than they reveal. Having attempted to...

Perhaps, one of the most helpful ways of thinking about the current state of hostilities was reported to me by a friend,from an article that she had read. Purportedly, this article claimed that we have been fighting the war on terror as if it were analogous to a game...

Not exactly the set of choices one would normally like to faced with--especially when the question is: how did we get where we are? None of the choices leave us with a warm, fuzzy feeling about our place in the chain of events that has brought us to this...

Many, if not all, religious traditions affirm that along with prosperity comes obligation to care for those less fortunate. While some try to dismiss these obligations as only "personal," many realize that care for those on the margins of our societies is both a personal and a corporate responsibility. Unfortunately,...

Is not what this essay is about. Instead, I must admit to rather a noticeable degree of surprise over the extent of response to my last post. It had, after all, the rather modest goal of showing that the so-called problem of evil was not the disproving of God’s...

In a recent piece, the claim was made not merely that God does not exist, but also that all of us “really know” that he does not. Imagine my surprise to read that the One in whom I (and many, many others) have long invested personal trust not only...

In a previous post, I bewailed the general state of public discourse. I take this to be a very serious problem that often precludes us from hearing each other and from being able to move toward consensus and problem solving. Unfortunately, the “sound bite” nature of much of our...

What sorts of communities do we want for ourselves and our children? I have been arguing, in a series of posts, that our captive imaginations have been rendered unable to envision a future radically better than the present. In reflecting on the sorts of communities we want, two further...

I must admit to a bit of consternation when the WWJD fad became so popular in the US, primarily because the answers one often heard seem to be rather contrived and only superficially connected with any actual claims that Jesus made. My second concern was that asking the question this...

Why do bad things happen? We are hearing speculation about answers to this question in the aftermath of Katrina, but the question is as old as humanity. In fact, the title of my post comes from the book of Job. In this book, Job, whom the text explicitly recognizes as...

A question to be asked in every situation is: what would God expect of us in these circumstances? The aftermath of hurricane Katrina is no exception, and Christians ought now to be reflecting upon God's expectations in light of what the disaster has revealed. Initially, reflection should lead to immediate...

From time to time, events and circumstances conspire against us. They rouse us from our comfort and raise our awareness of problems not yet solved, problems from which we have too easily been distracted. As little as a few weeks ago, to be passionate about either poverty or racism, in...

Perhaps, some will argue that it is not appropriate to engage in recriminations in the midst of disaster; I would not be one of those. Often it is during these times that our attention is focused, our emotions engaged to a higher than normal degree, and our desire to make...