Drick Boyd's Blog
The Gun Industry – Making Bundles of Money at Our Expense
I continue my discussion of the church's response to the gun violence movement by now looking at the gun industry. Simply stated the gun manufacturing industry has avested interest in selling as many firearms as possible, regardless of the social costs due to firearm...
Hurricance Arlene
Amidst tremors from an earthquake on Tuesday and the impending hurricane this weekend, Philadelphia's schools experienced another shock wave when now-former superintendent Arlene Ackerman went on the offensive against those who forced her out of her position with...
The Social and Family Causes of Gun Violence
I continue with looking Faith-based responses to gun violence. In this section I discuss the underlying causes of the gun violence issue in the United States.When one examines the causes of gun violence, one must think of the issue on at least four levels. First, we...
Gun Violence as a Spiritual Issue
During my recent sabbatical I researched and wrote a paper on Faith Based Responses to Gun Violence. In this research I studied the gun industry, the media, the NRA, the culture of guns and the way in which faith communities can and should respond. Over the next...
Moving from They to We: Being Allies With Those Who Are Oppressed
"If you have come here to help me, then you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound up in mine, then let us work together."I recently attended my 40th high school reunion. I saw and talked with people I literally had not seen in 40...
Gratitude for Borders Books
I was sad to hear the announcement last week about the closing of all Borders Bookstores. I can’t say that in recent years I was a major supporter of Borders; like most Americans, I tend to get my books through the various outlets available online. Yet Borders will...
The Christian Movement's Wrong Turn
In the year 312 C.E, the Christian movement made a wrong turn from which it has never recovered. In that year the Emperor Constantine was crossing the Milvian Bridge over the Tiber River into Rome in a battle that would lead to his becoming the emperor of the Roman...
Hungover by "Hangover"
I don’t know what possessed me. It may have been that I was alone on a Father’s Day afternoon, and I wasn’t interested in the U.S. Open. Perhaps it was because I had earned enough points at my local theater to get a free ticket, so there was no cost involved. I had...
Needed: A New Way of Thinking
Geodesic Dome (Buckminster Fuller)The other day I went for my annual physical. A few days later the doctor called me to tell me that all my tests looked good, and that in fact my cholesterol and blood pressure had gone down. As the doctor knew, for the past several...
Bill O'Reilly, Racism and White People
On Easter Sunday President Obama and his family attended church at Shiloh Baptist Church, an historic African American church in Washington, D.C. The pastor of Shiloh Baptist is Dr. Wallace Smith, who along with his pastoral duties is a faculty member and past...
Resurrection: Neither Fast Nor Fair
For the last six months or so, I have been struggling with asthma. I woke up on a Sunday morning with a severe shortness of breath, which the next day was diagnosed as “mild persistent asthma.” I was given various medicines, which created a variety of side effects in...
Taxes and Power
What do Warren Buffet, Alan Greenspan, Barack Obama and my father, a life long Republican, have in common? Normally this is a group that would have little they could agree on politically or economically. However, they all agree that in order to balance the national...
A Pacifist Response to Libya
Monday night (March 28) Pres. Obama addressed the nation explaining his reasons for ordering military action to enforce a “No Fly Zone” in Libya. Essentially, he said that (1) he wanted to prevent the slaughter of innocent Libyan citizens by Libyan government forces...
Fairness in Taxation Bill
Rep Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) has introduced the Fairness in Taxation bill, which seeks to have the wealthy pay their share in addressing the current budget problem. What follows is a letter to my Congressman, Rep Pat Meehan, asking him to support this proposed bill. I...
Barack Obama, Guns and People of Faith
This past week Pres. Barack Obama delivered a speech in Arizona in which he proposed that the National Instant Criminal Background Check System be strengthened so as to deny known felons the opportunity to purchase guns. Groups like Mayors Against Illegal Guns and...