It’s A Grind Coffee House at 12520 Olive in Creve Coeur is hosting a series of Wednesday-evening discussions about religions, from 6:30 to 9pm, starting tonight and continuing through October 7. Each week a different local religious leader will answer a set of questions about their tradition, followed by a hopefully spirited, honest, and respectful discussion with the audience. Participants include leaders from Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Ethical Humanism and Religious Science. (Yours truly will be the speaker on September 16.)

The events are organized by Creve Coeur resident David Noble, who describes them as “a condensed comparative religions class – only better, because participants can hear what leaders of religious communities think, believe and hope rather than what some professor thinks those leaders think, believe and hope.” Noble identifies as a Christian and is interested in helping his neighbors better understand each other’s beliefs, in order to create an environment…

The eyes of the world are on President Obama and his Middle East trip.  Many observers, myself included, find it a hopeful sign that he is being so intentional in reaching out to Muslims; it is too much of an understatement to say this is an emphasis that has been lacking in American foreign policy in recent years.  In fact, Obama has an enormous job in front of him if he truly hopes to repair the image of the United States and forge the “new beginning,” that he spoke of in his speech in Cairo today.

The speech, given at Cairo University, covered an impressive range of topics and was notable for its candor about the challenges that face us as a global community.  He did not avoid addressing the differences between the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, the threat posed by Iran, the problem of Israeli settlements in the West Bank,…

President George W. Bush winks before speaking at the United Nations, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Hot off the Associated Press: President Bush spoke on faith this morning at a United Nations conference “designed to bridge differences between religions and cultures.”

It would be interesting to hear more about how and why his faith has sustained him. Kind of like saying Jesus is your favorite philosopher…sounds good but doesn’t say much. I’ve been rooting around the Internet but haven’t found anything.

Don’t know what to do with that wink, though. I’ll assume he’s getting the speck out of his own eye.

Update: here’s the full text of President Bush’s address to the UN. I found it to be a decent brief exposition of public/civil religion.