“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!”
Palestine and Israel are back in the news. So again, we Palestinians hear this common refrain. But such calls are no longer enough. I say this as a pastor who believes in prayer, leads prayer services for peace, and genuinely values your good intentions.
The question is: How do we broaden our bandwidth for advocating with our African American brothers and sisters while also bringing into view what is happening to Asian Americans in this moment? How does this moment continue the entire history of anti-Asian American racism? How can we expose the ways “racial capitalism” has sought to turn “non-white” races against each other?
The new CDC guidance has also prompted many pastors and faith leaders to revisit their own masking and social distancing guidelines for worship. But as an immunocompromised person, I want churches to know that if you choose to allow your congregation to unmask now, before we have any sort of herd immunity, you are asking immunocompromised people to choose between risking their lives or being excluded from church.
Rather than reflecting the truth of the motivations of both workers and employers, the "labor shortage" conversation is a tactic to adjust public perception and create the political will big corporations need to capture cheap labor –– it's propaganda at its most straightforward.
We work hard for diplomas and degrees, and yet as Jes Kast reminds college graduates, no title is more important — or utterly unearned — than being beloved.
As your pastor, I am proud of you. God is proud of you. I can say that without any doubt in my mind. Yes, you have passed your exams, but the pride I am talking about is the hard work and spiritual dedication you’ve put into your own soul and spiritual growth.
On Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released updated guidelines telling people who have received the COVID-19 vaccine that they can now attend a full-capacity worship service and sing in an indoor chorus, among other activities.
While people “will still be required to wear a mask on planes, buses, trains, and other forms of public transportation” the CDC guidelines now say that if “you are fully vaccinated, you can resume activities that you did before the pandemic...without wearing a mask or physically distancing.”
By May 14, reports indicated that at least 122 Palestinians, including 31 minors, had been killed and more than 900 wounded since May 10. In Israel, at least seven people were killed, including one child. While the immediate violence must be brought to an end, the realities of the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestine cannot be ignored.
The American Jobs Plan invests in rebuilding our economy, creates millions of good-paying jobs, helps workers transition out of the fossil fuel industry, and protects our health, land, air, water, and global climate.
Biden's plans are not just about good politics or good policy — they’re about what government can do to relieve human suffering, about whom government should invest in. These are not just political matters but ethical ones. So let’s look at Biden’s three big plans from a moral, theological, and biblical perspective.