Anabaptists were the radicals of the Reformation – pacifist but prickly – and Mennonites were the Dutch Anabaptists. Phil Wood describes his Spiritual and social journey on the dissenting margins of historic Christianity.

How economies will fare after the current financial seism has passed, says Manoj Kurian, will depend very much on how governments and civil society are able to care for the welfare and health of their people during the crisis.

Talking with some and not to others while sealing off Gaza has been tried for a number of years, says Cecilie Surasky. This has brought immeasurable suffering to the besieged Palestinians in Gaza and great trauma to the citizens of Sderot in Israel. We need change.

One of the deep mysteries of the early 21st century is why one set of Christians tries to persuade another set of Christians to reject the theory of evolution, says Denis Alexander. He suggests a positive perspective on faith, science and Darwin.

Even though the physical voting process at the Iraqi electoral sites seemed fair, the IHEC's implementation of its internal registration rules, led to a flawed outcome disfavouring the Kurds, says Peggy Gish.

In his speech to the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington DC, President Barack Obama sets out a vision for religion and belief in modern America, arising from his own commitments.

In the scientific community, there has been a significant increase in sightings of articles and studies on the "science" of religion, says Douglas Anderson. But they don't necessarily prove very enlightening.

Barack Obama spoke in his inauguration of "being on the wrong side of history", says Uri Avnery. For the USA and Israel the Gaza tragedy shows what this means. But there is 'another Israel'.

Despite the terrible start in Gaza and other endemic conflicts, governments committed to shared security are set to reach an historic milestone on nuclear free zones this year, says Jonathan Frerichs

There are many people who are not Christians who revere Jesus, says Martin Marty. But when his name is invoked in the civic arena they hear assertions of majority privilege in the religious realm, where privilege often has taken form in power against others.

As we have tragically seen in Gaza, the thinking of the past has not brought peace to the Middle East or the USA, says Gene Stoltzfus. Something new is needed. The Obama era needs to be built on hopeful prayer and action for justice.

Amid the the violence, tragedy and politics of Gaza, there are deep forces of destruction at work, says Gene Stoltzfus. But there may also be sparks of hope which require prayerful discernment out of which a different quality of action can come.

The current Israeli military action is Gaza is being justified on grounds of 'proportionality'. Timothy Seidel looks at the injustice that lies behind the rhetoric.

The murder and senseless killing of innocent civilians has to stop, says Shay Cullen. The International Criminal Court has to be strengthened to bring those accused of war crimes to justice

The escalating conflict in Gaza frays all well-intended political and faith-based efforts at peacemaking in the Middle East, says Wilson Tan. But Christian peacemaking is still a viable and necessary option.