richh.com | a personal + political blog by rich halvorson

What is Global Fast?

Beginning this year, Ash Wednesday comes with a new twist – millions fasting not only for personal piety, but to create global change.

One American giving up one day’s food cost can provide clean water for one person in Ethiopia for ten years. Ten Americans giving up their day’s food expense can provide a micro-loan to help a struggling family start a business in the Philippines – a business that will help provide food, employment, and shelter for years

Global Fast is about personal charity as collective action – giving of ourselves for others – on a large scale.

( view full article >> )

Comedy Central -- Interview with President Bush's "Speechalist"

Here's a great Comedy Central sketch. It's an interview with President Bush's ostensible head speechwriter who knows that "The American people of today's Americas want a President who can speak their language and speak it badly." ...Enjoy a good laugh with this one.   :-)

http://www.xroadsfilms.com/batescomedycentral/

Questioning Cosmological Superstition

Cosmology is the study of the universe--how it works, its origins and its future. Some of the foundational principles of this science have been influenced by superstition rather than scientific reason and observation. In this longer article, I challenge those assumptions and suggest that cosmologists would get further and more accurate with their theories if science played a more fixed role than secular mythology.

Published in the archives of the International Society for Complexity, Information and Design (www.iscid.org)

An 'Angel' Sustains the Poor

I first met Angel Aloma, as discussed in other articles about Haiti, through this interview I did for the Five Questions feature in the Miami Herald. The charity's website is www.foodforthepoor.org.

Confessions of a Skeptic

This short article was published in The Harvard Crimson after being censored by the editors for over a month. Despite the strong merits of the article, and other articles representing opposing viewpoints being printed, this barely got the editors' approval -- after quite a bit of insisting and bantering.

A Revolutionary Faith

Did you know that evangelical Christianity is the largest and fastest growing faith in Asia, Africa and South America? This article explains the rapid expansion of Christian faith throughout developing nations of the east, west and south.

'Losing my religion' and 'Keeping the faith'

In the field of religious sociology, there are two competing schools of thought. The older, more prominent school is called "Secularization Theory" and argues that religious belief is waning towards oblivion due to the advances of science and society brought by modernization. The more recent school, called "Rational Choice Theory" argues that religion is here to stay, that people tangibly benefit during their lifetimes from religious commitment and involvement, and that Europe is a secular exception in a highly religious world. This essay compares and critiques the two theories.

Suffering and Evil: The Problem of Pain

This essay discusses different answers to the problem of pain, evil and suffering. One of the main objections to religious belief is the problem of pain and evil -- where is God in times of personal suffering? -- yet, it is often ignored that atheists and secularists must deal with the problem also. This essay discusses how atheism, theism and Jesus Christ provide three very different answers.

Questioning the Orthodoxy

This article was published in the Harvard Political Review (www.hpronline.org), and discusses the debate over how to teach evolution in public schools. Among all of the topics I've published on, these articles always generate the most controversy. Therefore, when the editor of HPR found out my article was going in just a few days before publication, he felt the need to throw together an opinion in a scathing response to my piece.

Contemplating god or loving God?

This essay compares the interpretation of virtue in Augustine and Aquinas to that of Aristotle. I argue that the Christian virtues fit more closely with the psychological and emotional aspirations inherent in human nature. Christian virtue also provides a strong foundation for civil society due to its unique combination of strong theological foundations, high aspirations and broad accessibility to "the people" -- and not only the elite.