By JIM McKEEVER We are heartbroken. News reports, photos and video of the suffering in Ukraine, images of innocent families dead on the ground, have infuriated us, sparked us to act. We send money, food, supplies, weapons. We attend rallies to show solidarity with Ukraine and speak out against Vladimir Putin’s cruel war. America’s empathy …
By DENNIS HARROD Ty Seidule never thought of himself as a white supremacist. He didn’t think about white supremacy at all. Growing up in the South, first in Virginia and then in Georgia, he had one dream: become a southern gentleman, like his idol, Robert E. Lee. He accepted without question the narrative of the …
By DENNIS HARROD “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.” — Isaiah, 11:16 We should be ashamed. Amanda Gorman wrote in the New York Times Jan. 20, …
By DENNIS HARROD At a trailhead leading to a path through woods and fields flush with late summer’s abundance of gold and green, where the wind rustled leaves and shook a few loose, and a scent of fall hinted at what was to come, someone had scrawled a message of despair meant to harm any …
By JIM McKEEVER I won’t give you their names, but names shouldn’t matter anyway. They are voices at the other end of a phone call, faceless men ages 18 to 48, who tell me their stories in 60, 90 minutes. We say good-bye, I wish them luck and I have no idea what happens to …
By JIM McKEEVER I am in awe of James Baldwin. The novelist, poet, essayist and activist has been in vogue recently, thanks in part to the 2020 re-release of the documentary, “I Am Not Your Negro,” and scholarly books such as Eddie S. Glaude’s “Begin Again.” Baldwin, who died in 1987, was a brilliant writer …
By JIM McKEEVER What must it be like to give up everything you have, especially if you are forced to flee your home and travel thousands of miles, protecting yourself and your children from harm? Each day asylum seekers from various countries, as well as detainees released from a Texas immigration detention center, are dropped …
By JIM McKEEVER I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. — Matthew 25:35. On April 15, the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University hosted a dialogue, “Immigration Challenges and Choices: People, …
By WILLIAM D. SUNDERLIN The abolition of slavery in 1865 through the 13th amendment, together with the 14th amendment (citizenship for all people born in the U.S. including formerly enslaved people) and the 15th amendment (the right of citizens to vote) ratified soon thereafter, supposedly laid the foundation for racial equality in the United States. …
By JIM McKEEVER A few summers ago, as our Sunday morning running group mingled and stretched before our weekly long run, the subject of Ultimate Fighting or Mixed Martial Arts came up. I think there had been a highly publicized fight on TV the night before. One runner, whose well-muscled physique indicated a serious dedication …
Sense of Decency 