Posts Categorized: Justice

Blessed are the peacemakers…in Madagascar

Sambatra ny mpampihavana Blessed are the Peacemakers It was a fascinating day in Madagascar!  The leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar (known by its Malagasy acronym, FJKM) shared their knowledge on an extraordinary range of subjects.   In the morning we learned about the background of the FJKM, its Reformed tradition, its structure… Read more »

The 2016 Mosaic of Peace Conference Begins with Orientation

Greetings from the Mosaic of Peace Conference in Israel and Palestine. The brief blog entries you will see over the coming days provide brief reports and insights from our conference in Israel and Palestine.  They are written by our participants and are neither comprehensive nor in depth reports, but the first opportunity we have to… Read more »

There can be no business as usual

by The Rev. Anna George Traynham This morning, UN Under-Secretary General and UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka addressed the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). One line has been ringing around the assembly halls since it left her lips: “There can be no business as usual.” She was speaking in reference to the… Read more »

16 Days of Activism – Day 16: Human Rights Day

by Paul Olson The drafters of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights specified thirty articles: rights and freedoms essential for the achievement of dignified living for all people. These rights include civil, political, social and economic liberties. The declaration represents the belief that persons can only flourish if there rights and freedoms are respected. The… Read more »

International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime

by Paul Olson Dag Hammarskjöld used to invite people over to his house to listen to records of Johann Sebastian Bach. Considering all that Mr. Hammarskjöld had to do as the UN’s second General Secretary, this seems really odd. But today’s event began with the UNSRC orchestra playing Johann Sebastian Bach’s  “Air”. As the group… Read more »

16 Days of Activism – Day 14: Domestic Violence

by Robert Arrington Today we draw attention to the issue of violence enacted on women and girls in the home. Domestic violence can occur against women and men, boys and girls. It is a huge problem and is often unreported and never adequately addressed. It can often have devastating effects on the children in the… Read more »

16 Days of Activism – Day 12: Advent Reflection

by Robert Arrington Today on the second Sunday of Advent, we consider the prophecy spoken by Zechariah in Luke 1:68-79:  “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a mighty savior for us in the house of his servant David,as he spoke… Read more »

16 Days of Activism – Day 10: Why am I (a man) involved in ‘16 days of Activism’ regarding violence against girls?

by Paul Olson As a man I have become engaged in this work on violence against girls because I am a follower of Jesus Christ, and because Jesus Christ embodies the notion of compassion (meaning literally to ‘suffer with’). Henri Nouwen in his book “On Compassion” dismisses the notion of human ‘activism’, but reframes it… Read more »