Mike Parson, the governor of Missouri has never granted clemency in a death penalty case- even amidst millions of signatures, op eds, and local and national pleas for him to save the life of an innocent man on death row, Marcellus Khaliifah Williams. But despite his self-proclaimed pro-life position, Gov. Parsons failed to act, and Williams was executed on September 24, 2024. The execution was a disappointment to many given no DNA evidence linked Williams to the crime and the prosecution’s original case against Mr. Williams was based solely on the uncredible and unreliable testimony of two incentivized witnesses. The
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I move toward conflict; I don’t flee. My penchant for steadfastness in conflict can’t even be brushed aside as naive, try as some might, because I’m just too old and seasoned for someone to say otherwise. I speak at local Board of Education meetings in support of protections and rights for trans students. I am in the process of closing a dying church on behalf of my Presbytery. I address misconduct. I am a fiercely empathetic pastor, even when my personal reserves are low. I am a loyal friend. I raise good, stand-up-for-others kids. And, when I was in the
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During this week when we honor the independence of the United States, I have to say that I have learned the real meaning of the values expressed in the Declaration of Independence through the eyes of refugees and asylum seekers. That is why it is extremely troubling to see how far our nation has moved from defending these same rights for all people and is moving further and further toward isolationism and exclusionary policies. The extreme polarization of public debates in and of itself is a form of extremism that dehumanizes persons.
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When it comes to justice issues, there are times when we wonder, “Does this process help us respond to the major justice issues of our time? Could this process be improved? Is our faithfulness to the calling of the Spirit or to our established process?” In recent years, there has been critique of the PCUSA’s process regarding corporate engagement and potential divestment from companies related to climate change issues. The most common criticism is that the way we come to a divestment decision is too slow to respond to urgent crises.
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The world watches as Benjamin Netanyahu’s Israeli military has largely ignored Joe Biden’s red line in Rafah. For months, Biden has stated his opposition to a major Israeli offensive into Rafah, a city of 250,000 where more than a million displaced Gazans, nearly half of them children, have temporarily settled, mostly in tents, as a supposed refuge from Israel’s genocidal campaign. However, Biden’s redline has been anything but clear. In February, President Biden said he would not support a major ground invasion into Rafah without an adequate plan to
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It’s been a long day of touring East Jerusalem and getting a crash course on the ongoing silent transfer of Palestinians out of their lands. Our first day began with a tour led by an Israeli guide from The Israeli Committee Against House Demolition (ICAHD), showing us the “matrix of control” that Israel has installed. Our bus drove from hilltop to hilltop and valley to valley in East Jerusalem, and we stopped in several places where we were shown how a slow strangulation is underway by Israeli settlements which swallow up more and more Palestinian land. Now 20 years old,
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It is at times like these that we, the IPMN, are grateful for the PC(USA)’s longstanding history of prophetic witness to the Israel/Palestine crisis. Since the 1948 Nakba, when 750,000 Palestinians were ethnically cleansed from their homeland by the new state of Israel, the Presbyterian Church has been advocating for a just peace. The church has stood for the right to return for Palestinian refugees; an end to the occupation of the West Bank, east Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip; and investment policies that ensure we do not profit from human rights abuses or the deadly use of weaponry.
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Christians bear historic responsibility for the current catastrophe in Israel/Palestine, due to the destructive legacy of anti-semitism, Islamophobia, and imperialism. Alongside Jewish and Palestinian leaders working for peace, Christians must do our part to end the violence. So many people are grieving. In the past week, over 3700 people have been killed in Israel and Gaza. Hundreds of Palestinians were killed in the months prior in 2023. As I write this, Israel is telling 1.1 million people in the northern part of Gaza to evacuate as it retaliates against Hamas’s October
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For 31 consecutive weeks, Israelis have taken to the streets, mostly in Tel Aviv, to protest the decision by the current right-wing government of Israel to initiate an overhaul of its judicial system. Israel’s “Unreasonableness Law” is a measure that removes the courts’ power to overturn decisions made by Israel’s Cabinet or Knesset, or its ministers, that they find to be “extremely unreasonable”. The law strips Israel’s Supreme Court of the power to overturn government actions and appointments it deems “unreasonable”.
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