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Am I my brother's keeper?

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Are you familiar with the parable of the Good Samaritan? The passage from the tenth chapter of Luke begins with a lawyer testing Jesus by asking him what he may do to inherit eternal life. Jesus asks him what the Law says. The lawyer says, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’” Jesus says that he is correct. The lawyer, wanting to justify himself, then asks, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus tells this parable:


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A 'carefully' secular public education

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Religion and public education have never been completely divorced in the United States. Considering religion’s historic involvement in education in Western societies, I doubt religion will ever be completely removed from public education systems in the United States. In fact, religion may be finding new ways to be involved in American public education.


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Discerning the call

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A few days ago, Daniel wrote a post about media coverage of Josh Hamilton — the Texas Ranger who speaks openly and frequently about his faith. Some of the comments to that post wondered why we look at the intersection of sports and religion at all. An interesting discussion ensued.


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No hope for poor blacks?

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The late 1980s and early 1990s were a golden age for stories about poor urban blacks. Besides great movies such as Boyz N the Hood and Hoop Dreams, there were great articles in major publications: Nicholas Lemann’s series on the black migration in The Atlantic Monthly (here is one early story); Darcy Frey’s profile of a high school basketball team for Harper’s; and Leon Dash’s profile of an elderly black woman and her family for The Washington Post.


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A 'lousy night' for atheists?

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When Josh Hamilton talks about the impact of “God’s grace” on his life, reporters and commentators cannot ignore it. Back in January, there was a flurry of coverage of the Major League Baseball slugger’s amazing life turnaround, much of which focused on the role of faith. Those watching the ESPN broadcast of Hamilton’s ridiculously amazing performance in last night’s All-Star Home Run Derby would have had trouble missing the fact that God played a rather significant role in the mere fact that Hamilton is still swinging a bat today.


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