Religion
Over the last few weeks, the airwaves have been saturated with discussions of the debt crisis and the possibility of default on payments. Added anxiety came with the awareness that credit agencies were thinking of a downgrade on our AAA rating.
Writing in Bloomberg on August 3, 2011, Suzanna Kim said the following: “Now that President Obama has signed the debt ceiling deal and averted a default, economists are waiting to see if ratings agency Standard and Poor's will downgrade the nation's credit rating. The uncertainty surrounding the US's now-perfect AAA rating has also thrust the three major ratings agencies into the spotlight, raising questions about the significance and boundaries of their credit assessments.”
As I look at the conditions of the world this week and seek to select a theme for reflection, and to ask what it says about religion and faith, I must confess, there is more than I can reflect on. The dumping of radiated water in the sea around Japan, the prospect of a government shutdown here in the United States, the battles in Libya, Ivory Coast, Yemen, Bahrain, Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq are all issues that have caught my interest. Whatever else may be said, it is most evident that we are living in a crumbling world. This, of course, makes most significant the words of the old spiritual, “If ever we needed the Lord before, we surely need him now.”
NEWARK - Rev. Mark. M. Beckwith considered the inaugural Newark Interfaith Coalition for Hope & Peace Week, held June 1 through 6, a qualified success.
