Unpronounceable Words
George McGovern and William R. Polk, Out of Iraq: A Practical Plan for Withdrawal Now March 2007 Dear Andrew, I have finished McGovern and Polk’s primer on the catastrophe in Iraq and how to get…
Who Is Learning from History?
1. Oscar Romero’s Letter San Salvador February 17, 1980 His Excellency The President of the United States Mr. Jimmy Carter Dear Mr. President: In the last few days, news has appeared in the national press…
The Future Belongs to South America
Jessie Sandova, From the Monastery to the World: The Letters of Thomas Merton and Ernesto Cardenal (Counterpoint Press, 2017) I had initial high hopes for reading the correspondence of Thomas Merton and Ernesto Cardenal. I started…
Share the Wealth with Ashaki Jackson: Some Food for Thought
My name is Ashaki Jackson and I am native to Trinidad and Tobago. My family immigrated to the U.S. when I was 8 years old and later on I moved to St. Louis and pursued…
Doing the Opposite of What Dr. King Suggested
Reagan Patrick is taking her third course with me, Comparative Religion and Culture. She recently spent some time with Dr. Martin Luther King’s April 4, 1967 speech on Vietnam and wrote the following reflection. After…
Share the Wealth with Ayesha Akhtar: صبر (Patience)
Fasting is one of the five pillars of Islam. Every year, Muslims around the world take part in a month of fasting called Ramadan. Ramadan is considered to be a very holy month for us, and it…
Writing for the Future
In winter-spring of 2015 I read every book I could find in English translation of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya. She’s another writer who would be at home in the world of Kafka’s Axe (“But we…
Share the Wealth with Savannah Sisk: Sunday 28 January 2018
“Lying on soft earth, carried into sky by longing, humans respond to stars with questions. Why is the Universe so vast? Why are we so small? Call and response through the night. My whole life…
Trying To Stop the War
Shawn Francis Peters, The Catonsville Nine: A Story of Faith and Resistance in the Vietnam Era Johanna Hamilton, 1971: On the Citizens’ Commission to Investigate the FBI Shawn Francis Peters’ 2012 book is an account…
Share the Wealth with Hanna Suek: My Time in the Philippines
My name is Hanna Suek. I am a junior at Saint Louis University majoring in Occupational Therapy. I had the privilege of studying abroad in Manila, Philippines last spring. I will be telling a few…