EYES OF THE NATION ON GUSHEE’S ‘CHANGING’
- LATEST NEWS—Dr. David P. Gushee, America’s leading evangelical ethicist, has reversed himself after years of reflection and research, and now is calling for an end to destructive preaching of contempt against LGBT men and women in thousands of churches nationwide. Today, we’ve got the latest headlines and a complete text of Dr. Gushee’s historic address in Washington D.C. on November 8.
- GET THE BOOK—Orders for the book flooded Amazon over the past week for both print and Kindle editions. Also, the book is available at other online retailers, including Barnes & Noble. This page has links to online retailers.
- INTERVIEW—Feel free to share our in-depth interview with Dr. Gushee with your friends. Other websites and small groups are using this interview to spark discussion.
HONORING OUR MILLIONS OF VETERANS
- CHANGING FACE OF ‘THE VETERAN’—All this week, sociologist Wayne Baker will be exploring issues related to America’s 22 million veterans in his OurValues series. Did you know that the common image of the white male veteran is changing? As a population, veterans are becoming more female and more racially and ethnically diverse.
- OurValues PART 1—Are they more resilient than the rest of us? You may be surprised!
- PART 2—It’s on sale today!
- PART 3—A civilian-veteran disconnect?
- PART 4—Should we stop thanking them?
- PART 5—Friday.
- ALL ABOUT THE HOLIDAY—Columnist Stephanie Fenton reports on Veterans Day today—and the holiday’s long history since World War I.
VETERANS: ELOQUENT PLEAS FROM WORLD WAR I
- CENTENNIAL—For the 100th anniversary of WWI, Global peace activist Daniel Buttry is adding inspiring stories to our collection in the Interfaith Peacemakers department.
- WILFRED OWEN—His poetry now is nearly forgotten, but the poet Wilfred Owen’s work is worth rediscovering for its honesty about the horrors we ask people to face in war.
- SIEGFRIED SASSOON—Also a poet, Sassoon befriended Owen and survived the war to write for many years in poetry and prose about the tragedy of war.
- UNDERGROUND ART—Thanks to National Geographic and Dr. Jeff Gusky, we now can glimpse the eloquent art made by soldiers in the trenches. Our story includes a short video about Dr. Gusky’s discoveries.
HOLIDAYS & FESTIVALS
- NOVEMBER THEMES—Holidays columnist Stephanie Fenton reports on special month-long, nationwide themes in November, including an emphasis on Native American culture, the need to find more adoptive parents and also the hard work of America’s more than 60 million caregivers!
- VETERANS DAY—Stephanie reports on the history and contemporary news, as well.
- BAHA’I—It’s the Birthday of Baha’u’llah.
- CHRISTMAS IN THE EAST—Orthodox Christians begin their annual Nativity Fast this week.
- HOLIDAYS AT A GLANCE—Remember the URL www.InterfaithHolidays.com for Stephanie Fenton’s complete calendar of holidays, festivals and anniversaries.
FAITH GOES POP
- GET TO KNOW KEN CHITWOOD! At ReadTheSpirit, we’re thrilled to have columnist Ken Chitwood join our team of writers. He debuted a couple of weeks ago and we encourage regular visits to his FAITH GOES POP. This week, his new postings include “Wallenda walks the tightrope with Jesus” and “The Nuns on the Bus are ‘all about that bus, nun trouble.'”
- BUMPER STICKER CHALLENGE—Many of our readers already are enjoying Ken’s occasional challenges. This week, Ken is asking about “What a religious bumper sticker says about the person in the car.” For years now, ReadTheSpirit has distributed a unique bumper sticker promoting our “home town” of Detroit. Here’s a story from way back in 2009 that still generates emails from readers requesting a free bumper sticker. THIS WEEK: When you talk about Ken’s ideas via social media, please remember to mention #FaithGoesPop
BULLYING IS NO LAUGHING MATTER
- FUNKY WINKERBEAN has a serious message this week in the latest comic-strip “activity guide” from the Bullying Is No Laughing Matter project: Adults can help, especially teachers and principals—if they know that bullying is taking place in their school.
- 14 FREE ACTIVITY GUIDES—The new Funky Winkerbean comic strip brings our total to 14 free “activity guides” that parents and teachers can use to spark discussion with the kids they love. The best way to join in this nationwide project is—order a copy of the full-color book.
- SCHOOLS TAKE PART—Here’s a story about an elementary school using one of the activity guides.
FILM, FOOD, FAITH
—AND MORE
- VISUAL PARABLES—See all of faith-and-film writer Edward McNulty’s latest reviews, including his new recommended Feature of the Week: Birdman, which Ed gives 5 out of 5 stars.
- NOVEMBER FILM CAPSULES—Ed McNulty invites readers to share these mini-reviews of recent films. Some readers prefer to repost them; others use them in newsletters.
- BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP—A thoughtful drama starring Colin Firth about a rare form of amnesia. (4 of 5 stars)
- FEED THE SPIRIT—To mark her own birthday, Bobbie Lewis writes about “The elusive Baumann’s butter cake“—and, of course, she has a delicious recipe!
- HELP THE COMMUNITY—Jane Wells reports on a program in her part of southeast Michigan to warm and shelter homeless individuals and families who fall through other safety nets. Her column reminds us that actually meeting “the homeless” will break many common stereotypes.
- TAKE ACTION AGAINST DISCRIMINATION—Author and columnist Suzy Farbman writes about a new play in New York on the life of famous Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal.
- DONATE BONE MARROW? Rodney Curtis writes about a young man who—without a second thought—donated bone marrow to help a patient he did not know. How common is such selflessness? “Anyone would do that,” the young man says. Well, let’s hope so, hmmm?
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