Category: Social Issues

What’s Right about Organized Religion

Posted in Church, Interfaith, Life and Living, Social Issues, Social Justice1 Comment

Tish Harrison Warren has a regular column in The New York Times about faith and society; she deals with a wide variety of topics, and I almost always find it interesting. The article this week was titled “Faith Communities are Still a Force for Good,” and I really wanted share some aspects of it. [If…… Continue reading What’s Right about Organized Religion

Commemorating Juneteenth

Posted in Africa, Bible, History, Hope, Imagination, Life and Living, Racism, Religion, Scripture, Social Issues, Social Justice2 Comments

Juneteenth celebrated the proclamation issued to enslaved African Americans by Union general Gordon Granger, in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865, that they were free, and the Civil War had ended. General Granger’s announcement put into effect the Emancipation Proclamation, which had been issued nearly two and a half years earlier. From the website http://www.juneteenth.com:…… Continue reading Commemorating Juneteenth

Truth & Healing, and Indian Boarding Schools

Posted in Bodies, Ethics, Grief, History, Life and Living, Politics, Racism, Religion, Social Issues, Social Justice, Suffering, Violence2 Comments

Those in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America might be aware that the Church has just launched a new movement, the “Truth and Healing Movement,” which intends to support the work of the ELCA to explore the “true history and current realities of Indigenous people.” Find more about it here: https://elca.org/Our-Work/Congregations-and-Synods/Ethnic-Specific-and-Multicultural-Ministries/Indigenous-Ministries-and-Tribal-Relations/Truth-and-Healing-Movement Included in this movement…… Continue reading Truth & Healing, and Indian Boarding Schools

“Deaths of Despair” and Social Isolation

Posted in Church, Hope, Jesus, Life and Living, Relationships, Social Issues, SufferingLeave a comment

I used to write a blog post after most mass shootings, but I stopped that practice some time ago when, tragically, they started to become so regularized. How many times can you bemoan the ease of obtaining a gun, the ignoring of warning signs, increasing violence and the normalization of these shootings? I felt at…… Continue reading “Deaths of Despair” and Social Isolation

Remembering Yesterday, for the sake of Today and Tomorrow

Posted in Ethics, History, Hope, Life and Living, News, Politics, Racism, Social JusticeLeave a comment

While I was in Oklahoma last weekend, I visited two very significant museums: the museum and memorial commemorating the Oklahoma City Bombing of April 19th, 1995; and the Greenwood Rising museum and Reconciliation Park in Tulsa, which commemorate the Tulsa massacre of the Black community [often known as “Black Wall Street”] in the Greenwood neighborhood…… Continue reading Remembering Yesterday, for the sake of Today and Tomorrow

Why Diversity Matters, for Everyone

Posted in Ethics, Laws, Life and Living, Politics, Racism, Religion, Social JusticeLeave a comment

Bob Iuliano, the current president of Gettysburg College, a wonderful college where I used to serve as chaplain/associate dean of religious and spiritual life, wrote this fantastic piece for The Hill on race-conscious college admissions: you can read it here: https://thehill.com/opinion/congress-blog/3673515-building-diverse-campuses-requires-race-conscious-admissions/ Iuliano is uniquely qualified to write on this topic, because he previously served as…… Continue reading Why Diversity Matters, for Everyone

My Grandmother’s Hands

Posted in Bodies, Books, History, Hope, Life and Living, Racism, Social Issues, Social Justice, SufferingLeave a comment

I didn’t really plan on doing another book review so quickly, but I wanted to share just a few thoughts about this book [suggested to me by a friend], which was really interesting and different than any other book I have read recently about racism and society. Menakem focuses on our bodies, arguing that we…… Continue reading My Grandmother’s Hands