Keeping An Eye On My Mind

Michael Melcher, 11.29.2009

Executive coach and writer

I'm reading Eat, Pray, Love for the second time. Here's something I can say about Elizabeth Gilbert, the author: as a writer, she is the real deal. ...

Oh My God: What Is God?

Rev. Frank Desiderio, 11.28.2009

Pastor, Filmmaker

I am convinced that built into our DNA is a moral law, and that law can best be described as love that goes out of itself to create. The same type that we can also call Divine Love.

An Introduction To Kabbalah Part 5: Choosing A Teacher

Jay Michaelson, 11.27.2009

Columnist, activist and author of "Everything is God: The Radical Path of Nondual Judaism"

Being a student means you don't know what your teacher knows. I think there are a few basic principles which ought to guide how you look for a teacher.

Game over

David Horton, 11.27.2009

writer, scientist, conservationist, liberal, atheist

There are times when all good women, and men, need to come to the aid of the party. Times when profound changes in understanding occur. Times that put...

Debunking Darwin or fine-tuning Evolution? How Ardi research resonated in Middle East

Meedan, 11.27.2009

Translated Middle East news and discussion

The discovery of Ardi, the oldest hominid skeleton ever found, was big news for the science community around the world. But in the Middle East, the n...

Lieberman's Right on Fort Hood

Norm Stamper, 11.26.2009

Retired Seattle police chief, member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition

When campaigning for John McCain Lieberman actually declared Sarah Palin fit to be president. Yet, when it comes to the Fort Hood slayings, Joe Lieberman is spot on.

When Science Teachers Don't Believe In Evolution

Valerie Tarico, 11.25.2009

Author of "The Dark Side: How Evangelical Teachings Corrupt Love and Truth," and founder, WisdomCommons.org

If nothing else, creationist efforts to undermine science and science education should teach us something about our species, about our impressive capacity for delusion.

Palin And Twilight: American Pilgrimages

Stuart Whatley, 11.26.2009

Associate Blog Editor

We're in hard times, it's reasonable to expect that people will look for saviors and fantastical escapes -- be they in the form of vegetarian vampires or meat eating pseudo-author/pseudo-politicians.

Grateful For America

Grant Cardone, 11.25.2009

Author of Sell to Survive and International Sales and Business Expert

While the world spends so much time complaining about what is wrong I am reminded at this time to focus on what I have to be grateful for: All those ...

This Thanksgiving Remember the Immigrant, Pilgrim

Jim Wallis, 11.25.2009

Founder of Sojourners; speaker, author, activist

The broken nature of America's immigration system is deeply felt during the holidays by millions in the United States who long to be reunited with their loved ones.

A New Thanksgiving Prayer

Alexis C. Jolly, 11.25.2009

I decided to prepare a prayer this year for my family -- one that eschewed dogmatic, patriarchal language. Please modify it to fit your own religious, spiritual, skeptical, or atheistic beliefs.

Christian Leaders Scapegoat Gays on Marriage

Nathaniel Frank, 11.25.2009

Author, "Unfriendly Fire" and Senior Research Fellow, Palm Center

In the new, anti-gay "Manhattan Declaration" scores of Christian signatories reveal the intellectual and moral bankruptcy of their obsessive persecution of gay people.

The Rom Houben Tragedy And The Case For Active Euthanasia

Jacob M. Appel, 11.25.2009

Bioethicist and medical historian

If one believes that the prevention of suffering may sometimes justify the withdrawal or withholding of care, then the very fact that Houben was conscious for twenty-three years might call more convincingly for such action.

An American Arab Thanksgiving

Ray Hanania, 11.25.2009

Chicagoland political columnist, consultant, author, standup comedian and radio talkshow host

Food has a special place in our hearts as Arabs, so Thanksgiving was the American holiday we most loved. Food symbolizes the essence of freedom, the ability to feed your family without fear.

A Jane Goodall Thanksgiving

Michael Winship, 11.24.2009

Senior writer at Bill Moyers Journal on PBS

My Thanksgiving list this year includes Jane Goodall, who was interviewed by my colleague Bill Moyers for this week's edition of Bill Moyers Journal on PBS.

Don't Let 'Allahu Akbar' Become A Pejorative

Jordan Sekulow, 11.24.2009

Democracy's 'War on Islam' is exactly the war Islamic terrorists have been hoping to ignite, and we must not let them succeed. It is time for peaceful, ordinary Muslim Americans to put their collective foot down.

Hijab Case: Why Bigoted Battery Makes For A Hate Crime

Ahmed Rehab, 11.24.2009

www.ahmedrehab.com

Amal Abusumayah, a 28-year-old American mother of four young girls, was going about her usual shopping when she was randomly treated to a dose of derogatory comments about her faith.

What The Buddha Would Say To Sarah Palin

Ed and Deb Shapiro, 11.24.2009

Authors of "Be the Change - How Meditation Can Transform You and the World." EdandDebShapiro.com

At the moment, Palin is touring the country to promote her book, which has a very large number of words in it, but not all of them are necessarily either true or kind.

You Say You Believe In God: What Are You Willing To Do About It?

Lorraine Roe, 11.23.2009

Author, creator of www.psychichousewives.com, former award-winning reporter

Ask God to show him or herself by allowing the divine to perform acts of random kindness in your own life. Don't take someone else's word for it. Get proof.

What Spirituality Has To Do With The Health Care Debate

Paul DeBell, 11.23.2009

Psychiatrist; Author, Decoding the Spiritual Messages of Everyday Life

Spirituality should be approached rationally, not solely through inspiration, emotion and blind faith. It's time to bring it into the 21st Century, and for irrationality that seeps into other crucial debates to be stymied.

The Religion of Thinness

Aimee Liu, 11.27.2009

Author

While writing my book Gaining several years ago, I kept tripping across evidence of a curiously cozy relationship between religion and eating disorde...