“An ongoing conversation about things that matter carried on with passion and discipline.” That’s the way Parker Palmer defines truth. His definition captures exactly what I hoped would happen in my classes when I was teaching at Berea College in Kentucky, and in a Latin American Studies Program in Costa Rica. That process of truth-seeking is what I hope will continue on this blog site as it attempts to engage former students, my colleagues, friends, and casual drop-ins in important open-ended dialogs.
My plan is to post at least three times a week. Mondays will be devoted to brief thoughts about current events. Fridays will offer reflections on the upcoming Sunday’s liturgical readings — a sort of homily I hope would be preached then. Wednesdays will present specifically theological reflections — a sort of “class lecture” on liberation theology and related matters. In between, there may be other postings in the form of book and film reviews for example. I will appreciate feedback, positive or critical, on any of this. Thank you for dropping in.
About Things That Matter 
Mike — I sent your Herald-Leader op-ed to Mondoweiss.net — and they have just posted it…see here…http://mondoweiss.net/2013/01/publishes-describing-palestinians.html
Mondoweiss is a really terrific website with the following mission: “Mondoweiss is a news website devoted to covering American foreign policy in the Middle East, chiefly from a progressive Jewish perspective.”
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Thanks so much, Betsy. I just checked it out. Nice website. I’m grateful.
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Ah yes, Christians who butchered us for centuries now preaching to us about morality and how to defend ourselves. Perhaps you might do a review of the story of the town of Jedwabne in Poland during World War 2 when the good Catholics of that town brutalized their Jewish neighbours and then shoved them all into a barn and burned them alive. Not that long ago, Now, we have our tiny slice of land and you won’t even allow us that. My Mother and her family got quietly onto the cattlle cars. She survived if you can call it that, the rest of the family didn’t. Now we say, the hell with you, we will no longer go quietly.
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Dear Tzanchan: Thank you for your note. You are, of course, absolutely correct in your words about Christians, their pogroms and anti-Semitism. Elie Wiesel reminds us of the prison camp guards who went to confession on Saturday and then resumed their work in the crematoriums on Monday. But don’t you find some irony in the similar treatment of Palestinians by contemporary descendents of the death camp victims? It’s not for nothing that the Palestinians are called “the Jews’ Jews.”
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From your site, as we approach March 24th, I thought you might enjoy seeing a music video that we just produced on Oscar Romero. It is part of a new CD release. The singer is a deacon, Michael Glen Bell, and the film maker is Owen Thomas. The Project is the subject of a wonderful article in Canada’s Catholic Register http://www.catholicregister.org/arts/movie-news/item/15749-video-brings-awful-memories-flooding-back
Go to TheMartyrsProject.com to view the video. Feel free to use it on your site, review the album or video, or blog about The Project. If you do, let us know so we can put a link on ours. If you are interested in a story on The Project, please get back to us. We are located in Indianapolis. You can follow us on Twitter @martyrsproject.
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Thanks so much, Duane for sharing this powerful video. i watched it this morning on the anniversary of St. Oscar’s assassination. I’m going to try an post it this morning to observe the anniversary. I’ll let you know when the posting goes up.
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Duane, Thanks again for the link. The video will go up on my blog site at noon today.
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Mike,
I would like to send you a couple of articles that I think might interest you. Will you share your email address with me?
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Aliceny, my e-mail is mike_rivage-seul@berea.edu
By the way, your fellow Mick, Jim Cashman, would like you to share your e-mail with him.
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Thank you, Mike. For Jim Cashman: my e-mail address is alachape@nycap.rr.com.
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Mike, I love your blog and would like to invite you to consider posting over at http://www.PacifistFightClub.com. It’s a collaborative group of Christians who are seeking to follow Jesus into nonviolence, enemy-love, and compassion for the least of these.
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Keith, I’ve looked at your PacifistFightClub site. It looks great. And, yes, I’d love to post there. What’s the process for doing so? Thanks for asking.
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Mike: Do you have an email address? Or can you send me a direct message via Twitter or FB? That’s the easiest way. BTW: I LOVE your post: Jesus’ Case for Non-Violent Resistance to Rome (Sunday Homily), March 1, 2013.
Or email me (my email address is on this comment).
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mr mike: re: 9/11 conspiracy. how many people would be needed for an ‘inside job’ ‘false flag’ or a wholly different explanation for the event? seems to me, alot. what do people do? people talk. what do people talk about? what’s uppermost in their minds. further, with each additional member added to a conspiracy the likelihood of discovery isn’t merely increased in sum total but by multiples, or even exponentially.
let’s also remember why people come up with, research, and write about alternative – more provocative – theories: to make money.
conspiracy theories are entertaining. prosaic, ordinary, simple, interpretations are so dull. we humans love a good mystery. it’s in our dna. we also love a good story.
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Thanks for your thoughtful comment, I. I wasn’t necessarily suggesting an “inside job.” What the film I was commenting on points out so strongly is the absolute incredibility of “the official story.” That needs to be investigated and incompetencies or criminal negligences need exposure and to be dealt with in serious ways that at the very least cost those responsible their jobs. — In any case, the point of my post was to point out the double standard of proof required to on the one hand justify bombing the enemy du jour, and on the other to prosecute those whose negligence and or incompetency or complicity allows government misdeeds (and those of allies, e.g. like Israel) to go unpunished.
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Hi Mike,
I would like to invite you to speak or lead a workshop at the Whippoorwill Festival this year. The dates are July 9-12 at HomeGrown HideAways in the Red Lick area. http://www.whippoorwillfest.com
Its a cool festival, please check the website for more information.
I invited you to speak in Lex one time about 20 years ago … I still remember it because you recommended viewing “Manufacturing Consent” and so I went out and bought a VHS copy and this has of course been very influential to me. Thanks.
You can select just about any topic you would like. Hope you say yes!
Regards,
Dave Cooper
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I so appreciate your invitation, Dave. However we will be in Michigan at the time of the festival. I still think “Manufacturing Consent” was a great film. The book was even better. Sorry about not being able to accept your kind invitation. Perhaps another time.
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