With the news that Elon Musk is acquiring Twitter, once again the question of how social media functions (or ought to function) in our society is back on peoples’ minds. Ever since I saw the movie The Social Dilemma, I have been conscious of the challenges that social media brings to our common life. Chief among those challenges is the question of how we navigate our social and political...
Last week I was invited to participate in a video sponsored by my good friends from North Georgia, Mountaintop Learning (formerly Mountaintop Lectures). Mountaintop used to host events twice a year when contemporary Christian thought leaders would come to North Georgia and give a lecture series. That program was a casualty of the pandemic, but in its place Mountaintop Learning has emerged as a...
Consider these teachings from Jesus, all taken from just one Gospel (Matthew): “Whatever you do to the least of these, you do to me.” “Sell your possessions, and give (the money) to the poor, and follow me.” “Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them.” “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” “Love your enemies.”...
Last night, I had the following dream. I woke up and wrote the dream down, and here is the unedited transcript of what I wrote: Dream 1/31/21-2/1/21 I was back in high school, but not the school I attended when I was a teenager — which was in a solidly middle to upper middle class, mostly white neighborhood. This high school of my dreams felt more like the neighborhood I live in now: more urban...
Last week, when the story about Amy Cooper, the white woman in Central Park who called the police after a black man simply requested that she leash her dog, was making headlines (this was the day before George Floyd was murdered), I sent a text to a couple of close friends of mine, in which I talked about how embarrassing it is to be a white person, given how some whites (like Amy Cooper) behave...
The other day, I posted this tweet: The Desert Father Abbot Pastor said, "Any trial whatever that comes to you can be conquered by silence." — Carl McColman (@CarlMcColman) July 25, 2017 And a friend of mine posted this reply: Religion aside, I think it's irresponsible to advocate silence in a country where politicians are actively trying to silence & ignore us. —...