Search results for: religious right

The Religious Right: A Eulogy

By ROD DREHER • October 24, 2016, 11:44 PM photo above: That was then, this is now (kwest/Shutterstock) This is about a powerful talk from within North American Evangelicalism that, as suggested by the author above, if heeded by its leaders, could be a game-changer. Imagine!: a North American Evangelicalism that actually heeds the Gospel; […]

The Christian Right Is in Decline, and It’s Taking America With It

Opinion Michelle Goldberg July 9, 2021 photo above: Mark Peterson/Redux WN: To the first part of the title: Amen!!!1 To the second part: Whenever Christianity “owns” a culture it becomes corrupt. British 19th-century Catholic historian Lord John Acton observed: Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, […]

Thoughts and Prayers for my right wing aunt and uncle

By Community May 29, 2021 WN: I found this wise, caring and touching. excerpts: So I just found out today that both my elderly aunt and uncle have tested positive for COVID 19.  Both of them belong to a very conservative church, and have like so many Americans been fed a heavy stream of lies […]

Re-issuing: How Fossil Fuel Money Made Climate Change Denial the Word of God

by Brendan O’Connor August 8, 2017 WN: I decided to republish this article of seven years ago. The supreme haughty superiority of Christians who just know all the massive, irrefutable science about human-caused climate change — as the massive scientific support for the Darwinian theory of evolution — are all a big hoax, “because the […]

Comments On: Amazing Disgrace

By Sarah Posner Illustration above by Brian Reedy. Think of the illustration in conjunction with this hugely ironic quote, one that said far more about Christian Nationalist sentiment than the good reverend knew: “We put God right at the center of the White House.” —Paula White, speaking at an Evangelicals for Trump event at Solid […]

Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation

Book Review of: Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Liveright Publishing Corporation, 2020, 356 pages WN: This is one of the few times I also posted a book review to this Blog. This is a highly disturbing–and informative–book. In an interview with Religion […]

Extensive Commentary On: What white Christian support for Trump reveals about systemic racism

By Robert P. Jones | November 12, 2020 WN: Beyond tragic the pullquote to the right, this means four-fifths of American white evangelical Christians subscribe to “heresy” (an opinion, doctrine, or practice contrary to the truth—Merriam-Webster). And this not limited to America! And many religious white non-evangelicals (Catholics, mainline Protestants, other faith members, etc.) also are […]

Captain America; The Armageddon Factor (Two Reviews Together)

Captain America and the Crusade Against Evil: The Dilemma of Zealous Nationalism, Robert Jewett and John Shelton Lawrence, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003, 392 pp.; The Armageddon Factor: The Rise of Christian Nationalism in Canada, Marci McDonald, Random House Canada, 2010, 419 pp. Most of us would rather not know the truth about “things”; especially the […]

They Went to Bible College to Deepen Their Faith.

Becca Andrews September 30, 2021 photo above: yelp.com WN: The article highlighted below begins with Megan Wohlers telling her story of abuse, and ends with these understated words from her: And that’s not how Jesus would have acted. I added October 24, 2021 almost an identical story, only from Jerry Falwell’s (Founder) Liberty University. His […]

The Priority of Peaceableness in a Disruptive Election

Craig M. Watts October 26, 2020 General, Peace & Nonviolence, Politics WN: The article highlighted is very sobering. Amen to the last two sentences: Blood may be shed. But may it never be by our hands. excerpts: Extensive studies have shown the vast majority of political violence in the US in nearly thirty years –with […]

Inside the Influential Evangelical Group Mobilizing to Reelect Trump

Lee Fang May 23 2020, 3:00 a.m. photo above: politifact.com WN: These Evangelicals are very dangerous and scary–like their conservative Catholic counterparts. As they have embraced increasingly the Alt-Right, they like a close relative, will be among the first to take up arms in defence of Trump.  They could not any more blatantly reject the Way […]

Good Riddance to Cultural Christianity

Good Riddance to Cultural Christianity April 19, 2019| nones, Religious Right, voluntary association photo above: Pat Robertson speaks at the Road to Victory event at the Christian Coalition Conference September 19, 1998 in Washington, DC (Richard Ellis / Alamy Stock Photo). WN: Of course, “cultural Christianity” is ever part of Christian expression in all eras, […]

Enough Bombs Bursting in Air. We Need to Love One Another.

By William Rivers Pitt Truthout, Published July 4, 2018 WN: I love it when people not necessarily in the faith reflect back to us Jesus’ central message to “love one another”. And I think it singularly sobering that they remind people of faith about its central tenet. Would that the white evangelical majority everywhere in […]

The Last Temptation

How evangelicals, once culturally confident, became an anxious minority seeking political protection from the least traditionally religious president in living memory Michael Gerson April 2018 Issue Politics WN: This is a greatly informed, wise and even hopeful assessment of what has happened to white Evangelicals in America since their embrace of Trump (81% voted for […]

“Fox Evangelicals” Embrace Trump’s White Nationalism

Wednesday, 27 December 2017 07:36 BILL BERKOWITZ FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT photo: Alan / Flickr [su_pullquote align=”right”]”But you will recognize them by their fruits.” – Jesus[/su_pullquote] WN: We know that the ultimate “fruit” is Love. From my Home page: Personal Mantra The Gospels indicate that the test case for love of God is love of […]

Evangelist Franklin Graham hits perfect storm in Vancouver

Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun  03.05.2017 photo above: Thirty-three Vancouver Christian leaders wrote a public letter admonishing Graham for saying “Islam is a ‘very evil and wicked religion’” and for “portraying … U.S. President Donald Trump as intrinsically aligned with the Christian church.” Photo: Graham takes the stage in Alabama. Mark Wallheiser / Vancouver Sun WN: […]

If Being a Christian Means XYZ, then I am not a Christian.

February 15, 2017 by Kimberly Stover WN: I have copied the entire posting below, with a link at the end for where you may see the original, become a “Follower” of the author, etc. Billy Graham was definitely right on in the citation below from 1981. Would that he too had stayed away form the […]

Rwanda Dispatches May 18 to July 12, 2018

At 30 years on to this day, April 7, 2024, the Rwanda Genocide broke out, that saw more than 1 million Rwandans murdered. CBC did the interview you see below. 30 years after Rwandan genocide, Roméo Dallaire feels ‘rage’ amid global crises | Watch (msn.com) Roméo Dallaire led the UN’s peacekeeping mission when more than […]

Easter Song and Reflections on the Resurrection

***NOTE: Please check out the footnotes for additional, more detailed commentary. Also, there are poetry and songs in the final footnote; and four additional songs below that.*** Please also see two great sermons, one on Good Friday, the other on Easter Sunday, by my colleague Randy Klassen: both in the context of criminal/restorative justice. Easter […]

Is Violence Master Of Us All?

April 22, 2001; April 29, 2001; May 6, 2001 – 3 Sunday School classes image above: A History of Violence: Edge Master Class 2011 | Edge.org WN: That’s right. I presented the three papers highlighted below at three successive adult Sunday School classes. It was fun! This material with similar titles is elsewhere on this […]

Commentary On: How can I reconcile the good and evil of Jean Vanier?

Colleen Dulle photo above: Jean Vanier, founder of the L’Arche communities, is pictured in a Feb. 17, 2015, photo. (CNS photo/courtesy Jean Vanier Association)  WN: What does one do with this revelation of a man almost universally considered a saint? My mind goes to: what, in the end is the difference between Vanier and (dare I […]

Why I Oppose the Death Penalty

WN: I was invited to dialogue with Dr. Richard Land of (later) “The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission” of the Southern Baptist Convention. The dialogue was organized by the Presbyterian Church in Alaska because debate was heating up in a state with no death penalty on the books. (Since the death penalty’s abolition in 1957, […]

The Mumbai Bombs, July 2006

July 12, 2006 Dear Editor: Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Peter MacKay predictably was the pot that called the kettle black in (otherwise legitimately) condemning the bombing horror in Mumbai this week. Last July Prime Minister Tony Blair likewise as hypocritically called the London bombings “barbaric attacks.” On September 1, 1939, President Roosevelt similarly wrote […]

The Impact of Christ on Female/Male Relationships

This study still has pertinence today. There are two versions, which titles below explain. The second was presented on the University of British Columbia campus to a secular/Christian audience. An excerpt from the first: Introduction A few years ago, a man phoned me and asked if I had some time for a talk. I replied […]

Ivan Illich: An Intellectual Journey Discussion Group with David Cayley

David Cayley is introduced on this website here. In 2021, he consented to meet with a group of us on Zoom, to discuss his new book on Ivan Illich. It is titled, as you can see: Ivan Illich: An Intellectual Journey. We were delighted. Our meetings were the last Tuesdays of each month at 3:30 […]

Restorative Justice and Spiritual Origins, November 19, 2004

WN: Some of the papers on Restorative Justice are understandably repetitive, though I culling the obviously such. image above: sikhnet.com Restorative Justice and Spiritual Origins, November 19, 2004 By Wayne Northey In 1974 two youths who had been drinking and had been “talked to” by the police already, took out their frustrations on the small […]

Is Violence Master of Us All?: Fight, Flight or Just Peacemaking

WN: The host was the affable lawyer Gerry Palmer, quite well-known in Abbotsford for his work with numerous non-profit organizations, and an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Business at the University of the Fraser Valley. Is Violence Master of Us All?: Fight, Flight or Just Peacemaking Philosopher’s Café: Legal Grounds Coffee House, Abbotsford, April […]

Reflections on “God, Trump and the Closed-Door World of a Major Conservative Group”

By Robert O’Harrow Jr. October 25, 2021 image above: Nick Ogonosky WN: There is a telling quote in the article highlighted below: “We’ve got an amazing opportunity here,” [Jim DeMint, a former senator and tea party favorite] told them. “And it’s incredible with this president, who is the last person I ever thought would promote […]

On A letter from Hell

By Robin Schumacher, Exclusive Columnist photo above: pxhere.com WN: It is interesting that the photo chosen for the article highlighted below (not shown above) is along the lines of what Larry Dixon wrote (The Other Side of the Good News: Contemporary Challenges to Jesus’ teaching on hell 1 in apparent approval of an instance of […]

How America Fractured Into Four Parts

By George Packer July/August 2021 Issue The Atlantic image above: Lucy Jones WN: Wow! The essay is stunning as it is brilliant. At least read my excerpts below. Better though, purchase the book it is excerpted/adapted from: Last Best Hope: America in Crisis and Renewal. It challenges understanding about America’s past and present place in […]

9/11 was a test:

Essay by Carlos Lozada Illustration above: by Patrik Svensson Sept. 3, 2021 WN: Below are excerpts from an outstanding essay by a Pulitzer Prizer winner for criticism in 2019. But the last lines, though intended to be hopeful, ring perversely hollow–especially given what one can read on this website about the horrors of American Expansionism/Exceptionalism/Empire: […]

This Is Why America Needs Catholicism

By Matthew Walther Mr. Walther is the editor of The Lamp, a Catholic literary journal, and a contributing editor at The American Conservative. image above: Vartika Sharma WN: Cogently presented and inspiring. Amen! excerpts: When I began reading through the archives of Triumph several years ago, I found these arguments striking. This was not because […]

How to worry about the Delta variant

By MYAH WARD  07/20/2021 image above: wrex.com WN: I have a close relative who “won’t let anybody shoot that stuff into my body!” And like the best–or worst–of religious fundamentalists, he always knows best–always only knows–from past discussions with me. Whether it is ACD (Anthropogenic Climate Disruption–ain’t happening!); people of colour (no historic wrongs to […]

This entire country is haunted

By Alicia Elliott July 12, 2021 photo above: The Mohawk Institute Residential School, referred to by former students as ‘the Mush Hole’ (Photograph by Alex Jacobs-Blum) WN: This statement from the article highlighted below haunts me: These acts were done on behalf of every non-Indigenous family who proudly calls themselves Canadians, because this is what […]

An American Kingdom

By Stephanie McCrummen July 11, 2021 photo above: Mercy Culture Church in Fort Worth. (Dylan Hollingsworth for The Washington Post) WN: Oh dear! Oh dear! As my good Jesuit-trained friend Gerry Ayotte says, drawing on Tradition back to the Fathers and Mothers of the Church, God speaks loudest in the silence. In the fully choreographed […]

Welcome to crazy town: The QAnon movement explained

By Brian Bethune July 7, 2021 photo above: mindbrews.in WN: Loony and terrifying! You will also find interesting this story by Shawn Boburg, July 7, 2021, interesting and . . . sick: From corporate America to conspiracy theory promotion: How a Minnesota man made a career out of anonymously amplifying dark plots. We learn: Turnbull’s […]

War Criminal Donald Rumsfeld Found Dead at 88

by Phyllis Bennis July 1, 2021 photo above: Then-US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld addresses a press conference at the Pentagon on 4 May 2004, more than a month after the US invasion of Iraq (AFP/File photo) WN: Rumsfeld did monstrous evil around the world, on a scale not unlike that of World War II […]

Canada’s Solitary Confinement Deemed “Torture”:

WN: Please consider signing the petition begun today. After nearly fifty years of work in Canada’s Criminal Justice System, and seeing personally and professionally how prisons in general, solitary confinement in particular, often do irrevocable harm to their keep, it seemed appropriate to use this platform for the petition. All statements are supported in the […]

Opinion: It’s ‘The Code’ of the NHL, and it has no cure for stupid

Opinion by Ken Dryden May 27, 2021 photo above: Toronto center John Tavares is taken from the ice on a stretcher on May 20 after being injured during Game 1 of the Maple Leafs’ first-round playoff series against Montreal. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)  Ken Dryden, a former goaltender for the Montreal Canadiens and […]

I Was a Catholic Zionist: A Biblical Challenge to Tribalism and Idolatry

WN: This review is from THE AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR JUDAISM Review: “I Was a Catholic Zionist“–An Eloquent Exploration of Judaism’s Moral and Ethical Tradition and Zionism’s Departure From It by Allan C. Brownfeld Issues Winter 2019 I Was a Catholic Zionist: A Biblical Challenge to Tribalism and Idolatry By Ted Schmidt 430 pages, $28.00 (information […]

Chris Hedges: God’s Covenant in the Promised Land

WN: The following video, God’s Covenant in the Promised Land, was powerful in 2014. It is tragically as true now as then! Below is the text with some commentary from Canadian Catholic writer/activist/professor Ted Schmidt (please see his recent book: I Was a Catholic Zionist: A Biblical Challenge to Tribalism and Idolatry); jtschmidt@bell.net. Then Jesus said […]

Why Canada’s special forces ‘shadow army’ is still fighting ISIS

By Adnan R. Khan May 11, 2021 photo above: Spec Ops Magazine WN: In short, Canada’s Special Operations Regiment (CSOR), are a bunch of trained hitmen. There is no declared war Canada is in1. Testimonials are ubiquitous that intelligence gathered by CSOR and others by its very nature is often faulty, frequently manipulated, at best […]

Dear White America – “History Has its Eye on You”

By Community April 16, 2021 photo above: The quote is from The Talmud. WN: The above from The Talmud echoes Micah 6:8, seen to the left. It in turn is picked up in Matthew 23:23, featuring Jesus’ indictment of the religious establishment of the day: Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you […]

How Trump Unleashed a Domestic Terrorism Movement—

“He tells them what to do. He tells them why they’re angry.” Mark Follman March+April 2021 Issue photo above: Nate Gowdy WN: Trump continues to inspire hatred and acts of violence worldwide. His is the height of White Grievance Politics–and so tragic for the millions of victims who fall prey to such xenophobia. A rewording […]

Cornel West: The Whiteness of Harvard and Wall Street Is “Jim Crow, New Style”

By George Yancy, Truthout Published March 5, 2021 photo above: yankeewikis.com WN: I first became involved with men in prison in 1974, at a time the first prison I visited (Oakalla Prison, Burnaby BC, Canada) still operated under a military regimen with many ex-military hired as guards; with an ex-air force serviceman as chaplain who […]

Houses of hate:

Dangerous, racist and falling apart. By nearly every metric, the nation’s penal system is not just failing, it’s making things worse. By Justin Ling February 28, 2021 photo above: Medium security range at Stony Mountain Institution in Stony Mountain, Manitoba (Correctional Services Canada/Flickr) WN: The article highlighted does not sugar-coat the reality: Canadian prisons (and […]

On Misreading Victory

Tomgram January 7, 2020 By Andrew Bacevich illustration above: lindsaysocialstudies.weebly.com (President Theodore Roosevelt’s foreign policy: “Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.“) WN: There is great wisdom in the article highlighted. “Oh, when will they ever learn? Oh when will they ever learn?”–Peter, Paul and Mary excerpts: Thirty years ago this […]

The Prognosis

October 2020 | Pandemic By David Cayley WN: There are recent posts and others here, that inform you about David Cayley. Cayley is a powerful prophet crying, perhaps in the wilderness. . . excerpts: [su_dropcap size=”5″]I[/su_dropcap]t is striking how often historical events arrive with their meanings plainly legible. When Napoleon clattered by Hegel’s window in […]

Frederick Douglass’ Hope

Gerald McDermott January 25, 2021 WN: This highlighted article is about challenge and hope. excerpts: [su_dropcap size=”5″]I[/su_dropcap]n January 1862 Frederick Douglass, former slave who became America’s greatest socio-political prophet of the nineteenth century, declared that America was facing Armageddon. “The fate of the greatest of all Modern Republics trembles in the balance.” God was in […]

This Valentine’s Day, Celebrate Love as Growth and Liberation

By adrienne maree brown, Truthout Published February 14, 2021 photo above: Participants take part in an event organized by Love & Protect to lift up the names and celebrate the lives of Black women and girls who have been killed by state violence at Rekia’s Tree in Douglass Park, Chicago, on June 13, 2018. Sarah-ji […]

Jesus Was a Victim of Empire. Acknowledging This Should Transform Christianity.

Jesus Was a Victim of Empire. Acknowledging This Should Transform Christianity. By Christine Mungai, Truthout Part of the Series: Religion’s Role in the Struggle for Justice December 16, 2020 photo above: howafrica.com WN: This is the central theme of this website! A significant portion of what follows is from the previous highlighted part. There is […]

The McCarrick Report: The Vatican Owns Up To Enabling Abuse

The McCarrick Report: The Vatican Owns Up To Enabling Abuse November 10, 2020 by Mary Pezzulo WN: The article highlighted is powerful! It also points to exponential pain, horror, and abuse of those reporting their abuse by priests–by the wider Church which gaslighted/gaslights/revictimized/revictimizes victims beyond imagining . . . One reads and weeps all over […]

Two more reasons Kamala Harris as VP will be a historic milestone for our nation

Ian Reifowitz  for  Community Contributors Team November 07, 2020 photo above: people.com WN: The article highlighted is immensely hopeful! An emphatic Amen! excerpts: Editor’s Note, Nov. 7, 2020: Kamala Harris and Douglas Emhoff are officially going to be the nation’s first Second Family. As you may have heard, Sen. Kamala Harris would WILL be a historic vice president. […]

Writing Straight with Crooked Lines: A Memoir

Orbis Books, 2020, by Jim Forest Reviewed by Ron Dart I first met Jim Forest in the mid-1980s when he was still general secretary of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) and I was on staff with Amnesty International. We met, initially, the old fashioned way (letter writing). Jim and I have stayed in touch […]

‘He’s Destroyed Conservatism’: The Republican Case Against Trump’s GOP

Stuart Stevens was a winning GOP operative. Now he feels terrible about what he’s done to the country. By MICHAEL GRUNWALD Michael Grunwald is a senior staff writer for Politico Magazine. 08/19/2020 photo above: AP/Patrick Semansky [NOTE: It took an article by Bob Ekblad (Blind and Deaf) in Clarion Journal, noted below, to occasion a revision […]

The Unraveling of America

by Wade Davis August 6, 2020 Wade Davis holds the Leadership Chair in Cultures and Ecosystems at Risk at the University of British Columbia. His award-winning books include “Into the Silence” and “The Wayfinders.” His new book, “Magdalena: River of Dreams,” is published by Knopf. WN: This is an exceptional article! There is however a […]

Life Under the Bomb Means a Life of Resistance

Published on Thursday, August 06, 2020 by Common Dreams by Rev. John Dear photo above: “Our message over the years has been simple and urgent: Nuclear weapons have totally failed us. They don’t make us safer; they don’t provide jobs; they don’t make us more secure—these are age-old lies. Instead they bankrupt us, economically and […]

The Price of White Evangelical Patriarchy

By Eric C. Miller | July 7, 2020 photo above: Donald Trump stands near a statue of John Wayne during a news conference at the John Wayne Museum in Winterset, Iowa. (AP/Jae C. Hong) WN: Though not declamatory, this interview with Kristin Kobes Du Mez, author of just published Jesus and John Wayne: How White […]

Editorial: Dolan delivers the church to Trump and the GOP

Editorial: Dolan delivers the church to Trump and the GOP Apr 28, 2020 by NCR Editorial Staff photo above: New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan celebrates Easter Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral April 12 during the coronavirus pandemic. (CNS/Reuters/Jeenah Moon) WN: The article highlighted below shows American Catholic leadership in relation to Trump and his party […]

“A FIRE STRONG ENOUGH TO CONSUME THE HOUSE”:

by William T. Cavanaugh first published in: Modem Theology 11:4 October 1995 ISSN 0266-7177 WN: Dr. Cavanaugh has been producing an impressive list of scholarly works challenging certain Enlightenment narratives about Christianity in the West. I previously reviewed two of his books together: The Myth of Religious Violence and Migrations of the Holy. I can […]

New Book! — Justice That Transforms: Volume 1

WN: Wipf and Stock Publishers gratefully re-published (my re-edited) Volume 1 of a series by the same title, January 9, 2020. The first edition had been published September 2018. The graphic artist created a beautiful cover, as you can see! You may click on the cover to be taken to the Publishers’ website page for […]

The Exposure of the Republican Party

The Exposure of the Republican Party The GOP will not be a great or good party until those who lead it straighten their backbone. November 13, 2019 Peter Wehner Contributing writer at The Atlantic and senior fellow at EPPC photo above: Pool / Reuters WN: This rings so true. When unchecked hubris and unbridled greed […]

Saying Goodbye to Sam

Oct 28, 2019 Opinion | TD originals sketch above: Mr. Fish / Truthdig Chris Hedges Columnist Chris Hedges is a Truthdig columnist, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, a New York Times best-selling author, a professor in the college degree program offered to New Jersey state prisoners by Rutgers… And so much more! WN: Chris Hedges is […]

The Collusion Of Church and State

Published on Thursday, October 17, 2019 Common Dreams by Robert C. Koehler Where are the values—religious or otherwise—that can save this recklessly careening, war-addicted, carbon-spewing state from participating both in its own and the whole planet’s destruction? photo above: Considering that Pompeo is widely known as both a war hawk—a proponent of war with Iran—and […]

Our Mad Dog President—and His Bible-Thumping Kennel Pals

Published on Wednesday, October 16, 2019 Common Dreams by Michael Winship The White House theocrats may be the biggest danger of all. photo above: Like Trump, a would-be dictator madly claiming the overwhelming support of the populace, the real-life Capone insisted that his criminal acts satisfied “a public demand.” (Photo-Illustration: Daily Intelligencer; Photos: Olivier Douliery/AFP/Getty […]

Beyond Impeachment: Remove This Regime from Below

October 1, 2019 by Paul Street photo above: White House – Public Domain WN: This is a powerful broadside against the Ultimate Bad Guy on the Planet: the Evil Empire of the United States of America! The vehemence is found not only in the colourful language, but even in the typos . . . Mr. […]

We must call the El Paso shooting what it is: Trump-inspired terrorism

It is staggering to imagine how much more violence this president may motivate if he continues down this deeply disturbing path photo above: Trump’s rhetoric is infused with notions of violence and dehumanization’. Photograph: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images  by  David Schanzer WN: While I do not believe anyone is pure evil, manifestations of such are arguably […]

The evolution of Ilia Delio

Jul 16, 2014 by Jamie Manson Global Sisters Report photo above: Franciscan Sr. Ilia Delio delivers the keynote address Aug. 14, 2013, during the Leadership Conference of Women Religious assembly in Kissimmee, Fla. (CNS/Roberto Gonzalez) WN: What an incredible woman of God! Please visit Amazon for her books in print. And if in the Vancouver […]

It Has Long Been Past Time To Take A Stand

July 16, 2019 by Henry Karlson image above: GDJ: Stop Racism / Pixabay WN: Trump is doing great evil in America and across the world. Every Christian pulpit in the nation — and beyond — should be declaring with Amos, Micah and Jesus: Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless […]

Progressives Need to Start Preaching Hell Again

July 16, 2019 by Chuck McKnight   photo above: Gage Skidmore, Flickr, Creative Commons 2.0 Generic. WN: Amen! Except: I so dislike the term “progressive”, which in my view can smack of just another kind of (religious) elitism. “Justice-seekers” or some such term is what I’d rather identify with. Please also read about the Poor […]

Kids Locked In Cages Aren’t So Sure You’re Actually “Pro-Life”

Benjamin L. Corey July 1, 2019   WN: Of course, the persons addressed in the article highlighted below in the end are neither “pro-life” nor “Christian”. They have always happily supported bombing the hell out of whatever perceived enemy of the month America is targeting “now” (and that is anyone/state not bowing to its hegemony […]

Fatal Discord Erasmus, Luther, and the Fight for the Western Mind

Book Review of: Fatal Discord Erasmus, Luther, and the Fight for the Western Mind WN: My friend Ron Dart sent me the fascinating book review of a crucial book for understanding contemporary Western culture: Fatal Discord: Erasmus, Luther, and the Fight for the Western Mind. Please read review below. Fatal Discord: Erasmus, Luther, and the Fight for […]

On the Record: Jody Wilson-Raybould’s Devastating Testimony on the SNC-Lavalin Scandal

On the Record: Jody Wilson-Raybould’s Devastating Testimony on the SNC-Lavalin Scandal Trudeau tried to pressure justice minister to cut deal to let corporation avoid bribery prosecution, she says. By Tyee Staff February 27, 2019 | TheTyee.ca photo above:Jody Wilson-Raybould: ‘I come from a long line of matriarchs and I am a truth teller in accordance with the […]

Anti-Semitic Violence Erupts in America

Anti-Semitic Violence Erupts in America By Joseph Kishore October 29, 2018 photo above: Reaction to anti-Semitic violence in Pittsburg, October 2018 WN: World News Daily Information Clearing House tends towards right wing distortion. But it carries as well great analysis such as that highlighted below. excerpts: Eleven people were killed in the slaughter in Pittsburgh, […]

Tucker Carlson has sparked the most interesting debate in conservative politics

Tucker Carlson has sparked the most interesting debate in conservative politics “All I’m saying is don’t act like the way things are is somehow ordained by God.” By Jane Coastonjane.coaston@vox.com Jan 10, 2019, 5:00am EST   photo above: Tucker Carlson, host of Tucker Carlson Tonight, in his Fox News Channel studio in New York on […]

Escape From the Trump Cult

Escape from the Trump Cult Millions of Americans are blindly devoted to their Dear Leader. What will it take for them to snap out of it? By Alexander Hurst December 13, 2018 Illustration by Zach Meyer WN: The very well-researched article highlighted below is fascinating, not because about Trump, but about deprogramming cultists from fundamental […]

Evangelicals, Let’s Talk About Violence Against Women

Evangelicals, Let’s Talk About Violence Against Women October 4, 2018 by Kristin Du Mez photo above: Kavanaugh Family at the The White House – courtesy Wikimedia Commons WN: When half of all white evangelicals think Brett Kavanaugh should be confirmed even if Christine Blasey Ford’s allegations of sexual assault are true. (An NPR/PBS NewHour/Marist poll […]

Justice That Transforms — Book Series

First 3 Volumes Fall 2018; Volume One Republished January 2020; two more projected late 2023 SEARCH and ARCHIVES options are at the bottom of all website pages. WN: I’m pleased to add this page about three books produced fall 2018. They are of my writings on Restorative Justice over the years, including (in Volume One) […]

Obama’s Imperial Presidency

September 14, 2018 by Carl Boggs photo above: The U.S. Army | CC BY 2.0 WN: It is astounding that Obama (no less Hillary Clinton) was through and through a warmonger on a grand scale exceeding both Bushes, and far more so far than Trump. This is laid out in the article below. Obama is […]

Trump’s Pantheistic Temptation

February 06, 2017 by Vern Redekop WN: Anything my friend and scholar Vern Redekop writes — and he is prolific! — is invariably thoughtful/thought-provoking. To understand a greater context for his article copied in full below, please see: René Girard. Vern is a noted Girardian scholar. ********** In the book, René Girard and Creative Mimesis, […]

Millennial Evangelicals Diverge from Their Parents’ Beliefs

The separation of families at the border, climate change, and various progressive causes have galvanized young Christians. By Eliza Griswold August 27, 2018 WN: I have a white Canadian Evangelical friend who expresses being fed up with white Evangelical-bashing — in particular towards white Evangelicals south of the border1. I argue on the contrary that […]

Why the Vatican continues to struggle with sex abuse scandals

by Chico Harlan August 12 at 6:53 PM Email the author photo above: Members of Chile’s bishops conference, Luis Fernando Ramos Perez and Juan Ignacio Gonzalez, give a news conference at the Vatican in May. (LUCA PRIZIA/AFP/Getty Images) WN: Pope Francis by all accounts is faltering on this, rather than robustly pursuing justice in all […]

Pope revises catechism to say death penalty is ‘inadmissible’

Commits the church to working toward its abolition worldwide1 Aug 2, 2018 by Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service Theology   photo above: Pope Francis gestures before speaking about the death penalty at an event marking the 25th anniversary of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, at the Vatican in this Oct. 11, 2017, file photo. […]

How Martin Luther Paved the Way for Donald Trump

To understand why evangelicals support the president, look to the first Protestant. By Michael Massing April 19, 2018 illustration above by Sabine Formane WN: This article draws a fascinating direct line from Martin Luther in the early 16th century to Donald Trump in the 21st. There is likewise a fascinating/tragic direct line to be drawn […]

The Last Real Evangelical: Evangelist Billy Graham

Feb 23, 2018 photo above: Evangelist Billy Graham speaks in Dallas at the 1974 Southern Baptist Convention. (AP) by Mel White / MelWhite.org1 WN: On the day of Billy Graham’s death (February 21, 2018), I posted a critical commentary on Graham. Today I post a positive reflection by Mel White, who counted Graham as a […]

Billy Graham and the Gospel of Fear

February 21, 2018 byCecil Bothwell Photo above by Richard Bromley | CC BY 2.0 [NOTE: For a differing view with my reflection on it, please also see my February 23, 2018 post about Billy Graham.] WN: Billy Graham’s passing (February 21, 2018) will occasion countless eulogies the world over; he will be touted as the […]

The Doctrine of Discovery, Manifest Destiny, and American Exceptionalism

Posted on July 21, 2015 by christian hegemony Challenging Christian Hegemony Practical tools for recognizing and resisting Christian dominance WN: Every time I read an essay so well presented as that highlighted below (and so beyond tragic!), as a committed follower of Jesus, I know that I don’t have to wear the blame, but I […]

Erasmus: Wild Bird

WN: I had the privilege of editing, copy-editing, writing the Foreword, and publishing on Amazon/Kindle, Ron Dart’s excellent book on Erasmus. Ron describes 10 points about Erasmus in this brief video, done in his home, December 19. 2017: Below is my Foreword, then Ron’s Introduction. And finally, there is a quote from another article on […]

Utilizing Indigenous Thought to Cope in the Age of Trump

Sunday, November 26, 2017 By Four Arrows, Truthout | Op-Ed photo above: aljazeera.com WN: Below is a wise, challenging, hopeful piece. As I read it, I reflected on how similar it is to The Great Tradition within the Judaeo-Christian Story, and beyond. Today’s reading on this is copied below: An excerpt from Laurence Freeman OSB, “Reverence,” […]

Hellrazed? — edited by Kevin Miller

WN: Kevin Miller produced the movie Hellbound? five years ago to look at changing views on the doctrine of hell. As he began “exploring” hell, partially motivated by having read his friend Brad Jersak’s book, Her Gates Will Never Be Shut: Hope, Hell and the New Jerusalem, he was alerted to the publication of Rob […]

Why I’m no longer talking to white people about race

For years, racism has been defined by the violence of far-right extremists, but a more insidious kind of prejudice can be found where many least expect it – at the heart of respectable society Listen to the audio version of this long read Tuesday 30 May 2017 05.30 BST (Last modified on Wednesday 31 May 2017 […]

Katharine Hayhoe: A leading climate scientist, and an evangelical

by Lloyd Mackey • October 12, 2017 • 0 Comments chart above: How Fossil Fuel Money Made Climate Change Denial the Word of God WN: Sadly, faith and politics have been a toxic mix that has led to enormous denialism (like Holocaust deniers) in the Plymouth Brethren/evangelical communities Hayhoe was raised in. Her appeal to Christians to embrace what Catholics […]

The Fundamentalists Holding Us Back from a Climate Change Solution

The evangelical Christian movement has been at war with environmentalism for decades—but the stakes have never been higher. By ALLIE CONTI illustrated by LIA KANTROWITZ Aug 20 2017, 7:15pm WN: It is truly tragic to see US politics swayed by a minority of religious climate change deniers – out of all proportion to their numbers. […]

Pope Francis allies accuse Trump White House of ‘apocalyptic geopolitics’

Article vetted by the Vatican offers scathing critique of Steve Bannon, who is Catholic, the Trump White House and ‘evangelical fundamentalism’ in the US photo above: Ivanka Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, and President Donald Trump stand with Pope Francis during a meeting at the Vatican on May 24, 2017. Evan Vucci—AP WN: Utterly appalling and […]

The Fallout

Report Climate & EnvironmentHealthJustice July 10, 2017 In St. Louis, America’s nuclear history creeps into the present, leaching into streams and bodies. By Lacy M. Johnson photo above: For the first three months, the AEC didn’t own the property onto which it was dumping. The drivers worked for an independent company; one, Tom Greene, was a […]

Institute for Religion, Peace and Justice (St. Stephen’s University)

WN: Below is notice of a new Institute to address our fractured world with a message and initiatives for peace and peacemaking. There are highlights from their website. Here are some considerations that make the IRPJ unique. It is headed by a friend of my son Mark, Andrew Klager. He is an up-and-coming scholar, already […]

White Supremacy Is Anti-Gospel. I’m Glad the Southern Baptist Convention Agrees

WN: I copied the entire article below. It is about an historic decision by the Southern Baptist Convention. Russell Moore has been the head of the (SBC) Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission since 2013. As you can see from the links, he has been an amazing voice within those ranks for actually […]

‘Death row nun’ explains why she does it

Sister Prejean tells prisoners they’re worth more than their crimes By Agnieszka Krawczynski of The B.C. Catholic Wednesday, 10 May 2017 11:56p photo above: Sister Helen Prejean meets Joel Ivany, the director of the Vancouver Opera’s performance of Dead Man Walking, in Vancouver April 29. (Agnieszka Krawczynski / The B.C. Catholic) WN: Canada abolished the death […]

Select Bibliography of Key Restorative Justice Works

Select Bibliography of Key Restorative Justice Works Compiled by Wayne Northey WN: Today, I updated a bibliography, especially weighted towards theological and generally academic works, that I have appreciated. Compilation of this list began decades ago. I think most are still discoverable, the links current. It is copied below, and there is a link to […]

Fifty Years On: MLK’s Concerns Still Plague Us, Including Militarism

Tuesday, 04 April 2017 photo above: Racism, extreme materialism and militarism are still inextricably linked, and still prevent our society’s becoming anything close to Dr. King’s “beloved community.” (Photo: Susan Melkisethian) KEVIN MARTIN AND REVEREND DR. HERBERT DAUGHTRY WN: The United States has acted like an empire since its inception: its two foundational sins are indigenous […]

Constantine in Canada – Ron Dart – with Vancouver letter re: Franklin Graham

February 27, 2017 Constantine in Canada: The Conservative Evangelicals Ron S. Dart WN: Years ago, I wrote an editorial in The Mennonite, a U.S.-based periodical, about evangelism being carried out – without the Gospel.  The Editor later informed me that he had never received so many angry Letters to the Editor attacking my article in his […]

For America’s Sake, We Need Answers about Russia. Now.

Why we must now ask famous questions that so bedeviled Richard Nixon: What did Donald Trump know and when did he know it? Published on Tuesday, February 14, 2017 by  Common Dreams By Michael Winship image above: Russian President Vladimir Putin. ‘The bottom line is that Putin is far shrewder than Trump,’ writes Winship. (Image: […]

Pope Francis Denounces Growing ‘Demonization’ of Enemies and Outsiders

By David Gibson, Religion News Service 11-21-2016 an excerpt: “God has only sons and daughters,” the pope said. “We are the ones who raise walls, build barriers, and label people. God has sons and daughters precisely so that no one will be turned away.” Francis said “our instinctive reaction” is to “discredit or curse” those whois anathema […]

We Are All Deplorables

Posted on Nov 20, 2016 By Chris Hedges an excerpt: Those cast aside by the neoliberal order have an economic identity that both the liberal class and the right wing are unwilling to acknowledge. This economic identity is one the white underclass shares with other discarded people, including the undocumented workers and the people of color demonized by the carnival […]

For Abolition: Prisons and Police Are More Than Brutality, They’re State Terror

Saturday, 12 November 2016 00:00 By Frank Castro, The Hampton Institute | News Analysis photo above: Jobs For Felons Hub; Edited: LW / TO This is an incredibly powerful assessment of “state terror” in arguably the most oppressive democracy of recent times: the United States of America. The author’s analysis rings true at every turn: […]

How America became a 1% society | The Guardian

Since 1980, the economy has continued to grow impressively, but most of the benefits have migrated to the top. Bill Moyers asks why. Monday 12 September 2016 17.50 BST photo above: idiamonds.blogspot.com The article linked with excerpts below, is incredibly compelling, in the direction of what is ultimately paramount in living our lives: love of neighbour. […]

Islamic Law: Europe’s Shari’a Debate

Below is a link to a nuanced scholarly article on Europe and Sharia Law, and some mention of North America. I could not find a date when posted. an excerpt: Conclusion Europe has many incentives to accommodate some aspects of shari’a law into its legal systems and societies. As already recognized by the British government, […]

Electronic Monitoring Is Not the Answer

Critical reflections on a flawed alternative James Kilgore October 2015 This is a very well researched paper that applies to Canada and to the United States, and to many other countries. an excerpt: Executive Summary This report offers a critical assessment of electronic monitoring (EM) in the criminal justice system. The author, who spent a […]

Does Faith Breed Violence?

Book review of Not in God’s Name: Confronting Religious Violence, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, New York: Schoken Books, 2015. You may read an interview with the author here: Interview with Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. You may find the spoken interview here: Spoken Interview. An excerpt from the book review: Old secularization theories die hard. The twenty-first century […]

Judging

This piece kind of just willed out. An excerpt: I recently spent extended time with several relatives. I listened to severe condemnations of a range of persons and person-types (homosexuals for instance). I’m part of an extended family that demonstrates extreme intolerance and judgmentalism towards certain others in their ideas and beliefs: religious beliefs for […]

The London Bombs, July 2005

By Wayne Northey July 9, 2005 Dear Editor: Prime Minister Tony Blair hypocritically called the London bombings “barbaric attacks.” On September 1, 1939, President Roosevelt similarly wrote to the major powers that aerial bombing of civilians had “profoundly shocked the conscience of humanity” and was “inhuman barbarism.” He later as disingenuously referred to the December 7, 1941 […]

“Pardon Me?!”

“Pardon Me?!” A one-time friend, Lloyd Billingsley, years ago confidently told me that “the left” by definition is ideological, “the right” by contrast normal/normative. Such in turn ideological blindness still gobsmacks me. Lloyd is an intelligent man but profoundly doctrinaire, and like a close acquaintance, Lloyd sadly is highly unloving – even hateful – towards […]

Billy Graham – Echoes in the Shadows

This was written by Bill C. Davis. WN: Billy Graham has been the most known representative Evangelical for the last half of the twentieth century. No one has emerged in the twenty-first to take his place. This is why in my novel he appeared as THE representative Evangelical. As such, he most represents the tragedy […]

A Modest Proposal Lite

WN: Another now-and-then article. An excerpt: In Western civilization, logic and ethics are usually mutually exclusive, while ideology and ethics are invariably bedfellows. Take Michael Ignatieff for instance, a great Canadian intellectual and current Liberal Party leadership hopeful. He salutes the United States as Empire-Lite (title of one of his books), and applauds its Nation-Building […]

Why Most Christians Are Not Consistently Pro-Life

An excerpt: The other day Pat Robertson of the 700 Club called for the assassination of Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela. That would be, bluntly, counsel to commit murder. And some people acted surprised! One thing that should not surprise anyone is Christians supporting and carrying out murder of others. Almost ever since good religious […]

Transformative Justice Vision and Spirituality

WN: Some of the material in the essay below, now reworked, first appeared in The Spiritual Roots of Restorative Justice, “Christianity: The Rediscovery of Restorative Justice”, editor, Michael Hadley, by Pierre Allard and Wayne Northey; New York: SUNY Press, 2001. In light of two books by historian William Cavanaugh, I would be less sweeping about […]

Spirituality of Restorative Justice

WN: Presented at Arts & Peace Festival, Restorative Justice Workshop, March 1, 2001. Something similar was also presented at Regent College in 2003. It is also clickable. an excerpt: Centrality of Western Christian Spirituality for Criminal Justice The defining religious ethos of Western spirituality historically has been Christianity. Christianity has also been the reigning ideology […]

Restorative Justice and M2/W2 Ministry

M2/W2 (Man-To-Man/Woman-To-Woman) is the Restorative Justice agency with which I was associated for forty years. An excerpt: A few years ago, at a VOMA (Victim Offender Mediation Association) conference in Des Moines, Iowa, I saw a plaintive note on a bulletin board: DOES ANYONE KNOW OF ANY RESTORATIVE JUSTICE VIDEO RESOURCES THAT ARE NOT RELIGIOUS?! […]

Call For a Church Apology Vis À Vis Crime and Punishment

photo above: freeimages.com An excerpt: When Anselm of Canterbury wrote Cur Deus Homo (Why God Became Man) in the 11th century, the Church gradually changed the nature of the understanding of God, salvation, grace, law, sin, and crime. God became increasingly a “sentencing Judge”, salvation became something earned, sin, crime and law became separated from […]

Is Paul the Father of Misogyny and Antisemitism?

WN: This paper highlighted below answers in the negative the question posed in the title. It was written by Pamela Eisenbaum, Pauline scholar, practising Jew, feminist, and professor at a Christian seminary. She subsequently wrote Paul was not a Christian: The Original Message of a Misunderstood Apostle. I delivered a sermon inspired by her, entitled […]

Capital Punishment

image above: izquotes.com WN: I was invited to dialogue with Dr. Richard Land of (later) “The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission” of the Southern Baptist Convention. The dialogue was organized by the Presbyterian Church in Alaska, and took place March 22, 1997 at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. It was teleconferenced throughout Alaska including into […]

WAR AND HELL – and Exception-Clause Footnote Theology

WN: War and Hell is an interactive essay with a movie and a book. The movie: Saving Private Ryan. The book: The Other Side of The Good News: Contemporary Challenges to Jesus’ Teaching on Hell, Wheaton: Victor Books, 1992 (later published by one other at least). The current iteration of this document was prepared for […]

Book Reviews List

SEARCH and ARCHIVES options are at the bottom of all website pages. A Farewell To Mars: An Evangelical Pastor’s Journey Toward the Gospel of Peace –Brian Zahnd Against The Death Penalty: Christian and Secular Arguments Against Capital Punishment –Gardner C. Hanks A Gentler God: Breaking Free of the Almighty in the Company of the Human Jesus […]

Transformative Justice Vision and Spirituality

WN: Much of this material first appeared in The Spiritual Roots of Restorative Justice, “Christianity: The Rediscovery of Restorative Justice”, editor, Michael Hadley, by Pierre Allard and Wayne Northey; New York: SUNY Press, 2001. In August 1998, all contributors to the above book project converged on Sorrento Centre for a week. The book project and […]

Restorative Justice Vision and Spirituality

Association for Reformed Political Action (ARPA) Presentation, Langley Canadian Reformed Church, March 5, 2005 WN: I was grateful to co-present at this evening with current MP Mark Warawa, a former volunteer with M2/W2 Association. It was politically a stretch, but the church is all about “strange bedfellows” brought together in the messiness of God’s grace. […]

Chrysalis Crucible – a novel

SEARCH and ARCHIVES options are at the bottom of all website pages. PLEASE NOTE: In that there is no need to make money from sales, here is a PDF version of the novel: Crysalis Crucible. My only request is that, if you wish to share about the novel, you acknowledge the author, and send them […]

Spirituality Evaluation of Restorative Justice

Sixth International Conference on Restorative Justice, “Best Practices in Restorative Justice”, June 4, 2003 An excerpt: A few years ago, at a VOMA (Victim Offender Mediation Association) conference in Des Moines, Iowa, I saw a plaintive note on a bulletin board: DOES ANYONE KNOW OF ANY RESTORATIVE JUSTICE VIDEO RESOURCES THAT ARE NOT RELIGIOUS?! Restorative […]

The Spirituality of Penal Abolition

ICOPA IX Presentation 2000 Noted Canadian Quaker activist and author Dr. Ruth Morris was the main organizer of the above annual event, that year in Toronto. She later was a recipient of Correctional Services Canada’s Restorative Justice Award, and of The Order of Canada. Her death from cancer (September 17, 2001) was a huge loss […]

Beyond Retribution

A New Testament Vision for Justice, Crime, and Punishment,Christopher D. Marshall, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2001, 342 pages. An excerpt: This book is central to “secular” Western culture, steeped ineluctably in Judeo-Christian trappings, in its quest to move towards Restorative Justice. “It is an irony of history”, claims Religious Studies professor James Williams, “that […]

About Me

SEARCH and ARCHIVES options are at the bottom of all website pages. I retired as Director of Man-to-Man/Woman-to-Woman–Restorative Christian Ministries (M2/W2) in British Columbia, Canada in 2014. I have been active in the criminal justice arena and a keen promoter of Restorative Justice since 1974. I’ve also published in this field for many years, including: […]

Restorative Justice

  NOTE: Some of what follows is excerpted from Chapter One of Justice That Transforms: Volume 1 WN: From a Canadian vantage point, Dr. Herman Bianchi, a Dutch criminologist, is one of the three “grandfathers” (if one must use that term) chronologically of Restorative Justice, together with Mark Yantzi and Dave Worth, the first and longstanding […]