I am delighted to share the news that today I signed a contract to help write a college-level textbook titled "Sex and Power: A Global Perspective on Gender Inequality." The other two co-authors are sociologists, and they realized that they needed someone with expertise in American history and religion ( Read more... )

Peter Mayer is an amazing singer-songwriter from Minnesota with a strong spiritual bent (mystical and scientific, not dogmatic -- he's a Unitarian Universalist), a quirky sense of humor, and an amazing way with a guitar. I'm bringing him to Arlington for a Winter Spirit concert because I love his music and want to share it. He will be joined by ( Read more... )

The month of Hajj has begun, and more than two million Muslims are converging on Mecca for a pilgrimage that has roots before the time of Muhammad. In honor of the season, we will be showing an excellent film about Hajj this Sunday evening, November 6, at 7 p.m. in the parlor at First Parish Arlington ( Read more... )

I'm giving a talk tomorrow on stories about Muhammad -- what we can know about the historical person, some of the stories of miracle and wonder, multiple stories about Muhammad as a military leader, and multiple stories about Muhammad's relationships with women, all interwoven with reflections on story-telling ( Read more... )

If you give hockey players a choice, most of them won’t wear a helmet. A helmet interferes with their play a little bit, and they will choose to do what they can to maximize their chances of winning the game ( Read more... )

Some of you may have heard about the high school football team from Dearborn, Michigan, nearly all of whom are observant Muslims, so during Ramadan they practice in the middle of the night -- but they can't play teams from other towns in the middle of the night! Starting tomorrow, the award-winning documentary "Fordson," which follows this team ( Read more... )

There will be a fun benefit concert tomorrow by the Gloucester Hornpipe & Clog Society, which will offer a rollicking evening of music from Celtic, New England, sea chanty, and Canadian traditions. All proceeds will go to the Rebekah Carter Fund to help pay the expenses of the 11- and 13-year-old sons of the step-sister of a dear friend of mine. ( Read more... )

Thank you to everyone who responded with good wishes after my slightly-nervous post on Wednesday ( Read more... )

Randy and I are going to testify before the state legislature’s Revenue Committee tomorrow to ask them to raise our taxes. The “Act to Invest in Our Communities” would raise the state income tax rate but also raise the exemption. Households earning under about $70K would get a tiny tax cut, somewhere around $100K people would start to pay more, ( Read more... )

We are not labels - we are people ( Read more... )