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Archive: William Tully
Fair is fair
Fair enough. We've been doing the inviting for years. We welcome the Pope to the business of welcome. We all know that religious boundaries and "brands" mean a good deal less than they used to. As far as I can see, the Pope's invitation continues a de facto period of pilgrimage.
By William Tully | October 22, 2009; 11:04 AM ET | Comments (5)
Finally, a President with Faith in Science
Shame on the churches generally, and particularly on those who have influenced people to think that science and faith in God are incompatible.
By William Tully | March 10, 2009; 12:28 AM ET | Comments (2)
We Need a New Etiquette for Prayer in Public
We've entered a moment in our cultural and national history where we need to have a conversation about the etiquette of religion in public.
By William Tully | January 20, 2009; 08:18 AM ET | Comments (4)
Episcopalians Falling Out of Love
I deeply believe that the widespread acceptance of gay members and clergy against the loud agony of the minority in the Episcopal Church is just like what happens when someone comes out in a family.
By William Tully | December 19, 2008; 08:42 AM ET | Comments (13)
Text, Context and Pretext
Miller interprets the Bible the way many Christians do--seriously, but not literally. She reminds us that using a text or string of texts to prove a point only proves one point: that the advocate or community brings a presumption about God or the Bible or Christianity to bear on the text.
By William Tully | December 14, 2008; 10:18 AM ET | Comments (3)
It's About Time: A President With a Subtle Turn of Mind
As far as I can see, Obama doesn't do what some neoconservatives do: happily appropriate a darling of "liberal" Christians to their own, often militaristic, course.
By William Tully | December 8, 2008; 05:07 AM ET | Comments (3)
No Substitute for Church Going
Plenty of people think they can go it alone--making up a faith and observing it privately. But even the great mystics and hermits of early Christianity knew they had to be linked to community or else the power of the solitary life could turn to plain weirdness.
By William Tully | December 1, 2008; 09:22 AM ET | Comments (20)
Chill, Everybody
Thanksgiving is both a religious and non-religious word, and makes sense either way. Let our presidents get writers clever enough to speak in a generously inclusive way, and thereby uphold a national tradition.
By William Tully | November 21, 2008; 08:35 AM ET | Comments (8)
Thinking religion is hard work
In her great scholarship on the history of fundamentalism, Armstrong has made the case for thoughtful, honest, steady, non-reactive and, yes, thoughtful religion. I believe in a God who calls me to live compassionately and to think compassionately.
By William Tully | November 12, 2008; 07:09 AM ET | Comments (0)
A Victory for Humanity
Our president-elect is also a man of faith. And he did the quintessentially American thing of choosing, as an adult, his expression of faith.
By William Tully | November 5, 2008; 07:32 AM ET | Comments (0)
McCain and Obama: Two Lonely Souls
I watched the third Presidential Debate and I saw two lonely human beings. Who, if anyone, is pastoring -- truly caring for -- the spirits of these two men through this stressful time?
By William Tully | October 17, 2008; 02:14 PM ET | Comments (3)
Guilt by Association Un-American and Un-Christian
It's blindingly obvious to me at least that if there was ever a time to stay on the issues and try to deal with the awful mess we're in, it's now. Judgment works both ways, and I think a lot of us are going to judge candidates who lean heavily on guilt by association, a discredited American political idea if there ever was one.
By William Tully | October 14, 2008; 10:53 AM ET | Comments (4)
No Jargon or Posturing, Please
I want to know what they really believe about the meaning of life.
By William Tully | October 6, 2008; 12:51 PM ET | Comments (1)
Nuanced and Morally Serious
If we really want to protect life, we need to let religious practice and moral reasoning lead us whenever possible.
By William Tully | September 29, 2008; 02:46 AM ET | Comments (6)
Preaching is an Extended Conversation
Ideally, preaching is an extended conversation, and without a frame of reference, quotes and YouTube excerpts are bound to distort that conversation. These days there’s no such thing as a word between only preacher and pew. In digital times, the world is our parish.
By William Tully | June 8, 2008; 09:54 PM ET | Comments (14)
We’ve Been Here Before
We’re in for the long debate. Even if laws change soon—as I hope they will—the meaning of marriage should be plumbed at deep levels in both sacred and secular spheres.
By William Tully | May 20, 2008; 03:23 PM ET | Comments (0)
The Glories and Agonies of the Pulpit
Any pastor’s sermons can be an issue for the folks in the pews. But these sermons are now in the relentless news cycle. And there, blinded by the bright lights and passions of a presidential campaign, most observers will miss the real dynamics of the pastor-parishioner relationship.
By William Tully | May 2, 2008; 08:01 AM ET | Comments (12)
Speaking and Listening
America will overhear the Pope and perhaps will hear some things very clearly. But as a pastor and leader, his words and actions need to be unashamedly for his own people.
By William Tully | April 18, 2008; 09:56 AM ET | Comments (1)
I Don't Want the State Propping up My Religion
Religious leaders often become giant projections screens for everyone’s anxieties and fantasies. That proved to be true last week when Rowan Williams waded into the multi-faith cauldron that is currently boiling in England.
By William Tully | February 15, 2008; 09:17 AM ET | Comments (55)
We Need to Have Faith in our Faith
Governor Huckabee's claim is breathtaking. I can say that because I have to confess that I've given in to the temptation of that kind of thinking.
By William Tully | January 28, 2008; 08:30 AM ET | Comments (8)
The Value -- and Temptation -- of the List
The question itself—which is the worst of the sins?— is a temptation. It assumes a list, and it plays to our love of ranking and categories. But not so fast.
By William Tully | January 17, 2008; 01:37 PM ET | Comments (1)
Listening is a source of faith
My faith has been built on listening.
By William Tully | March 6, 2007; 10:21 AM ET | Comments (28)
The rest of us should be very wary
Since my faith community has been a great offender in the Holocaust, one reason I embrace Israel is to contribute to a kind of repentance.
By William Tully | February 24, 2007; 10:00 AM ET | Comments (41)
Prayer, Above All, Is Listening
God is as close to us as breath and being conscious of one’s every breath is the beginning of prayer.
By William Tully | February 5, 2007; 08:38 AM ET | Comments (17)
We Need to Go Beyond Assumptions of 'Just War' Theory
Christians should contribute a more radical ethic than 'Just War.'
By William Tully | January 15, 2007; 12:20 PM ET | Comments (28)
Do we know our moral presumptions?
Let’s admit it. Christianity, my faith tradition, has a mixed history on war. Though Jesus embodied a radical ethic of loving one’s enemy, and though early Christianity was almost wholly pacifist, Christians have also been crusaders and war-makers....
By William Tully | January 10, 2007; 06:07 AM ET | Comments (2)
Atheists In The Pews
To my friends who don’t believe in God: Those of us who do believe, know—and honor—more about your position that we or our institutions may say. We should do better.
By William Tully | December 30, 2006; 10:40 AM ET | Comments (51)
Jesus, You Are "The Man"
Who is Jesus for me? Someone I can’t write off. Someone who continues to take me deeper than anyone else, or any other system, or any value or truth can take me.
By William Tully | December 23, 2006; 11:05 AM ET | Comments (16)
My God Doesn't Need "Christian" Nation
The U.S. Constitution does not contain the word God. What the Constitution, thank God, does do is guarantee the free exercise of religion by not establishing a religion.
By William Tully | December 19, 2006; 04:10 PM ET | Comments (28)
Parents Need to Get A Life, I Mean A Spiritual Life
Be honest if you don’t know much about God. Don’t yield to the pressure of the season and say or do things you don’t mean. You might even read a book together
By William Tully | December 8, 2006; 11:50 AM ET | Comments (22)
Faith Tempered By Reason Is An Antidote To Violence
If you’re going to get a hearing in the marketplace of ideas, you have to live by the rules of the market. Reason is a market force, but it’s more than that. Reason is a gift from God. A faith whose actions are tempered by reason is an antidote to violence and extremism.
By William Tully | November 29, 2006; 04:08 PM ET | Comments (25)
It's Not For Me To Say
Whom to thank? To answer that goes to the heart of a free people in a free land, to the freedom of every human being to ask the deepest questions...Or not to ask.
By William Tully | November 24, 2006; 12:00 PM ET | Comments (20)
We Are Already In The Conversation
We are already on common ground, and I don’t believe we’re alone. The monopoly has been broken
By William Tully | November 15, 2006; 04:30 PM ET | Comments (14)
