Donald Blankenship, owner of Massey Energy Company and one of the wealthiest men in Appalachia, was convicted yesterday of conspiring to violate federal mine safety standards in the case of an explosion that killed 29 miners. He conspired to force employees to ignore safety standards that threatened profits. His sentence is one year in prison, if his appeal fails. He made tens of millions of dollars from the mines, but was ordered to pay a mere $250,000 ~ none of... Read more
The people who want to make abortion illegal have just been “outed” for a profound inconsistency. Donald Trump, shooting from the hip, suggested that since abortion is murder, women who have abortions should be punished accordingly. The outcry from conservative culture warriors was immediate. Almost all anti-abortion campaigners oppose such criminalization, because they know that advocating for it would create a huge backlash against their efforts. The right to choose whether or not to have an abortion is the mother... Read more
By Tyler Sit, Church planter of New City Church Over the next 12 months, the Forum for Theological Education is spotlighting 12 leaders, their stories, and how their passion and call to shape a more hopeful future through Christian ministry guides the impact they are making in their communities, institutions and universities. You can find the complete series, here. Environmental justice has everything to do with Jesus, and that is why we are planting a church. To explain, let’s walk down... Read more
On Monday, March 21, students at Emory University in Atlanta found “Trump 2016” and similar campaign messages written in chalk on the sidewalk. A group of students organized a protest, and went to the university president to express their feelings of fear and intimidation. It is silly to protest the chalking of Donald Trump’s name on a sidewalk. Those students need to buck up and take a deep breath and realize that this incident is not life-threatening. Part of growing... Read more
We currently live in a world where countless books have been written and read by countless believers about “declared dead on the operating table” or similar experiences with predictable tales of a white light at the end of a tunnel and angels telling the newly dead, “It is not your time yet… Go back! Go back!” But there are far fewer books by women standing at an empty tomb saying, “He’s back! He’s back!” We currently live in a world... Read more
The Rev. Amanda Henderson was up at the crack of dawn on a cold Tuesday morning earlier this month, her white cleric collar showing from under her winter jacket. She stood with a small group of other clergy on a gritty downtown street corner on the morning the “sweep” was to begin. Over the past weekend, the city of Denver had put up notices that they would be “sweeping” the homeless folks off of the streets and putting their belongings in storage. I saw... Read more
By Faiths for Safe Water Water, our shared symbol, is a most fitting place for people of all faiths and moral courage to unite and lead. Here are 7 steps that will make a difference, near and far: Step 1: Remember this acronym: WASH. WASH is WAter/Sanitation/Hygiene. Access to WASH is the solution. Step 2: Rusty pumps: Let’s make sure our charity work, works. Many houses of worship enthusiastically commit to installing “the village water pump,” but fifty percent of these... Read more
(This was the sermon I preached on Palm Sunday at First Congregational Church, Long Beach CA.) Today we take a donkey ride into Jerusalem with Jesus. We’re bumping along the rocky road into Passion Week, with a rabble roused by Rabbi Jesus cheering us on. Life’s going to deal with death, and death is going to deal with Life, between now and next Sunday. There was a lot going on in Jerusalem that week, two millennia ago. There is a lot going on... Read more
By Susan Barnett, Founder, Faiths for Safe Water Water is the single symbol shared by every religion. It cleanses, purifies and sanctifies in ceremonies around the world. It’s no surprise religions have come to honor water. Without it, life cannot survive. In honor of World Water Day, award-winning filmmaker and photographer, Haik Kocharian, is graciously releasing, “Blessed by Water,” rare images of water in tradition, ceremony and spirituality as celebrated by the Christian Orthodox community in Ethiopia, considered one of... Read more
By the Rev. Claire Feingold Thoryn Palm Sunday is the story of a triumphant entry into certain doom. In-between Palm Sunday and Easter is the valley of betrayal, despair, and loss. The fact is, Holy week isn’t just one week. It is every week, every year, every lifetime— the highs and the lows, the greatest joys and most cutting hurts, truth and deception, love and hate, birth and death. If the Christian story of Holy Week only had Palm Sunday... Read more
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