Religion and Spirituality

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Worldwide and in the U.S. the public has turned against the death penalty, but Trump insists on more federal executions.

December 8, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Worldwide, the trend has been against the death penalty.  More and more nations have abolished it.  Some nations that still retain their laws allowing the death penalty have stopped using it. The UK’s Amnesty International published a report at the end of 2017 that death sentences and actual executions are both DECLINING in the world:   https://www.amnesty.org.uk/report-executions-death-penalty-2017?utm_campaign=MEMA1645_UPD_DPEN_Death%20penalty%20report&utm_source=Email&utm_medium=Campaigns&utm_content=1097     American public opinion is turning against the death penalty!  More states have abolished the death penalty — or have stopped using it without repealing their laws. A 2017 public opinion poll showed U.S. support for the death penalty is the lowest since […]

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While Warning of Nazi-Like Fascism and Corporate Crimes, Pope Francis Proposes Adding ‘Ecological Sin’ to Church Teachings

November 16, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

While Warning of Nazi-Like Fascism and Corporate Crimes, Pope Francis Proposes Adding ‘Ecological Sin’ to Church Teachings In remarks at the Vatican, the leader of the Catholic Church condemned “the large-scale delinquency of corporations.” https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/16/while-warning-nazi-fascism-and-corporate-crimes-pope-francis-proposes-adding?cd-origin=rss&utm_term=AO&utm_campaign=Weekly%20Newsletter&utm_content=email&utm_source=Weekly%20Newsletter&utm_medium=Email        

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Seattle’s Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen said nuclear weapons crucify Jesus again

November 16, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Nuclear weapons are NOT merely political issues “out there” somewhere. They are very intimate — as intimate as our own human lives — and as intimate as our religious faith. Raymond Hunthausen, the late Catholic Archbishop of Seattle, stated: “Our nuclear war preparations are the global crucifixion of Jesus. What we do to the least of these, through our nuclear war planning, we do to Jesus. This is his teaching. We cannot avoid it and we should not try. Our nuclear weapons are the final crucifixion of Jesus, the extermination of the human family with whom he is one.”   […]

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This article explains the story that right-wing extremists worldwide are telling — so they keep gaining power

November 5, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Near the beginning of this article it says this: The radical right has developed a global narrative that, by uniting virulent racists and commonplace conservatives, mass shooters and populist politicians, is already injecting fringe ideas into mainstream culture. A paragraph soon after says this: The radical right’s story is rooted in the most basic plot of all: us versus them. Its main nemesis is determined, so the tale goes, to storm the battlements of the “civilized world” and, in what’s called a “great replacement,” oust its innocent inhabitants. Soon after, it says this: The idea of “the great replacement” is […]

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Chris Hedges wrote about “The Age of Radical Evil”

October 26, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Chris Hedges keeps writing articles that are powerfully insightful and wise. His articles connect the dots across a number of issues. They are very much worth reading. Here is one from October 2019: https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-age-of-radical-evil/          

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Several articles about religion, politics, peace, nonviolence, etc.

October 12, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

The October 2019 interview on my TV series “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” focuses on how the Religious Right has hijacked Christianity and much of our nation’s government.  I interview three guests who make a strong case for authentic Christianity, which is the opposite of what has become dominant.  Watch the interview and/or read a thorough summary of what we said at this link:  http://parallaxperspectives.org/tv-being-christian-in-america-in-a-time-of-crisis The thorough summary includes much additional information — and links to many articles — beyond what we had time to say during the TV interview. In addition to those resources, I invite you to click the following […]

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“Being Christian in America in a Time of Crisis”

October 6, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

The October 2019 episode of “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” takes a fresh look at some of our nation’s social and political issues – especially in light of religious faith.  Many of the public policy issues that our nation is grappling with have been pushed hard from conservative Christian viewpoints, but those are NOT the only voices of Christianity. Moderate, liberal and progressive Christians have insights that differ greatly from the highly publicized views that have gained political power. Our October 2019 interview features three retired Christian ministers sharing faith-based insights and perspectives that are VERY DIFFERENT from those that have been […]

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What bold, positive realities would you want for 4 years from now?

October 6, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

I am always encouraging people to envision and organize bold goals for a significantly better future.  Recently I posted to my blog this article inviting us to do that:  http://parallaxperspectives.org/lets-boldly-create-the-future-we-really-want-2 Now I invite you to take the next step. Please read (or re-read) that blog post and send me your e-mail suggestions for this topic: What bold, good reality would you want for four years from now — October 2023? Instead of feeling constrained by the current conditions that are bogging our nation down and curtailing our imaginations, I invite you to BOLDLY AND CREATIVELY IMAGINE the future you really […]

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Christianity and War — See this interesting article

October 5, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

This article is titled: “Making War: Implications for both Church and State Policy of Christian Theology, International Law, and the Constitution” by Archbishop Dr. Robert M. Bowman, Lt. Col., USAF, ret. National Commander, “The Patriots” & Primate, United Catholic Church (a 2009 update of an article first published in March 1995) The article is at this link: Christianity and war — MakingWar2009A          

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Reject authoritarian rule and the idolatry of worshiping nationalism.

October 2, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Historically the U.S. was created — and our Constitution’s First Amendment adopted — to protect us from any official religion.  Nowadays, the Religious Right is pushing hard to make their version of Christianity into the U.S.’s official religion. That would overturn 230 years of U.S. principled separation between Church and State.  And it would hurt many people’s human rights. But some people have said that the U.S. has — in effect — the truly dominant religion of Nationalism. Extreme nationalism corrupts many aspects of that nation’s society in many ways.  It causes people to hurt people of other nations.  The […]

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For many, many reasons, we need to “see God in every person.”

October 2, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Many of the problems in our nation and in our world worsened and persist because people have created a gap between “us” and “them.” “Real” Americans vs. immigrants, Christians vs. others, rich vs. poor, straights vs. LGBTQ persons, and so forth — all of these divisions are ways for privileged people to put themselves above people of lower status. In 2018 some Church leaders who were appalled by the Religious Right’s cruelties and abuses wrote a statement they called “Reclaiming Jesus: A Confession of Faith in a Time of Crisis.” The document identifies six serious theological errors that the Religious […]

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Protect TRUTH and DEMOCRACY from Trump’s constant abuses!

September 22, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Trump is relentlessly, repeatedly attacking TRUTH and attacking DEMOCRACY and other humane values in so many may ways that people are increasingly afraid that our constitutional government will be replaced by Trump’s dictatorship. Congress is not doing nearly enough to protect us.  Trump has been stacking the courts with young, right-wing extremists who will continue imposing Trumpism upon us for decades into the future.  Media ownership is concentrating in fewer hands, and those are increasingly right-wing, so now fewer Americans know what is really happening.   A recent article was titled:  “How Democracy Dies: Big Brother is Erasing the Public […]

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Our political culture keeps praising militarists. Why don’t they thank peace organizers?

September 22, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

The Port of Olympia issued a news release celebrating military troops and saying that the Port, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Olympia Yacht club will loudly blow sirens and horns to “salute the troops” on at 7:45 a.m. on September 6, 2019.  Law enforcement agencies and a variety of other local entities and power centers would supportively participate. Mainstream America and powerful sectors within the U.S. want to “support the troops.”  I’m still waiting for nearly 50 years for any local governments to celebrate Conscientious Objectors – the many people in the U.S. (such as me) and elsewhere whose […]