If Mitt Romney wins tomorrow, I hope he embraces his Mormon Christian identity. I hope his presidency will be clearly marked by his faith. We could use some good Mormonism in the White House. So, if he wins, I hope he leads the United States as a faithful Mormon. Many Christians want to exclude Mormons from the Christian family. Many Catholic Christians and Protestant Christians don’t think Mormons are Chri ...

David Brooks is one of the more controversial New York Times columnists. I frequently see posts from my Facebook friends condemning his recent articles. But what I find fascinating about Brooks is that the condemnations come from both sides of the political aisle – conservatives think he is too liberal and liberals think he is too conservative. It’s not that he refuses to take a political position on issues ...

What I believe is we have to … change the culture of violence that we have. – Mitt Romney We’re going to hunt down those who committed this crime. – Barack Obama The definitive renunciation of violence, without any second thoughts, will become for us the condition … for the survival of humanity itself and for each one of us. – René Girard, Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World, 137. Mitt Romney an ...

We say we want to know the truth, but in reality we are hiding from the truth. We don’t want the truth; we want to live in a myth. Unfortunately, the myth looks deceptively like truth. The myth doesn’t set us free; it enslaves us. I’ll risk the cliché about truth because, ironically, it is true. Jack Nicholson was right, we can’t handle the truth, because the truth about ourselves makes us uncomfortable. ...

It was 1:30 am when I heard her voice. My daughter was crying. But I couldn’t get my tired self out of bed. “Just wait a few minutes,” I thought. “If she’s still crying, then get up.” She fell back asleep within two minutes, but I did not. I was wide awake. Apparently, the invisible nurse who lives in my house decided to shoot me up with her invisible intravenous needle filled with invisible Red Bull. I was ...

How do you feel about Republican candidate Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith? Please notice that I did not ask, what do you think about his faith, but what do you feel. Imagine yourself in a conversation with him (or recall when you’ve talked to a Mormon about their faith, if you have had that experience). What is the tone of your comments? Are you curious and questioning, openly seeking information? Or is your to ...

If you are like me, you believe New Year’s Resolutions are made to be broken. I struggle with resolutions. I’ve already failed three of the top twelve resolutions Americans make.  Lose weight? I always break that during football games on January 1st. Stop drinking? Again, January 1st football games. Eat healthy foods? Nachos, pizza, and burgers, all on January 1st. January 1st is the day I resolve to make t ...

We at Raven were honored when we read Robert Koehler’s latest article over at the Huffington Post entitled “Captives to the Logic of Violence.” In his article, references our new project “Be a Hero for Peace” and cogently argues that during the last 10 years the United States has been held captive by violence.  In the name of “freedom” we have enslaved ourselves to violence.  Bob claims that after 9/11, “Wh ...