As well as giving us the ability to support international liberation movements and trade ideas and strategies with people all over the world in an instant via social media, interdependence also means arms- and knees-deep relationship with systems, ideologies, and people who use their power to cause others harm… There’s no way to live in […]
Ask Keisha: About Church Membership
“Why do you hang in there with your denomination? I feel like I’ve lost so much staying, and I’m angry.” —H. I hear you, H. I read a response to one of the latest stories of church member exclusion a few weeks ago. It included this line: “We each need to journey as far as our faith […]
From Vows to Action Part II: A New Commitment
This series was originally published on the Journey Fellowship website. In Part 1 of the series, we explored the vows that Seventh-day Adventists assent to as part of their baptismal ceremony. The vows shape members’ sense of place within the denomination and the wider Christian Church; they also serve valid institutional functions. What definitions lie […]
From Vows to Action Part I: The Agreements We Make
This series was originally published on the Journey Fellowship website. Thanks, Kymone Hinds, for the opportunity to write! Is it possible to geek out over church liturgy? It is, and I did it a few weeks ago. Early in June, I came across this vow from the baptismal covenant reading in the Book of Common […]
Democracy: Expression and Decision-making
Jon Stewart’s away in Egypt filming (nice work, John Oliver). I just saw Jon talking with Bassem Youssef, host and resident satirist at Al-Bernameg. (Skip ahead to 10:11.) Skip ahead to 10:11. Jon and Bassem start talking about the role of humor in political commentary and the differences between insults, injury, tyranny, and democracy: “If your […]
The Oppressor Within Ourselves
From Beatrice Bruteau’s The Psychic Grid. Why the tenor of your inner world matters and why you might sometimes be your greatest nemesis: Viktor Frankl stresses the importance of having a strong value system and a convincing worldview in one’s own interior that is life-supporting, that does not encourage weakness. We must avoid the danger of […]
