The ongoing crisis concerning torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of prisoners by U.S. personnel or under U.S. auspices in the "War on Terror" raises issues central to the identity of both church and society. The practice of torture cries out for practical theological reflection inasmuch as it threatens to eviscerate the moral…

Articulates an ethical and theological basis for ethnographic research in faith communities. Interviews with nine ethnographers reveal that both research and researcher are changed by the research act. Argues that ethnography is an opportunity for ministry that is empowering and educational. (MJP)

Argues that too often liturgy and religious education posit an idyllic notion of the reign of God and fail to address the injustice, oppression, and violence endemic to much of modern life. This amounts to a dichotomy between the sacred and the secular. Proposes several corrective measures. (MJP)