The unholy trinity of authoritarianism, religion and violence
By Jim Wallis https://open.substack.com/pub/jimwallis/p/the-unholy-trinity-of-authoritarianism?r=1ewbq&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
As the rest of the world slowly rebuilt
From “The Seven Democratic Virtues: What You Can Do to Overcome Tribalism and Save Our Democracy” by Christopher Beem As the rest of the world slowly rebuilt, the US manufacturing advantage began to decline, as did its economic preeminence. Competition heated up, and many jobs went offshore as companies sought cheaper labor in developing nations. …
Democratic decline in the United States: Strategic manipulation of elections
Distinct from “voter fraud,” which is almost non-existent in the United States, election manipulation includes election procedures that make it harder to vote or that reduce the opposing party’s representation. These maneuvers have become more common and extreme in recent years—but only in some states. Vanessa Williamson outlines which states have experienced democratic erosion and …
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The Allotment Act
From “The Land is Not Empty: Following Jesus in Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery” by Sarah Augustine From invasion to occupation The final chapter in the repossession of Yakama lands occurred in 1887, when the Allotment Act was established as federal law. Popularly known as the Dawes Act, this federal policy remanded ownership of tribal …
To tackle homelessness faster, LA has a kind of real estate agency for the unhoused
https://www.npr.org/2023/10/24/1207461308/homelessness-housing-losangeles-la-real-estate-unhoused
Old Quebec church gets new lease on life as greenhouse to combat food insecurity
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-church-new-life-as-greenhouse-1.6997710
Instilling self-hatred
From “US: The Resurrection of American Terror” by Rev. Kenneth W. Wheeler Segregation under the Jim Crow laws was not just about separating the races. It ultimately was about instilling self-hatred and trying to separate Black people from their own humanity. This was what those signs in public places were about. It was what riding …
We need green hydrogen to clean up heavy industry. Who’s making it?
There’s essentially no clean hydrogen produced in the U.S. today, but developers are hustling to build projects to supply low-carbon steel, cement and chemicals. https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/hydrogen/we-need-green-hydrogen-to-clean-up-heavy-industry-whos-making-it
Those with the least education are the most likely to indicate that they have no religious affiliation
From “20 Myths about Religion and Politics in America” by Ryan P. Burge With reinforcement such as this, the assumption that going to college leads to disaffiliation has put down deep roots in the psyche of many conservative Christians over the last few years. But is that even a valid assumption? Are people with higher …
Flooded and forgotten: How Europe’s disused coal mines are successfully being used to heat our homes
https://www.euronews.com/green/2023/10/14/flooded-and-forgotten-how-europe-s-disused-coal-mines-could-help-heat-our-homes
Truth dies in four modes
From “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century” by Timothy Snyder As observers of totalitarianism such as Victor Klemperer noticed, truth dies in four modes. The first mode is the open hostility to verifiable reality, which takes the form of presenting inventions and lies as if they were facts. In 2017, the American president …
Poll: More religious Americans support the use of political violence
One-third of white evangelical Protestants support the idea, significantly more than any other religious group.
A desire to simply move past the trauma
From “Reparations: A Christian Call for Repentance and Repair” by Duke L. Kwon and Gregory Thompson A fourth concern is whether, by talking about White supremacy and employing the racialized language of “White” and “Black,” we are perpetuating racial divisions in our communities and obstructing the type of healing to which we aspire. This concern …
Why they remain Christians
By Lesa Engelthaler, featuring Brian McLaren, Wil Gafney, and Aaron Manes https://edition.pagesuite.com/popovers/dynamic_article_popover.aspx?artguid=984ebdc3-d4c1-4dc2-9ca2-9fe2ea9b8860&appcode=DMNUAT&eguid=7037dfad-49f4-4ba5-88b6-aff9871d7e4d&pnum=161#
I’ve picked up plenty of Bibles, Mike Johnson. I didn’t see your hate anywhere.
By Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/mike-johnson-lgbtq-rcna122550
Childish Ways
What are some childish attitudes that bad Christian stories feed into and encourage? I suspect that many of these attitudes are the result of the immature need to be in control – as opposed to the adult need to learn to live in liminal spaces, to trust in and wait on God through ambiguity, to …
Moving Outside Our Comfort Zones
https://email.cac.org/t/d-e-vikmhd-iufowjr-yd/
A D+
From ”The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone And How We Can Prosper Together” by Heather McGhee The United States of America has had the world’s largest economy for most of our history, with enough money to feed and educate all our children, build world-leading infrastructure, and generally ensure a high standard of living …
The remarkable rise of California’s grid battery capacity
https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/batteries/chart-the-remarkable-rise-of-californias-grid-battery-capacity
How MAGA Corrupts the Culture of the White Working Class
A free NY Times article