Category: Social Issues

Practical Lessons from the Gay Rights Movement

Posted in Animals, Creation, Social Issues, Social JusticeLeave a comment

So, I listened to this really interesting podcast yesterday, and I can’t stop thinking about it. I wanted to share it and invite you to listen, too.  (Listen to it here:  https://www.npr.org/2019/04/03/709567750/radically-normal-how-gay-rights-activists-changed-the-minds-of-their-opponents).   It’s about gay rights, and it discusses the fact that, in the United States, there has been a relatively rapid change in both…… Continue reading Practical Lessons from the Gay Rights Movement

The Light of International Women’s Day

Posted in Feminist, Poetry, Social IssuesLeave a comment

  Happy International Women’s Day!  All day I have been thinking about all the beautiful, smart, talented women who surround me–and have surrounded me–and I have been feeling blessed and empowered to stand among them. In that spirit, my thoughts and heart were lifted today as seminarian Tamika Jancewicz led a really wonderful chapel service…… Continue reading The Light of International Women’s Day

Women, Religion, Violence and Power

Posted in Death Penalty, Ethics, Feminist, Jesus, Politics, Religion, Sexism, Social Issues, Social Justice, ViolenceLeave a comment

  The title of this blog post is the subtitle of Jimmy Carter’s latest book (well, unless he has cranked out another one in the last year or two–which wouldn’t surprise me!), A Call to Action.  It came out in 2014, and mine is autographed–I will always wait in line for Jimmy Carter! I finally got…… Continue reading Women, Religion, Violence and Power

The Parliament of the World’s Religions

Posted in Hope, Interfaith, Life and Living, Relationships, Social Issues, Social JusticeLeave a comment

I just returned from The Parliament of the World‘s Religions and I’m still processing the whole experience. It was my third time to go, and I think this was the best time yet, because I had six Gettysburg College students with me. I was so proud of them: they engaged the whole experience with enthusiasm,…… Continue reading The Parliament of the World’s Religions

Who Do You Say that I Am?

Posted in Bodies, Gender Identity, Laws, Politics, Science, Social Issues, Social JusticeLeave a comment

No, this post is not about Jesus’ identity, but about the identity of roughly 1.4 million Americans who identify as transgender.  The story broke on Sunday that the Trump administration is seeking to more narrowly define gender as something immutable and unchangeable, determined exclusively and definitively by genitalia at birth.  [Read about it here:  Transgender Could…… Continue reading Who Do You Say that I Am?

Reflections on “Just Mercy”

Posted in Bodies, Death Penalty, Ethics, Laws, Racism, Social JusticeLeave a comment

The first year students at Gettysburg College are all reading Just Mercy:  A Story of Justice and Redemption, by Bryan Stevenson.  Stevenson is a lawyer who founded the Equal Justice Initiative, an organization that works to defend those most in need of an advocate, especially those wrongfully convicted–including those on death row. It is a powerful…… Continue reading Reflections on “Just Mercy”