Features

Protesting Pipeline Dreams

By Joanna Castle Miller

On a quiet Monday morning in August, monks and ministers gathered under tall trees outside of the White House and began organizing their plan for the day: They would walk in two lines to the mansion's gates, sit down and wait for arrest. While this objective may seem a strange task for a minister, it was no ordinary workday. This was the day faith-based organizations joined environmental groups in mass protests over a proposed oil pipeline. Read more...

How Ethical Is Your Food?

By Nathan Bechtold

In an episode of the comedy Portlandia, a man and woman grill their server about the chicken they intend to order. She tells them the chicken (whose name is Colin) was raised locally, fed a diet of "sheep's milk, soy and hazelnuts" and he roamed free on four acres of land (though she can't speak to whether Colin "palled around" with his chicken buddies). The server then hands over the chicken's "papers"—a form complete with his information and an attached photo. Read more...

Green Revolution

By Margot Starbuck

Having witnessed the damaging effects of drought, deforestation, pollution and urbanization while growing up in Singapore and Malaysia, environmental activist Ben Lowe is on more than a personal mission to save the world. Through the Renewal Project and his book, Green Revolution, Lowe is inspiring and equipping the rest of us to join him. Read more...

Opportunity in the Rubble

By Scott Sabin

It is almost impossible to overstate the impact of the earthquake in Haiti. Estimates of the death toll stand at 230,000 people. Port-au-Prince and many of the outlying communities are still heaps of rubble, with most of the population living outdoors. Read more...

Living a Green Revolution

By Ben Lowe

Tolstoy famously declared, "Everybody wants to change the world, but no one thinks of changing himself." Any call to transformation must first begin with ourselves.   Integrity counts. If we want to be listened to, we first need to practice what we preach; if we advocate taking care of the environment, we had better make sure our lives match up. Read more...

Building Your House from Straw

By Adam Bodendieck

I blame the three little pigs. Whenever I’m discussing the concept of straw bale building with someone, they invariably bring up those famous pigs, and who am I to argue with fairy tale wisdom? Read more...

A Christian Response to the Oil Spill

By Jonathan Merritt

What does the Gulf oil spill symbolize to you? Perhaps American consumerism? Maybe the incredible potential of human beings to destroy creation? What about the coming apocalypse? According to a recent Newsweek article by Lisa Miller entitled, “Blood in the Water,” some Christians see the oil spill as a sign from God that the end is near. Read more...