I enjoyed the new movie Invictus. Morgan Freeman did a stellar job of portraying the early years of Nelson Mandela’s leadership in post-apartheid South Africa. Mandela’s willingness to forgive the past and embrace a rugby team that had been a symbol of the oppression for so many is inspiring.

I recently had the honor of spending some time with Dr. Peter Kusmic, one of the world’s ecumenical leaders, a scholar and a man known for his peacemaking efforts in the Balkans. Peter is the brother-in-law of Dr. Miroslav Volf, a professor who anchors the Center for Religion and Culture at Yale. Both of these men take the words of Jesus seriously, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.”

Finally, EU and UN officials are coming clean and speaking of “global management” and “global governance” as the aims of the Copenhagen climate summit.

As a historian, my interest grows as I see commentary on the “New Atheism.” The “Big Four” – Dawkins, Dennett, Harris and Hitchens (sounds like British law firm) – have created a stir that stimulates skeptics to be more militant and religious apologists to fire up their debating skills.