Beacon Broadside

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Category: Religion

  • The Best of the Broadside in 2016

    2016 is a year that speaks for itself. It’s been a rough and tumultuous one, culminating in a divisive presidential election that has many people afraid of what’s in store for the country once the new administration takes office on January 20. When we’re in need of wisdom and guidance during troubling and unpredictable times…

  • Volunteering as ‘Hanukkah Parents’ Lets Schools Off the Hook

    By Linda K. Wertheimer | It’s a time-honored tradition to be a “Hanukkah parent.” How could it be wrong? Moms and dads can build children’s pride in their Jewish identity by showing them it’s okay to talk about their faith in a Christian-majority school. They can help if the teacher knows nothing about Hanukkah. They…

  • Our Compassion Needs a Bigger Umbrella

    By Marilyn Sewell We faith leaders had to acknowledge our ignorance about the lives of millions of people in the white working class. We had to confront our self-righteousness, our arrogance. It appears that our compassion needs a bigger umbrella. We have blamed them for their failure instead of seeing them as casualties of a…

  • Why I Am Not Worried about Trump’s Education Secretary

    by Karl Giberson President-elect Trump’s appointment of Betsy DeVos as education secretary has liberal pundits proclaiming that America’s educational sky is falling. DeVos is a prominent Michigan evangelical Christian, with ties to the Christian Reformed Church—the denomination that sponsors Calvin College in Grand Rapids which recently fired a professor for suggesting that Adam and Eve…

  • Post-Election 2016 Reading to Inspire Action, Find Meaning, and Learn from Our History

    The results of the 2016 presidential election have left many people in shock and disappointment. In a time where people are fearing that a new administration will work to reverse much of the progress made in the last eight years, we are left wondering what the future holds. How do we continue to fight against…

  • Reconstructing America Again

    By Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II Early Wednesday morning, after running a controversial campaign that was even endorsed by the KKK, Donald J. Trump thanked his supporters for victory and promised to be a president for all Americans. A shock to almost every pollster and political pundit, his victory has been heralded as an…

  • How Queerphobic Christianity Shoots Itself (and Everyone Else) in the Foot

    By Rev. Elizabeth M. Edman It should be a shock that those who enthusiastically claim the mantle of Christianity would reject peace as part of a knee-jerk hatred of LGBTQ people. The degree to which this is an affront to Christian mission cannot be overstated. Yet this is fully and completely the “fruit of the…

  • Meditation Reveals and Heals: Making Peace with Our Anxieties Through Mindfulness

    By Thich Nhat Hanh | Sitting in mindfulness, both our bodies and minds can be at peace and totally relaxed. But this state of peace and relaxation differs fundamentally from the lazy, semi-conscious state of mind that one gets while resting and dozing. Sitting in such lazy semi-consciousness, far from being mindfulness, is like sitting…

  • Recommended Reading for the 2016 Election Cycle

    Throughout this election cycle, we’ve seen the rise of the radical right reminiscent of the pull of ultraconservative organizations from the past; increasing calls to prevent new immigrants from entering our country; increased calls to improve gun control legislation; a resurging wave of religious intolerance against Muslim Americans; and nationwide protests imploring racial justice and…

  • The Drone Eats With Me: A Celebration of Life in a Time of Death

    A Q&A with Atef Abu Saif | I have to say that I did not write a diary to publish. I had a habit of writing sort of personal narratives now and then, to use in writing my fiction and to keep for future memoirs. I was shocked with the dialogue that took place between…