by jpitney | Jun 21, 2021 | Civility, Polarization, Religion
Molly Worthen at NYT: Perhaps it’s not surprising that some organizations devoted to dialogue between religious faiths have turned their attention to political divides. Eboo Patel, the founding director of Interfaith Youth Core, has spent the past few years getting to...
by jpitney | Jan 24, 2021 | civic virtue, Civility, Democracy, Polarization, Religion
David French: On January 15, Hunter Baker, the dean of arts and sciences at Union University—a Baptist college not far from me in Jackson, Tennessee—did something exceedingly rare in our highly polarized time. He published an apology. In an essay in Public Discourse,...
by jpitney | Jan 17, 2021 | California Politics, Civility, Democracy, Religion
An open letter to Speaker Pelosi and Leader McCarthy from the San Francisco-based Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC), the California Legislative Jewish Caucus and the JCRC of Silicon Valley: The California Jewish community is appalled by the events on January 6...
by jpitney | Dec 31, 2020 | civic virtue, Civility, Religion
York Moore at Christianity Today: While my belief that civility will die a swift death in this Winter of despair, I have a hope in something greater-basic human desire. There are basic human desires that I believe will allow us to re-plant the seeds of civility once...
by jpitney | Jul 19, 2020 | Civil Rights, Religion
Kim Lawton, John Lewis Extended Interview, Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, January 16, 2004: I’m deeply concerned that many people today fail to recognize that the movement was built on deep-seated religious convictions, and the movement grew out of a sense of faith...
by jpitney | Jul 4, 2020 | civic virtue, Religion, Slavery
Frederick Douglass, July 5, 1852: Allow me to say, in conclusion, notwithstanding the dark picture I have this day presented of the state of the nation, I do not despair of this country. There are forces in operation, which must inevitably work the downfall of...