My back has been killing me all month and I have posted almost nothing. But I did preach last week in Yuba City, and this is what I said:
Many of you may know already who Ruby Bridges is. I have to confess I only learned this in this last decade. Sometimes I’m slow.
For those of you who might not know, Ruby was the six-year-old African-American girl who, after the federal desegregation order, walked past 40 to 50 angry white adults each day, to attend elementary school in New Orleans. She was accompanied by federal marshals, but otherwise alone. She was the only African-American student. And all the white students had been withdrawn because she was there.
Many of the adults who greeted her each morning, if that’s the word for what they did, were saying they were going to kill her. And Ruby had to know they just might do it. Yet she kept coming.
She not only kept coming, but she smiled at the mobs as they vilified her. And she told her teacher that she felt sorry for them, and was praying for them. It’s hard to imagine. What kept her going? (more…)
Couldn’t resist this excerpt, from former President Jimmy Carter, talking about religious based discrimination against women (I credit 3 friends on Facebook for bringing this to my attention, and you can link to the whole article here):
The Elders are an independent group of eminent global leaders, brought together by former South African president Nelson Mandela, who offer their influence and experience to support peace building, help address major causes of human suffering and promote the shared interests of humanity. We have decided to draw particular attention to the responsibility of religious and traditional leaders in ensuring equality and human rights and have recently published a statement that declares: “The justification of discrimination against women and girls on grounds of religion or tradition, as if it were prescribed by a Higher Authority, is unacceptable.”
We are calling on all leaders to challenge and change the harmful teachings and practices, no matter how ingrained, which justify discrimination against women. We ask, in particular, that leaders of all religions have the courage to acknowledge and emphasise the positive messages of dignity and equality that all the world’s major faiths share.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/losing-my-religion-for-equality-20090714-dk0v.html#ixzz2HpNBd1wb
The Sunset Juggler (formerly The Dragon's Mouth) 