Posts Related to Religion & Theology

Learning to Be Vulnerable
February 09, 2017 • By Michel Ing
Michael Ing discusses when to work toward harmonizing values, and when to accept that values sometimes cannot be harmonized. Read More
The Vulnerability of Integrity: A Q&A With Michael Ing
February 07, 2017 • By Michael Ing
Drawing from ancient Confucian texts, Michael Ing discusses conceptions of vulnerability, and how it’s not always a good thing to be invulnerable. Read More
Challenges and Opportunities in Combating Harmful Traditional Practices: Female Genital Mutilation in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region
February 02, 2017 • By Nazar Shabila
Dr. Nazar Shabila, a lecturer and public health researcher at Hawler Medical University in Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan in northern Iraq, writes about his efforts to understand and combat the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM). Read More
Understanding Harmful Cultural Practices: A Q&A With Dr. Nazar Shabila
January 31, 2017 • By Nazar Shabila
Dr. Nazar Shabila discusses his research on the roots of female genital mutilation (FGM) in the Iraqi Kurdistan region. Read More
Balancing Freedom and Constraint for the Enhancement of Life
January 27, 2017 •
When is freedom life-giving and when is it destructive? When are limits exploitative and when do they enable flourishing? Read More
Transcendence, Immanence, Clarity, Passion
January 24, 2017 • By William Schweiker & Günter Thomas
Two excerpts from the Religion and Culture Web Forum that situate the work of the Enhancing Life Project within a conceptual framework. Read More
Forms of Life and Life's Enhancement
January 19, 2017 • By William Schweiker and Günter Thomas
An excerpt from The Enhancing Life Project’s report for the Religion and Culture Web Forum that outlines a taxonomy of life. Read More
The Virtues of Patience and Impatience: A Q&A with Paul Dafydd Jones
January 10, 2017 • By Paul Dafydd Jones
“Patience is a virtue,” as the aphorism goes, but what does the concept of patience concretely have to do with Enhancing Life? Read More
Spiritual Laws and the Spirit of Laws
December 15, 2016 • By William Schweiker
How religions through their often paradoxical and ironic teachings can enhance worldly life. Read More
Religion in the Public Sphere: A Q&A with William Schweiker
December 13, 2016 • By Dr. William Schweiker
How a deep understanding of the role of religion would help public policymakers as they strive to enhance life for us all. Read More
Memory & Glorious Life: A Q&A With Dr. Kristine A. Culp
December 08, 2016 • By Kristine A. Culp
Is life glorious, and how can “glory” help us to think about human life and its transformation? Read More
Theology and Social Analysis: A Q&A with Dr. Günter Thomas
December 01, 2016 • By Günter Thomas
Dr. Günter Thomas discusses his Enhancing Life Project research, and the overlaps between Christianity, academia, and political life. Read More
Faith and Flourishing: A Q&A with Dr. Aasim Padela
November 15, 2016 • By Dr. Aasim I. Padela
How can medicine attend to the religious dimensions of human health? Read More
Religion and International Relations: A Q&A With Dr. Jeffrey Haynes
November 01, 2016 • By Jeffrey Haynes
Dr. Jeffrey Haynes teaches students about how the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) can be a window into religion's role in international relations. Read More
Enhancing Life Through a Journey
October 13, 2016 • By Elizabeth Bucar
An ancient pilgrimage creates its own reality Read More
Patience, Impatience, and Political Life Today
January 12, 2017 • By Paul Dafydd Jones
Drawing on the work of theological Karl Barth, Paul Dafydd Jones assesses what, to him, represents the ideal balance of patience and impatience with respect to our current political climate. Read More
Faithfulness to the Earth and the Frame of Hope
November 29, 2016 • By Günter Thomas
Political philosophy beyond groundless optimism and constraining pessimism. Read More
Merit-Making and Eco Karma: A Q&A With Anne Mocko
February 21, 2017 • By Anne Mocko
Anne Mocko discusses her research on ascetic traditions, and what contemporary lifestyles have to learn from those traditions. Read More
Enhancing Life Through Experiential Learning: A Q&A with Dr. Elizabeth Bucar
October 11, 2016 • By Elizabeth Bucar
A month-long study abroad course offers an immersive perspective on enhancing life. Read More
Imagining Migration: A Q&A With Alexander-Kenneth Nagel
March 01, 2017 •
Alexander-Kenneth Nagel discusses his research on migration—from how people think about their own migration, to how public discourse filters these experiences. Read More
Religious Diversity and Practice in German Refugee Camps
March 02, 2017 •
Alexander-Kenneth Nagel discusses his research on refugee camps in Germany, and what the rest of the world can learn from them. Read More
Exploring the Book of Urban Nature: A Q&A With Lea Schweitz
March 07, 2017 • By Lea Schweitz
The benefits of paying attention to the nature around you Read More
World and Counter-Worlds
March 14, 2017 • By Günter Thomas
How the tension between what is religiously considered the world and the counter-world can be utilized in a creative way for the drive to transform this world Read More
Love Your Enemies
March 16, 2017 • By William Schweiker
How human freedom allows for human acts of divine power aimed at remaking and enhancing the world and human life Read More
Beyond Resilience: Lessons from and for Adult Jewish Learning
March 21, 2017 • By Dean Phillip Bell
Dean Bell on lessons that can be learned from how, and to what end, adult Jewish learners learn lessons. Read More
Before We Enhance Life, Let's Preserve It
By Dr. Aasim I. Padela
Dr. Aasim Padela discusses the essential aspects of human health, through the lens of Islamic law. Read More
Sexual Reassignment Surgery in Iran: A Q&A with Dr. Elizabeth Bucar
December 01, 2015 • By Elizabeth Bucar
Are body modifications an enhancement or a violation of life? Read More
What Does Caitlyn Jenner Have to Do With Enhancing Life?
December 03, 2015 • By Elizabeth Bucar
What can religion tell us about the embodied nature of gender? Read More
Enhancing Life Through a Framework of Hope: A Q&A with Dr. Günter Thomas
December 10, 2015 • By Günter Thomas
How does the hope for God’s creative presence stimulate human striving for the enhancement of life? Read More
What Religious Terrorism Can Teach Us About the Uncanny Power of Counter-Worlds
December 11, 2015 • By Günter Thomas
Extremists aren't blinded by hate, they're motivated by desperate hope. Read More
Stories of Migration: A Q&A with Dr. Alexander-Kenneth Nagel
January 05, 2016 • By Alexander-Kenneth Nagel
How do visions of a better life shape migrants' experiences? Read More
Merkel, the Abyssinian: Imaginaries of Refuge and Migration
January 07, 2016 • By Alexander-Kenneth Nagel
Creating new narratives for Muslim migrants in Germany Read More
Glorious, Vulnerable Life: A Q&A With Dr. Kristine A. Culp
January 26, 2016 • By Kristine A. Culp
In art and in nature, perishability and glory go hand in hand. Read More
Yearning for Wonder
January 29, 2016 • By Kristine A. Culp
A popular exhibition in Washington, DC explores the glories of mundane things. Read More
The Transformative Power of Vulnerability
February 04, 2016 • By Pamela Sue Anderson
We can find genuine love through openness to loss and change. Read More
Imagining Sustainability: A Q&A with Maria Antonaccio
March 29, 2017 • By Maria Antonaccio
Investigating sustainability beyond its strictly environmental dimensions Read More
Healing and Inter-Cultural Christology: A Q&A With Martin Wendte
April 05, 2017 • By Martin Wendte
How “disability” within a contemporary framework relates to Jesus the healer Read More
Disability: Modern Understandings, Biblical Counter-Readings
April 07, 2017 • By Martin Wendte
Three competing--and perhaps complementary--ways to understand disability Read More
Resilient Democracy in Theory and Practice: A Q&A with Michael Hogue
May 16, 2017 • By Michael Hogue
How understanding communities’ particular vulnerabilities is interconnected with developing more resilient societies Read More
Vulnerability, Resilience, Liberation Theology: A Q&A with Michael Hogue
May 18, 2017 • By Michael Hogue
Michael Hogue discusses Unitarian Universalist ministry, systems theory, and how the work of The Enhancing Life Project can have practical applications within specific communities. Read More
Enhancing Death, Enhancing Life: A Q&A With Daniel Sulmasy
July 07, 2017 • By Daniel Sulmasy
How to reframe the way we think about dying persons in the medical system, and what medicine can do to ameliorate suffering even when facing death Read More
Gandhi and "Alternative Modernity": A Q&A With Karline McLain
July 17, 2017 • By Karline McLain
How Gandhi's intentional living communities, "ashrams", worked--and what we can learn from them Read More
Public Theology in a Taiwanese Context: A Q&A With Stephen Lakkis
July 20, 2017 • By Stephen Lakkis
Exploring the relevance of theological perspectives to the process Taiwanese nation-building. Read More
Communicating Too Much, Too Little, and Toward Peace: A Q&A With Menahem Blondheim
July 24, 2017 • By Menahem Blondheim
Menahem Blondheim discusses his work with the Truman Institute and The Enhancing Life Project, and how religion can reveal a real path forward to peace. Read More
Enjoy Relinquishing!
July 28, 2017 • By Ruben Zimmerann
Discovering the beauty of an “Ethics of Surrendering” Read More
Finding Resilience and Hope in Apocalyptic Times: A Q&A with Barbara Rossing
September 26, 2017 •
Coming back from the “eschatos,” how the Bible can be a resource for human life and the natural world Read More
Healing Eschatology: Enhancing Life or Enhancing Empire?
October 03, 2017 • By Barbara Rossing
Can the catacomb art of Rome help us respond to Doomsday warnings with transformative action and hope? Read More