I just have a few links for you this week. Keeping up with the news online this week has been a little difficult as this was deadline week for our print magazine . Those links to the recipes should keep you busy for a while though!
Busted Halo is up to some compelling work. They're working on a video project called Busted Borders that features the voices (and faces) of those we unfortunately don't hear from enough in the ongoing discussion on immigration in this country: the immigrants themselves. When we posted an essay on young immigrants, some of the comments were–shall we say–less than charitable. Perhaps watching and listening to these videos can remind us that immigration is a human issue, and that we can't discount our brothers and sisters because they come from another country.
The number one religious news story this year (according to the Religion Newswriters Association, that is)? Obama's speech to the Muslim world, the talk he gave this summer at Cairo University. The presence of the U.S. Catholic bishops (and other faith groups) in the health care debate came in second.
Christmas cooking and baking is in full swing for many this weekend. I want someone to give me a tin of coffee toffee. Or a jar of butterscotch sauce. But I wouldn't turn away some salted butter caramel. (I have actually made that salted butter caramel several times, both for my family and for gifts. I think there's nothing better than giving away extra-special homemade edibles for Christmas.)
The Pew Forum recently released survey results that show most Americans "mix and match" their religious beliefs. Paul Lichterman, a professor of sociology and religion at the University of Southern Califorinia, said in an L.A. Times article on the results that this has largely to do with the culture of choice in the United States. We tend to view religion and sprituality as things we choose. There's truth to that, for sure, but the "mixing and matching" has been going on for thousands of years among religious people across the world. Case in point: Christmas trees in churches.
Which leads me to my favorite link of the week: How does the St. John's community decorate their Great Hall for Christmas? With a lot of help.
Photo credit: St. John's University
