If the Holy Spirit lives inside of me, He sure has been to an awful lot of casinos. For the last six years, I was a card counter. I played on a team of more than two dozen card counters, all of us trained to beat casinos at the game…  [more]

From ancient myths to modern movies, death and resurrection is a compelling theme. The fact that Ishtar, Horus and Dionysus exist in pagan myth doesn’t make the resurrection of Christ less believable for me. It confirms a universal desire for life beyond the grave. I don’t find Easter’s association with…  [more]

A couple of celebrity bits that sparked all sorts of “ewwww-ing” and “aaaaahhhh-ing” across the Interwebs last week left me uncharacteristically nonplussed and nonjudgmental. While Alicia Silverstone’s video showing her pre-chewing and feeding her 11-month-old son a la a mama robin outraged dentists and others who were worried about passing…  [more]

Stripped of its supernatural elements, does religion have anything to offer atheists? What can nonbelievers borrow from the organizations, practices and rituals of believers - without borrowing a belief in God? According to Swiss philosopher Alain de Botton, a lot. In his new book, Religion For Atheists: A Non-believer's Guide…  [more]

I used to see affirmative action as tokenism at best and reverse discrimination at worst - until I studied Acts 6:1-7. There I saw the New Testament church practicing what was, in many ways, a form of affirmative action. Now I see the principle behind affirmative action as a tool…  [more]