There was very good news recently on the issue of Confederate-themed memorials, symbols, monuments, celebrations and military bases: according to NPR, all nine Army bases that were named for Confederate generals have now officially been renamed. Journalist Jay Price reports, “Fort Gordon in Georgia is now Fort Eisenhower.” As we noted earlier, decades after the […]
Present
Blog posts relating to the present such as social justice issues
Index to the Eighth Year
Thank you for your interest in these blog posts! Here is a listing by topic for posts since October 2022. (Some posts appear in more than one category.) Social and Racial Justice, Diversity Resources and Some Good News For Black History Month 2023, 2/10/23 Celebrating Women’s History Month: A Reading List, 3/24/23 Science Meets Religion: […]
Civics Lessons from the Era of Trump: Part II
Last time, we examined several ways in which we American citizens have been educated about the workings of our government, in large part because of the words and actions of the twice-impeached, four-times-indicted former President, Donald Trump. We looked at three Constitutional Amendments (1, 14 and 25), laws versus norms, pardoning, the importance of the […]
Civics Lessons from the Era of Trump: Part I
If we feel sometimes like we’ve gone to law school over the past eight years, it’s understandable. For many of us who have been paying attention, we have learned more than we ever wanted or expected to know about our Constitution and legal system. This is not an entirely bad thing; we citizens should definitely […]
An Excellent Application of the 14th Amendment
“No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of […]
Undaunted Courage in the Face of Disparagement and Racism: Five Examples
In our divided, contentious and often violent country, many of us yearn for examples of courage and resilience. We can feel surrounded – not only by social media and news feeds but even in our own neighborhoods – by demoralizing examples of vengeance, fear-mongering, lawlessness, and cruelty. The most egregious, visible, powerful and omnipresent source, […]
Biblical Scholarship: A Report on the First Global Virtual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature
The Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) tried something new in March 2023: holding a virtual global meeting. SBL was founded in 1880 and is “the oldest and largest learned society devoted to the critical investigation of the Bible from a variety of academic disciplines.” SBL holds an Annual Meeting in North America (which now draws […]
Being Alert and Strategic about the Dangers of Moms for Liberty
The radical right-wing – which includes some of our fellow citizens, even our neighbors – has recently taken up more questionable causes that affect millions of Americans. Whatever their motives, many on the right are spreading very dangerous, anti-democratic disinformation cloaked in innocuous-sounding groups, movements and rhetoric. Moms for Liberty, despite its positive name, is […]
Biden-Harris Rail Improvements in Red States
Thirty-two states will soon benefit from 63 rail projects funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in late 2021 by the Biden-Harris Administration. According to a press release by the Department of Transportation (DOT), the “Law includes the first-ever dedicated grant program to help communities eliminate points where railroad tracks intersect with roads, which have […]
Barber, Sanders and Raising the Minimum Wage: Making the Moral and Practical Arguments
The Rev. Dr. William Barber II, known to Americans as the co-leader of the Poor People’s Campaign, a modern resurgence of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr’s final campaign, has founded a new center at Yale Divinity School, the Center for Public Theology and Public Policy. The Center’s mission is “to prepare a new generation […]