“If we are to think Christianly, then we must think according to the pattern of Jesus Christ. And that means that the first place we should look for God in the ‘War on Terror’ would be in the smoldering ruins of the Twin Towers, and then in the ruins of Baghdad and Basra, the shattered homes and lives of the tens of thousands who have through no fault of their own been in the wrong place at the wrong time, as the angry superpower, like a rogue elephant teased by a little dog, has gone on the rampage stamping on everything that moves in the hope of killing the dog by killing everything within reach.”
- N.T. Wright, Easter’s Challenge to Empire
Posted in Quote for the Day | No Comments »“The war in Iraq may well turn out to be the best example of how not to confront a serious threat, how not to deal with evil, how not to defeat terrorism, how not to find security, how not to foster democracy, how not to seek peace - and, for people of faith, how not to honor God and follow Christ.”
- Jim Wallis, The Great Awakening
Posted in Quote for the Day | 2 Comments »“I find so much of politics shaped by different kinds of rampant individualism. For many Democrats and those on the cultural left, a kind of lifestyle individualism elevates personal identity and autonomy above all else, making “choice” an ultimate criteria for public life. For many Republicans and some on the economic right, a kind of free-market individualism dominates, insisting the market solves all problems and winners and losers are simply inevitable. Both these directions neglect a sense of the common good and have very little room for a priority for the poor and vulnerable.”
- John Carr, The Consistent Life Ethic
Posted in Quote for the Day | 3 Comments »“Politics in this election year and beyond should be about an old question with new power - the common good. The central question should not be, ‘Are you better off than you were four years ago?’ It should be, ‘How can we - all of us, especially the weak and vulnerable - be better off in the years ahead? How can we protect and promote human life and dignity? How can we pursue greater justice and peace?’”
- Faithful Citizenship, US Conference of Catholic Bishops
Posted in Quote for the Day | 2 Comments »Craig recently commented in this thread
guess I just like the tension that gets created in me when I hang around people with opposing worldviews.
I loved this comment. I think it strongly touches on what we are trying to accomplish at Off the Map, and also on something we’re going to have to live into if we ever really want to MTWABP (make the world a better place)
What about you–do you like that tension? Do you lean into it, or away from it? Why? How? your comments? tell us a story, if you like =)
Posted in Interfaith Dialogue, Quote for the Day, What can we do? | 5 Comments »“As I look for candidates, I’m looking for someone who doesn’t have a wallet or a gun where his heart should be.”
- Pastor Joel Hunter in the panel discussion Choosing a President: What do evangelicals really want?
Posted in Quote for the Day | 10 Comments »
“The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral,
begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy.
Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it.
Through violence you may murder the liar,
but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth.
Through violence you may murder the hater,
but you do not murder hate.
In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes.
Returning violence for violence multiplies violence,
adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Posted in Quote for the Day | 3 Comments »“A church that does not unite with the poor is not the true church of Jesus Christ.”
- Archbishop Oscar Romero
Posted in Quote for the Day | 5 Comments »“The big choice for us today is the one between hope and cynicism…Wherever change has come, it’s because some people believed in that possibility before it came to be.”
- Jim Wallis, on Speaking of Faith
Posted in Quote for the Day | 5 Comments »“We should have learned by now that a world of glaring inequality – between countries and within them – where many millions of people endure brutal oppression and extreme misery is never going to be a fully safe world, even for its most privileged inhabitants.”
- Kofi Annan, March 2004
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