Category: Peacemakers
-
The Meaning of Our Choice
In these days, the ways that people living side by side make meaning can be vastly different. We can find the facts we want (or, failing in that, simply create the facts that suit us) and construct the meaning or our choice. Not all meaning is of equal value. The best meaning is that which…
-
Because I Said So
[Cover story on the PD on Monday 5-2-2016 about the prosecution of “failure to comply”] Most of us know that we can’t control other people’s choices. This knowledge doesn’t stop us from trying, of course, but we aren’t really surprised when we tell someone to do something and they don’t. Even when this someone is…
-
Freedom of Contempt
This week the House Emerging Issues Committee of the Missouri Legislature failed to pass on Senate Joint Resolution 39. This bill would place on the ballot a constitutional amendment to shield clergy, churches, and certain other businesses from government penalties and legal liability if they decline to participate in a same-sex wedding ceremony. The authors…
-
MAD for the Middle East
One cannot help but be heartbroken by the news from the Middle East. The violence seems so senseless from this distance. And while I have been more exposed to the plight of the Palestinians, and have good friends in Israel who are actively seeking to change the hearts and minds of Israelis and with them…
-
Creating Resolution
Sometimes we find ourselves in conflicts with others and we just give up. We think, “This is too hard, the other won’t change, I can’t fix this.” But other times we decide that the relationship and the issues are just too important to give up on. We decide to engage the other, the one with…
-
Creating Justice
Not everyone wants to see conflict resolved. As someone who works in the field of conflict resolution I tend to think of the best outcome as one in which everyone gets what they need…at least as much as possible. But from time to time (and this afternoon was one of those times) I find myself…