ESRA

The Militarists and Haters Win in Israeli Elections

By |

The biggest losers will be all those on the planet who yearn for a world based on social and economic justice, environmental sanity, peace and non-violence, and genuine caring for the peoples of the world. Those of us who talk about building a world based on love and caring will face the next five years with an Israel that scoffs at those ideas and spreads its cynicism to the rest of the world. Instead, Israel will be spouting a message of fear and championing the “Right Hand of God,” i.e. the notion that force and violence are the only way to achieve safety and security. And while few Israelis want to be involved in another war, many want to get the U.S. to do a proxy war on Iran for Israel, and that will be bad not only for the people of the Middle East but also for the many Americans who will lose their lives in such a war.

Politics & Society

How Our Church Freed Its Members from Predatory Lending

By |

Today’s society is filled with greed, predatory lenders, exorbitant interest rates, low wages, poor job security, and unfair tax burdens. But the Holy Scriptures show that God’s community was a community of compassion, sharing and forgiving. It is in this spirit that the Jubilee Assistance Fund started at Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church, helping dozens of in-need families with affordable microloans.

Empathy

Wielding Truth and Nonviolence in the Fight of Our Lives

By |

The fact that the conservative (so-called) narrative is dead wrong matters not a bit if there is no alternative. Some would have us believe that there simply is no coherent progressive narrative: we’re just on the wrong side of reality. Though this may be true, the fact is that this implicit foundation story of our civilization is dead wrong, and does not admit of progressive reasoning, or progressive values.

Culture

“Islam in America": A Conversation with Jonathan Curiel

By |

Jonathan Curiel’s new book is a readable and reliable history of the Muslim experience in America. The first waves of Muslim immigrants in the United States were very insular, Curiel writes, but interfaith efforts are one of the new hallmarks of American Islam — and a hallmark that separates American Muslims from Muslim communities in other countries.

Gender and Sexuality

Farmworker Women Speaking Up on Domestic Violence

By |

Unresolved childhood trauma is commonly found among women who later experience domestic violence as adults, says Aurora Silva, a marriage and family therapist who has been working with victims and offenders in the Coachella Valley for 27 years. “Women in the fields have usually been treated as less than or unworthy since childhood, and have difficulty believing they have rights or that they are worthy,” she says.