Tag Archives: Religion

Things Fall Apart in Bishops vs. Nuns

By Robin Bates | Published: October 4, 2012

Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart” contrasts rigid and tolerant Christianity in ways that will benefit our own society.

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How Rosh Hashanah Is Like Swimming

By Robin Bates | Published: September 16, 2012

Poet Enid Shomer describes Rosh Hashanah as a swimmer beginning on the surface but eventually sinking deep within the water/rituals.

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More Frightening than Arrest, Freedom

By Robin Bates | Published: August 26, 2012

Levertov’s poem about Peter escaping prison confronts existential issues of freedom

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Ryan, Abortion, and Hardy’s Angel Clare

By Robin Bates | Published: August 15, 2012

Paul Ryan may resemble Angel Claire in Hardy’s “Tess of the D’Urbervilles,” but there’s a vicar who shows us a better way of dealing with a “fallen” woman.

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Christ’s Love for Hot Barley Bread

By Robin Bates | Published: July 29, 2012

Chaucer’s Wife of Bath may not be pure, but Jesus would appreciate her great heart.

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The Spirit’s Table Has Arrived from Heaven

By Robin Bates | Published: July 22, 2012

In this Ramadan poem by Rumi, fasting is seen as a way of escaping the body.

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A Snake That Refused To Be Used

By Robin Bates | Published: July 18, 2012

This Scott Bates looks at Pentecostal snake handlers from the snake’s point of view.

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Theological Clerihews – Heaven & Mirth

By Robin Bates | Published: June 17, 2012

The clerihew form can wittily articulate major theological questions.

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Sin = Separation from Creation

By Robin Bates | Published: May 20, 2012

Seeing sin more as human separateness from creation than as disobeying God may be a more powerful way to teach the concept to today’s students.

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