Our leaders have failed us, again. And I don't know about you, but as a religious person, I'm angry.

Approximately 90 percent of the American people believe that their fellow Americans should undergo a background check before they are permitted to purchase a gun. But the legislation mandating those background...

Hardly a month goes by when we don't read about the decline or collapse of organized religion in America. But religion -- including the organized sort -- remains vital and vibrant, defying the predictions of doom that appear with numbing regularity.

The latest round of these discussions follows the...

The City of New York is running an advertising campaign that urges teenage girls not to get pregnant. It is right to do so.

The campaign has drawn fire from Planned Parenthood and others, who say that it is intended to "blame and shame" and is therefore deeply flawed. In...

Religious leaders have long known that if you want to attract worshipers and increase your membership rolls, food can be a valuable tool. Christian services are often followed by coffee hours, and for Jews, Sabbath worship -- on Friday night or Saturday morning -- is generally followed by a Kiddush....

One of the most interesting things that I do as a rabbi is engage in conversations with people who define themselves as "secular Jews" or "cultural Jews." I find it interesting because these are good, serious and thoughtful people, usually deeply committed to Judaism, who struggle with big religious questions...

Above all, let us remember this: Sensible gun-control is a religious issue.

The indiscriminate distribution of guns is an offense against God and humanity.

Controlling guns is not only a political matter; it is a solemn religious obligation. Our gun-flooded society has turned weapons into idols, and the worship...

Thanksgiving tells us a lot about America, about our yearning for community and connection, about loneliness and about God.

Loneliness destroys us in the same way that bullets and poverty destroy us. It eats away at our spiritual wellbeing. It eviscerates our sense of wholeness.

In fact, loneliness kills. "O...

It is important, at least occasionally, to dress up for prayer and for God.

During the recently concluded Jewish High Holiday season, which I celebrated in two synagogues located in different metropolitan areas, I found it interesting that my fellow worshipers were a little more formally dressed than they have...

One morning last week, I spent some time reading through the traditional liturgy for Yom Kippur. The Yom Kippur prayers are so stark, jarring, and intensely powerful that I find it impossible to absorb them on Yom Kippur day if I have not prepared myself by studying them in advance....

I support outsourcing and offshoring. I applaud globalization and free trade. And I do so because of my moral convictions and religious beliefs, and my deep commitment to American exceptionalism.

As the election season heats up, I am troubled by the moral confusion of those who discuss these policies. The...

Some recent, angry exchanges between leaders of different religious traditions have led me to consider the principles that should guide us when reacting to disagreements with other faith groups.

If I strongly disagree with a Christian or Muslim, I am free to say what I wish, of course, and there...

The Supreme Court has spoken. Yes, there is still much to worry about, but for now, the religious community can breathe a sigh of relief.

For weeks, we have been waiting for the Court to decide the fate of Obamacare. We have listened to endless fulminating from the Tea...

As standards of living improve, religious belief will give way to atheism, and atheism's victory over religion will be complete by 2038. So argues Nigel Barber, writing on June 5 in the Science section of the Huffington Post.

Relying on what he calls the "existential security hypothesis,"...

In a much discussed article in the new online publication Religion & Politics Journal, New York Times religion reporter Mark Oppenheimer offers an enthusiastic endorsement of Jon Stewart's coverage of religion on "The Daily Show," which Stewart hosts on Comedy Central. "Jon Stewart may not be a believer," writes Oppenheimer,...

It is not likely that either President Obama or Gov. Romney will say much about their religious beliefs during the upcoming election campaign, and this is unfortunate. If they were to do so, it would be good for them and good for the American people.

America is by far the...

The following column is part of a series. For more, go to Liberal Zionists Speak Out.

I am a Zionist.

Zionism is the belief that the establishment of a Jewish and democratic state in the Land of Israel is essential for the creative survival of the Jewish people.

We are all religious, every one of us.

Religion is deeply rooted in human nature and a response to certain profound and universal needs of humankind.

I write these words after reading the essay "Man The Religious Animal" in the April issue of First Things. Authored by Professor Christian...

There are many criteria that one might use to evaluate Mitt Romney's candidacy for President of the United States. But his position on the Mormon practice of proxy baptisms of Holocaust victims and survivors should not be one of them.

Mormon doctrine calls for the baptism of all the dead...

There are two kinds of atheists.

There are the fire-breathing, venom-filled religion haters, who pour out their contempt on religious believers and who delight in talking about the extremism that is to be found in the history of all the great religious traditions.

And then there are those who reject...

Religious conservatives are drawn to the language of religious war, even if no such war exists.

This is a bizarre, dangerous and troubling phenomenon. I experienced it directly on Feb. 9 when I appeared on the Sean Hannity show on the Fox News channel as part of a panel of...