The award winning movie, The Blind Side is based on a chapter in the life of Michael Oher, offensive tackle for the Baltimore Ravens football team. The son of a single mother trapped in the prison of addiction, Oher was left to fend for himself as a teenager and eventually became homeless. Enter Leigh Anne Tuohy, a privileged and opinionated White southern Republican, who was so moved to compassion that she “adopted” the socially disadvantaged descendant of African slaves into her family.

On the first anniversary of “9-11," I was asked to speak for a community guest day at a church in Nashville, Tennessee. If you can recall the social climate at that time, you will remember that nationalistic fervor was at an all time high.

Although the movie Gandhi debuted in 1982, I did not make the time to watch it until last month.

During one of his visits to the United Nations, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad had an opportunity to bare his soul when being interviewed on CNN.

During my thirty hour journey from Entebbe to Huntsville this week, I had plenty of time to reflect on my most recent African experience. In addition to assessing the educational and residential needs of orphans in Kampala, I was one of two main speakers for a vibrant prayer conference in Masaka.

Our multi-cultural age is entangled in complex ideologies that are as diverse as there are people on the planet. In our shrinking world where today’s plane has eclipsed yesterday’s train, ethnic demographics once thought impenetrable have been altered by rapid rates of migration. Here in America, many immigrants tenaciously cling to their ancestral faith as they exhibit a religious obstinance akin to the first European settlers who shunned the spiritual practices of the tribal nations.

Sarah Palin has done it again. The waffling mayor of Wasilla has survived the guffaws of Alaskan governorship and, most recently, has earned the right to be crowned Teflon American tycoon.

It appears as if some talented writers of contemporary Christian songs need a little help from theologians and etymologists when penning odes of love to Divinity. This is especially true for the influential Praise and Worship movement that has been successful in mastering the art of musical manipulation and has driven the emotional depth of the worship experience to a new dimension.

President Carter is right, and President Obama is..., well let’s just say he’s not about to commit political suicide. For some reason, the current President refuses to acknowledge that racism is deeply rooted in American soil and intricately tied to American identity. His ideological illusion was hinted at in his emotional race speech during the campaign and his downplaying of Congressman Murtha’s confession that even White Democrats in his northern constituency had a problem with a bronzed skinned curly haired President.

Many of the world’s problems are directly related to people’s refusal to think. I’m not referring to the kind of thinking that is synonymous to having a gut originating opinion. This type of thinking is ubiquitous. It’s the type of thinking that gives free reign to dictators and yields power to congressional representatives in pseudo-democracies. The kind of thinking to which I refer is summed up in René Descartes’ reflective statement, Cogito, ergo sum. Sadly, this sort of thinking is scarce.