Peter Laarman

The disastrous oil spill should come as no surprise, since no amount of human sacrifice is unacceptable or unimaginable where the relentless pursuit of glittering riches is concerned. “Blood Diamonds” is actually an appropriate tag for all forms of mineral wealth; all of it is won and held at the price of rivers of blood and suffering.

CBS’s hit show just reinforces the economic inequities we’ve ignored for a century—at the peril of our children’s lives. But where have the religious been?

Is Easter drained of meaning if we acknowledge its borrowed practices and mixed origins? Is there a limit to how porous the boundaries between traditions should become?