by Jeremy Bell | Sep 9, 2020 | General
People without homes in the U.S. are overrepresented in the criminal justice system due to “punitive laws and enforcement practices,” according to a Vera Institute of Justice report published Aug. 12. A total of 567,715 unhoused persons were counted across...
by Jeremy Bell | Sep 8, 2020 | General
Stock photo illustration (Credit: Becker1999 / Wikipedia / https://tinyurl.com/yxevw55p) I am not sure there are enough adjectives to describe 2020 so far. And none of them would be flattering in depicting what has been a strange and stressful year. COVID-19...
by Jeremy Bell | Sep 8, 2020 | General
The word “cult” gets tossed around to the point it takes on pejorative meanings. I resist using it, however, when the technical definitions are not met. Strong allegiance to a religious or political leader is not enough to make one a cultist. Therefore, calling the...
by Jeremy Bell | Aug 31, 2020 | General
(RNS) — In recent months, Lara Martin’s life has been one disaster after another. Tornadoes in Tennessee. Wildfires in California. A derecho in Iowa. Now, Hurricane Laura. “We’ve been busy,” said Martin, the interim director of U.S. disaster response for the...
by Jeremy Bell | Aug 31, 2020 | General
BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — Some Vermont religious leaders are asking the state to confront its role as a location where Black people were once held as slaves and remember those individuals. Rabbi Amy Small of Burlington’s Ohavi Zedek Synagogue says the common myth is that...
