Those of us who call ourselves Christian, or at least have respect and reverence for the figure of Jesus of Nazareth, generally know this man from a very serious, upstanding and ethical perspective. Jesus the man is usually characterized as kind, compassionate, gentle, wise, courageous, obedient to God, a healer, a teacher, and an innocent […]
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Crisis “Management” the Trump Way
Most of us, one might hazard to guess, try to avoid crises; our lives are crazy, complicated and chaotic enough. We in the West crave moments of serenity, sanity and normalcy. Not so our current President, Donald J. Trump. Here we will not only show ways in which he creates false crises and then rides […]
Ben Carson and HUD Being Sued
As the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) marked its 50th anniversary in April 2018, several civil rights groups, led by the National Fair Housing Alliance, were suing the agency and its Secretary, Dr. Ben Carson, “for suspending an Obama-era rule requiring communities to examine and address barriers to racial integration.” According to reporting […]
Myths, Lies and Truths about Single-Payer Health Care as the Midterms Approach
With the midterm elections looming, it is becoming clearer that health care is very important to Americans across the country. A Gallup poll conducted in March 2018 found that 55% “of those polled said they worry ‘a great deal’ about the cost and availability of health care in the U.S. . . .This is the […]
Mr. Kobach and the Judge
Remember Kris Kobach and President Trump’s Voter Fraud Commission? The story of Kobach and the most recent news about him is one of those examples of the intersection between an activist right-wing politician, immigration, voter suppression, Trump’s basic bigotry and racism, fear-mongering, a brave judge, the impotence of current Republican lawmakers to challenge Trump’s policies […]
The Hijacking of a Domain Name
The domain name “.BIBLE” has essentially been hijacked by the American Bible Society (ABS). This problem is not just a technical issue of interest only to people who care about the Bible; it touches on how the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) assigns domain names, how the designated organizations manage the signing […]
Reclaiming Jesus: A Confession of Faith in a Time of Crisis
Ash Wednesday in 2018 turned out to be a highly significant day in our nation. It happened to fall on Valentine’s Day, February 14 (which is very rare), but it ended in tragedy with the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. In a poignant coincidence, a group of Christian religious […]
Shelly Simonds and the Tale of the Virginia “Canister”
You may recall the extremely close election in Virginia in November 2017 that resulted in a loss, a win, a tie, and a resolution by “canister.” Shelly Simonds, Democratic candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates District 94, at first narrowly lost to her opponent, Republican David Yancey, by only 13 votes (out of more […]
A Trail, A Veteran, and a Rich Legacy of Native American Care for the Earth
On Saturday morning, June 2, I joined a crowd of over 100 supporters and staff for the opening of a handicapped and wheelchair accessible nature trail at a farm in Northfield, Massachusetts, contiguous to property owned and cherished by Bill and Nancy Ames. The Gunnery Sergeant Jeffrey S. Ames Nature Trail is located at Mount […]
A New Bishop for Newark
On May 19, 2018, the Episcopal Diocese of Newark (New Jersey) elected its 11th bishop. Several things are significant about this: she is a woman (the first woman elected bishop in Newark); she is African American (the first African American elected bishop in Newark); and she was elected on the first ballot, against two other […]