Voting is a covenant. We’ll use our pulpits to demand it be supported.
By Auburn Senior Fellows https://religionnews.com/2021/10/20/voting-is-a-covenant-well-use-our-pulpits-to-demand-it-be-supported/
The Christian faith is based upon being committed to God’s dream for us personally and communally
The Christian faith is based upon being committed to God’s dream for us personally and communally. Our living creatively into the future involves our devotion to the compelling vision of God’s realm of shalom. This is a major biblical theme in Judaism and Christianity. Throughout the sacred Scriptures, God is longing for a people who …
I didn’t know why it was so hard for me
I survived my childhood. I got through elementary school even though I did no homework, never studied for quizzes or tests, and almost never spoke with a teacher. These things confused and scared me. Instead I played or read alone in the backyards of foulmouthed, chain-smoking babysitters whose only interaction with me consisted of calling …
Politically Divided Congregations: A Curriculum for Reconciliation and Transformation
from Sojourners https://sojo.net/politically-divided-congregations-curriculum
It’s easy to feel pessimistic about the climate. But we’ve got two big things on our side
by Bill McKibben https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/oct/15/climate-crisis-cop26-bill-mckibben
Selfishness is America’s Deadliest Virus
by John Pavlovitz https://johnpavlovitz.com/2021/08/05/selfishness-is-americas-second-virus/
How we think about racism is largely determined by our own particular race
For my friend stranded in the unlit parking lot, fearing the black man who ultimately came to her aid revealed her unconscious bias based on skin color and stereotypes. For her, and for many whites racism is commonly understood as prejudicial attitudes and behaviors grounded in a belief that race is the primary determinant of …
How we think about racism is largely determined by our own particular race Read More »
How to Think Outside Your Brain
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/11/opinion/brain-mind-cognition.html?referringSource=articleShare
It is our very denial which has allowed the system to continue
Though this book will be talking about race and its impact on how both the Bible and the United States Constitution have been read, interpreted, and applied, it is important to know that this is not about blaming white people. If there is blame to be assigned, it is against the system called white supremacy. …
It is our very denial which has allowed the system to continue Read More »
Hypocrisy and self-deception proved to be far greater dangers than uncertainty
Of course, now that I’m a bit older and have had my own skirmishes with self-sabotage, I’ve come to wonder if my colleagues and I had it all wrong. It wasn’t moral and theological certitude that helped some of us stay more or less moral; it was moral and theological honesty. The greatest threat to …
Hypocrisy and self-deception proved to be far greater dangers than uncertainty Read More »
Americans are “broadly pessimistic” about the future
Our ongoing failure to achieve racial and gender equality and inclusion is a deeply troubling aspect of our national life – indeed one that violates foundational principles of the American project. However, it is far from the only problem our country now faces. In politics we’re fighting in exceptionally angry ways, in economics the gap …
Americans are “broadly pessimistic” about the future Read More »
Father Lucas recalled one zealous priest standing on the church steps with a bullwhip to discourage any blacks from attending services.
As blacks began to pour into northern cities to escape oppression in the South as part of the “great migration” in the early nineteen hundreds, the Catholic Church responded by modifying its long-standing policy of assigning Catholics to parishes based on where they lived. In his 1970 book Black Priest, White Church:Catholics and Racism, Father …
A more “we” society
During these decades Americans became – perhaps more than ever before – focused on what we could accomplish together. And this sense of shared responsibility and collective progress was not simply some victory lap after overcoming the Great Depression and defeating the Axis powers, as many have suggested. As this chart makes clear, and as …
Innovation
This is a book about the space of innovation. Some environments squelch new ideas; some environments seem to breed them effortlessly. The city and the Web have been such engines of innovation because, for complicated historical reasons, they are both environments that are powerfully suited for the creation, diffusion, and adoption of good ideas. Neither …
A new Anne Frank Center aims to reshape racism through Holocaust education
from Religion News Service https://religionnews.com/2021/09/15/a-new-anne-frank-center-aims-to-reshape-racism-through-holocaust-education/
Some people don’t think much about their faith.
For them, it’s primarily a matter of belonging (I enjoy being part of a church, synagogue, mosque, temple, or dharma group) or of survival (I don’t want to go to hell; I want to maintain God’s blessings of health and wealth for my continued well-being in this life.) They haven’t had an intellectual question or …
Greater awareness of racism
I do not presume to have arrived on the issue, or to be “woke.” I simply want to share with you what I have discovered on my own journey toward greater awareness of racism in America, and with my own participation in systems, both visible and hidden, that perpetuate it. I want to begin with …
The transformation of hearts is essential
Opposing racism but not being active in combatting it sounds rather benign. Forfeiting opportunities to act creatively for race relations may be the greatest contributor to racism’s malignant persistence in society. I believe Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel was right when he said: “In a free society, some are guilty, but all are responsible.” All of …
The cycle hardened the racist ideas inside me
Like the famous question about the chicken and the egg, the answer is less important than the cycle it describes. Racist ideas make people of color think less of themselves, which makes them more vulnerable to racist ideas. Racist ideas make White people think more of themselves, which further attracts them to racist ideas. I …
Weapons into Tools
By Christy Berghoef https://blog.reformedjournal.com/2021/09/06/weapons-into-tools/
Racial Awareness and Mindfulness Festival 2021
Learn more and register here: http://raf2021.eventbrite.com/ On Saturday October 16, 2021, people across the globe are invited to come together in unity to experience a festival designed to help average people develop greater racial awareness and a deeper reflection on the harmful and sometimes unconscious effects of lingering racial disparities and racist systems in U.S. …