Don't they? We overlook that Jesus wasJudgmental?preaching hellfire far more than the apostle PaulUncompromising?telling people to hate their familiesChauvinistic?excluding women from leadershipRacist?insulting people from other ethnic groupsAnti-environmental?cursing a fig tree and affirming animal sacrificeAngry?overturning tables and chasing moneychangers in the templeHe demanded moral perfection, told people to cut off body parts, made prophecies that haven't come true, and defied religious and political authorities. While we tend to ignore this troubling behavior, the people around Jesus didn't. Some believed him so dangerous that they found a way to have him killed. The Jesus everybody likes, says Mark Strauss, is not the Jesus found in the Gospels. He's a figure we've created in our own minds. Strauss believes that when we unpack the puzzling paradoxes of the man from Galilee, we find greater insight into his countercultural message and mission than we could ever have imagined.

    From the Bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire in the Episcopal Church, the first openly gay person elected (in 2003) to the historic episcopate and the world's leading religious spokesperson for gay rights and gay marriage—a groundbreaking book that lovingly and persuasively makes the case for same-sex marriage using a commonsense, reasoned, religious argument, made by someone who holds the religious text of the Bible to be holy and sacred and the ensuing two millennia of church history to be relevant to the discussion, equally familiar with the secular and political debate going on in America today, and for whom same-sex marriage is a personal issue; Robinson was married to a woman for two decades and is a father of two children and has been married to a man for the last four years of a twenty-three-year relationship.

    Practical Stoicism is a collection of short readings written to help bridge the gap between the essential teachings of the great Stoic philosophers and the things we must do, in the here and now, to achieve the fulfillment they promised. Pick a starting point anywhere within its pages whenever you need a quick reminder of how to move your philosophy out of your head and into your life. Version 2.3.1

    It covered jazz, of course, but it also included Davis’s ruminations on race, politics and culture. Fascinated, Hef sent the writer—future Pulitzer-Prize-winning author Alex Haley, an unknown at the time—back to glean even more opinion and insight from Davis. The resulting exchange, published in the September 1962 issue, became the first official Playboy Interview and kicked off a remarkable run of public inquisition that continues today—and that has featured just about every cultural titan of the last half century.To celebrate the Interview’s 50th anniversary, the editors of Playboy have culled 50 of its most (in)famous Interviews and will publish them over the course of 50 weekdays (from September 4, 2012 to November 12, 2012) via Amazon’s Kindle Direct platform. Here is the interview with the novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand from the March 1964 issue.

    And you have God's permission to use it.In some communities, certain voices are amplified and elevated while others are erased and suppressed. It can be hard to speak up, especially in the ugliness of social media. Power dynamics keep us silent and marginalized, especially when race, ethnicity, and gender are factors. What can we do about it?Activist Kathy Khang roots our voice and identity in the image of God. Because God created us in our ethnicity and gender, our voice is uniquely expressed through the totality of who we are. We are created to speak, and we can both speak up for ourselves and speak out on behalf of others. Khang offers insights from faithful heroes who raised their voices for the sake of God's justice, and she shows how we can do the same today, in person, in social media, in organizations, and in the public square.Be silent no more. If you have wondered when and how to speak, hear God's invitation to you to find and steward your authentic voice, whether in word or deed, to communicate the good news in a messed-up world. As you discern God's voice calling you to speak, you will discover how your voice sounds as you express God's heart to others. And the world will hear you loud and clear.

    Revelatory, inspired writing, frequently called the "Matri Upanishad".

    It is largely composed of extracts: a fitting way of expressing the breadth of Quaker theology. It also describes the current structures of Britain Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends.

    John McKnight shows how competent communities have been invaded and colonized by professionalized services -- often with devastating results. Overwhelmed by these social services, the spirit of community falters: families collapse, schools fail, violence spreads, and medical systems spiral out of control. Instead of more or better services, the basis for resolving many of America's social problems is the community capacity of the local citizens.

    We want to know! We want to know the purpose of our life, why we are here on earth, where we came from, whether there is a God, who this God is, whether there is an afterlife, and so much more! These most basic and fundamental questions are hopefully in the forefront of our minds. And if they are not, it's never too late to start! This book offers some of the answers to these questions. It offers the answers found is our Creed. At first, the Creed can seem dry and unimpressive. It can even seem confusing and overly academic. But when properly understood, the Creed holds the answer to the questions we so deeply seek.

    Osho responds to a question about the right way to help children to grow without interfering in their natural potentiality.

    "Trafficked: Two Sisters Lost," is the story of two vulnerable young sisters, separated from each other, sexually exploited, suffering from inhumane living conditions, and confronted daily with physical and emotional abuse. Erin, a part-time journalist with a weekly newspaper in the San Diego area, is assigned a task to write a series of articles about the brutal industry of human trafficking that, depending on the source, is the second or third most profitable criminal activity in the world. In doing so, she not only becomes aware of the magnitude of the problem, but becomes deeply involved in the efforts to rescue and reunite the two lost sisters. Lois Kenna Tripodi graduated from Boston University with a degree in Sociology, is a Licensed Certified Social Worker, and has received alcoholism and drug substance abuse training from Rutgers University. She holds certificates from California and New Hampshire in "Domestic Violence Support Services" and from the University of New Hampshire in "Social Work Counseling." In addition, she has participated in workshops at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference in Montecito, California. A native-born New Hampshire resident, she has served in the NH House of Representatives, District 8, Hillsborough. In addition to supervising and counseling battered women in domestic violence support shelters, she was a member of the Oceanside, California, Crisis Intervention and Sexual Assault Response Team (SART). She currently resides in New Hampshire with her husband. She is the author of one previous novel, "To Take Shelter."

    The collected teachings of The Golden One.Dauntless: The Wild Hunt Edition (2021) is a greatly updated version of this book.

    His uniqueness lies not only in the fact that at the young age of 19 and a half, he travelled to snow clad Himalayas from Kerala, and there he met and lived for several years with a ‘real-time’ yogi, Babaji, but also that he should undertake such an unusual and adventurous exploration, given his non-Hindu birth and antecedents.The metamorphosis of Mumtaz Ali Khan into Sri ‘M’, a yogi with profound knowledge of the Upanishads and deep personal insights, born of first hand experiences with higher levels of consciousness is indeed a fascinating story.The bonus for those interested in the secrets of yoga, meditation and sankhyan metaphysics is that Sri ‘M’ is still living and easily reachable. He leads a normal life, married with two children, wears no special robes and conducts himself without pomp or paraphernalia.Someone who met him recently said, “I expected a flashy godman and instead I saw a jean clad gentleman with a smile of his face, ready to discuss my problems. In five minutes flat, I said to myself, this is no ordinary man. The peace and tranquility that enters your system is tangible”.

    Now at your fingertips. The Mahabharata is the world's longest epic. It contains within it numerous fables, anecdotes and pieces of practical wisdom that make up what we today call Indian culture.Two thousand tales from this ocean of Vedic literature are now being retold for your reading pleasure. Crisp, comprehensive, contextual.In this volume you will find stories such as:- The three disciples of Dhaumya the sage- The strange adventures of Uttanka- The tortoise that fought with an elephant over years by a lake- How Sesha came to become the supporter of Mother Earth- Who the second Indra was and how he was 'defeated'And many more. Whether you're a casual reader of mythology or a die-hard fanatic, this is a must-read.

    Part I asks: Is evolving Nature all there is – self-generated, self-sustaining, self-contained? Are human beings, as the topmost outgrowth of Nature, responsible to none other but themselves? That is the stance of naturalist and atheist Richard Dawkins. Or is evolving reality derived from, and dependent on, a transcendent Source and Destiny, to whom humans are accountable and whose benevolence reaches out to humans as persons because humans are persons? That is the conviction of the Christian faith. Part II shows that Dawkins’ interpretation of religion is deficient even in evolutionary terms and lacks the objectivity and impartiality of genuine science.Backed with in-depth study and thorough research, Richard Dawkins’ God Delusion: A repentant refutation is a masterfully written work that attempts to provide answers to believers and non-believers by presenting scientific and religious reasoning.