September/October 1999

FRUITED PLAIN AND SPACIOUS SKIES A few decades ago, as a young teenager just barely arrived in the United States from my homeland of Australia, I first heard the words of my title sung by child actress Hayley Mills in the Hollywood tearjerker Pollyanna. With apologies to our Canadian readers, I must say that for me there has always been something boundlessly optimistic in those words from Katharine Lee Bates' "America the Beautiful." And every time I fly at 30,000 feet across the continent and look down on the patchwork quilt that makes up these United States, I still imagine I can see the "amber waves of grain," the "purple mountain majesties," and, of course, "the fruited plain." Never mind the smog that hangs low over New York, Los Angeles, and sometimes a few points in between; this remains a land dedicated to a very spacious view of freedom.

The tragedy of Kosovo underscores the imperative of respect for other faiths and peoples

"Whereas Almighty God hath created the mind free; that all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burdens, or by civil incapacitations, tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness, and are a departure from the Holy Author of our religion."

Is Power Politics Really the Way to Advance the Kingdom of God?

We hear a great deal about separation of church and state today, especially from those who revile the concept, regard it as somehow foreign or un American, and want to replace it with some form of official or unofficial cooperation between religious groups and government. So it is now time to take a fresh look back at how the concept evolved and became an essential part of American law and culture.

How can churches negotiate zoning laws and community objections without invoking privilege?