Mark's Blog
Responsibility to Protect. R2P. Responsibility to Protect a doctrine that was endorsed by all UN member states at the 2005 World Summit. After the genocide in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, there was a developing global commitment to require nations to...
Bombing of Iran: Prayerful and Action Responses
Bombs fell across Iran over the weekend. The assault continues. The impact of these attacks have been felt across the globe. Loss of life, and military machinery in Iran itself, and an array of anxiety, grief, anger, fear, and in some cases celebration, in Iran and...
Building Trust Through Gratitude
“We move at the speed of trust.” So said my friend and colleague Shaykh Ibad Wali who is the Senior Muslim Advisor for the One America Movement. He and other national leaders from faith250 and Braver Faith (a department of Braver Angels) are working together to design...
Genesis 1:28: An Exhortation for Stewardship, Not Domination
The first chapter of the first book of the Bible has long been misinterpreted as a clarion call for the first man and first woman – and their heirs -- to dominate Creation: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish...
Organizing and Activism: Ella Baker’s Example
Ella Baker (1903-1986, and whose picture is alongside this post) has often been referred to as the godmother of the Civil Rights movement. Along with Martin Luther King Jr. she was a founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Council (SCLC) in 1957, and three years...
Masks, Costumes and Uniforms
I had my first uniform when I was a Cub Scout. I was about eight. I remember the pride I felt when I wore it in the local Memorial Day parade. The blue uniform and yellow kerchief gave me an identity as someone connected to both the community of other scouts and the...
Martin Luther King’s Insight on Power and Love
I write this on the fortieth annual observance of Martin Luther King Day, when the country pauses to honor Dr. King’s memory and legacy. For me, the day is yet another opportunity to be fed by his extraordinary spiritual and intellectual genius. There are many...
Danger, Safety, and Hospitality
Jonathan Ross has expressed that he felt his life was in imminent danger when he fired three shots through a windshield that took the life of Renee Nicole Good. Millions of people, from the President on down, have agreed with Ross’ split-second decision to eliminate...
The Tyranny of Instant Gratification
Instant gratification. It is an impulse that at times can take on an almost religious fervor in the pursuit of fulfilling an immediate desire. Little, if any thought, is given to the implications or consequences of satisfying the desire; and invariably strategy is...