When scholarship disappeared from the continent of Europe during the dark ages, the monks and scribes of Ireland preserved classic Greek, Roman, Jewish and Christian texts - an accomplishment Thomas Cahill documented in his 1995 best seller How the Irish Saved Civilization. Now, with Washington paralyzed by partisan bickering, we need the wisdom of the medieval monks again.

Not too long ago, Lillian Daniel (a U.C.C. pastor in Chicago), posted a blog entry about the "spiritual but not religious" which quickly became a topic of much Facebook chatter. The piece was clever, but not at all nuanced. In the post, Daniel for all intents and purposes lumped together all who would self-identify as SBNR and labeled them as boring, shallow, self-centered people who have no understanding of how important it is to be nurtured in a religious community. The tone of her writing was grumpy and smug.

Ever since the so-called "deathly ill" letter was unceremoniously "leaked" in February of this year, there has been a fire storm of protest concerning it - fairly or unfairly!