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May 2026

May 20, 2026

AI and Agency

At the beginning of the month, I set the stage for my next several posts...

March 2026

March 25, 2026

White Privilege in the Classroom

Today I am starting a unit on race issues in my ethics class. For the...

September 2025

September 28, 2025

Do Moral Absolutes Exist?

Do moral absolutes exist? Is human engagement with moral principles more like a treasure hunt,...

August 2025

August 12, 2025

Playing a Bad Hand Well

Bein’ born is craps. How we live is poker. Doc Holliday Of the dozens of...

August 10, 2025

That Sounds Like Prayer

We are all going to die! That's just so awful. I didn't agree to this....

July 2025

July 01, 2025

There are Two Kinds of People . . .

I ran an informal experiment on Facebook not long ago, the point of which was...

June 2025

June 29, 2025

Did Jesus Care About Family Values?

Throughout the gospel lectionary readings in Ordinary Time, Jesus regularly says surprising things that contradict...

February 2025

February 02, 2025

The Greek Philosopher You’ve Never Heard Of

I haven't had a chance to teach the ancient greats in philosophy in several semesters,...

January 2025

January 03, 2025

What Is Your Moral Anchor?

Is it ever right to hold a grudge? Is resentment or unforgiveness ever justified? These...

October 2024

October 08, 2024

A Christian Nightmare

What would happen if we actually took the things we claim to believe seriously enough...

September 2024

September 20, 2024

Why Being Uncomfortable is a Good Thing

A new podcast that I've been enjoying recently is Ali Velshi's "Banned Book Club"--I highly...

August 2024

August 25, 2024

What To Do with a Difficult Teaching

Today is the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost. Here is my entry for this Sunday in...

July 2024

July 26, 2024

A Young Woman Confronts Her Inherent Racism

It's been a crazy week, hasn't it? I have deliberately avoided going political on this...

June 2024

June 20, 2024

Not Long Ago. Not Far Away

Jeanne and I went to the Auschwitz exhibition in Boston yesterday--it's there for the rest...

June 11, 2024

Jesus and Family Values

As I work on putting the final "Ordinary Time" chapter of my book A Year of...

February 2024

February 25, 2024

What If I Don’t Want to Take Up My Cross?

Last week I introduced a bunch of honors sophomores to Dietrich Bonhoeffer's distinction between "Cheap...

December 2023

December 14, 2023

Truth is Too Fragile to be Chanted on the Street

There is a saying attributed to Saint Francis that I have heard frequently in more...

November 2023

November 07, 2023

Disability Theology

One of the speakers at the Evolving Faith 2023 conference that Jeanne and I attended...

September 2023

September 20, 2023

Abortion and Faith Discussions: Part Three

As I prepared to be a panelist at the “With Mutual Respect” event, I unexpectedly...

September 10, 2023

Is Tolerance the Most Important Virtue?

What happens when a perfectly good virtue gets turned into not only the most important virtue,...

September 08, 2023

Finding a Moral Compass

Is it ever right to hold a grudge? Is resentment or unforgiveness ever justified? These...

September 04, 2023

Should My Time Be For Sale? A Labor Day Reflection

What follows is a story from my current book project--Nice Work if You Can Get...

September 03, 2023

The Moral Life in One Sentence

A couple of years ago, I was interviewed in my office by a reporter from The...

August 2023

August 05, 2023

When What I Want to Believe Isn’t True: Reflections on the latest indictment of Donald Trump

What do you do when virtually all of the evidence relevant to an important matter...

July 2023

July 02, 2023

Can We Negotiate With God?

Today's reading from the Jewish scriptures is Genesis 22, the well-known and infamous story of...

May 2023

May 18, 2023

It’s Hard to Talk About God

In our recently completed “Faith and Doubt” colloquium, my Dominican priest colleague and I filled...

March 2023

March 14, 2023

There is a God, But I Do Not Believe In Him

Starting thise week I am the up front person in both of my team-taught courses...

February 2023

February 09, 2023

Why I am Triggered by Trigger Warnings

I do not know how to teach philosophy without becoming a disturber of the peace....

January 2023

January 26, 2023

Deciding Whom You Belong To

Five years ago, my college celebrated its centennial. For Jeanne and me, the highlight of...

January 05, 2023

Mediocrates Returns with Some Additional Wisdom

The college basketball season is in full swing. Although I have not posted about it...

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