Tag Archives: democracy

What I accept/What I abjure

I accept—and respect!— that people have strongly held values and religious beliefs that motivate them. I abjure any attempt to force such beliefs upon others. I abjure it on principle… but also in practical terms, I am yet to observe that any religious person fully agrees with another religious person on all issues, even thoseContinue reading “What I accept/What I abjure”

1619 Project: Bouie

I continue to read, reflect, and shine a spotlight on the work of the 1619 Project. Today I read the work by Jamelle Bouie, titled “America holds onto an undemocratic assumption from its founding: that some people deserve more power than others.” You can read it in full at this link: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/republicans-racism-african-americans.html Again, I hopeContinue reading “1619 Project: Bouie”

Time traveler blues

These days I teeter, as I think many of us do, between joy in my daily life and despair over what is not being done to save our environment, —or, for that matter, our democracy. More often than I like, I think about how a response to the history of the rise of Nazism andContinue reading “Time traveler blues”

Silence is not golden

As a string of egregious actions make the news, including personal behavior that reveals the blindness of those in power and far too many policies that will secure that same blind power for decades to come, I am thinking today about the silence people use to avoid reckoning with their complicity. I am remembering momentsContinue reading “Silence is not golden”

How to articulate democracy

I am trying to gather my courage to call my Senators tomorrow to urge them to demonstrate their commitment to voting rights, which, alas, they won’t (which is why it takes courage because it feels futile, but necessary). I thought it might help for me to write about why democracy matters, and, this will surpriseContinue reading “How to articulate democracy”