HAVING THE COURAGE TO SPEAK THE TRUTH
"A single, seemingly powerless person who dares to cry out the word of truth and to stand behind it with all his person and all his
life, ready to pay a high price, has, surprisingly, greater power, though formally disfranchised, than do thousands of anonymous
voters." W. Vaclav Havel.
NEW ARTICLE MARCH 2010: UNCERTAINTY IS TRUST'S SHADOW
"Christian theology and Christian ethics contain an inescapable dimension of uncertainty. This uncertainty is
trust's shadow. That's essential to acknowledge and live with. Are there not two unprovable convictions central to the
Christian tradition?
(1) There is an ineffable reality at the heart of life whose essence
is unconditional goodness and love.
(2) The universe is part of a bigger purpose than just itself."
Uncertainty is Trust's shadow(2010)
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY
As coordinator of the Zimbabwe group of Amnesty Ireland I am pleased that at last there is some real hope that
press freedom may be restored in Zimbabwe and that independent media may be able to operate freely without fear of prosecution. I was pleased that our issue of The Daily News
in Exile received international coverage. As well as expressing soldiarity with independent journalists who have worked under repressive
media laws, our campaigning was an attempt to raise awareness and to help transform Zimbabwe
into a society where the dignity and human rights of each citizen are promoted and respected. Go to
The Daily News in Exile
A ROSE IN SOLIDARITY WITH WOMEN HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS
Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) is a grassroots women's organisation campaigning in Zimbabwe. Leaders and members from WOZA
regularly take to the streets to hold the government of Zimbabwe to account
for its failure to meet their basic needs and are confronted by a repressive and brutal state. WOZA was founded in Zimbabwe in 2003. Their symbol is a Rose.
Their mission statement is: The power of love is stronger than the love of power.
WOZA give out roses on St Valentines Day to the public and to the police. Roses were given out in Dublin on St Valentines Day 2008 to express support for WOZA.
See
http://www.amnesty.ie/amnesty/live/irish/resources/article.asp?id=14932&page=14869
In November 2009 Magodonga Mahlangu and Jennifer Williams, leaders of WOZA, received the the RFK Human Rights Award at a ceremony
in Washington, USA, in the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights.
BRINGING RELIGION TO LIFE
Are not religions a response to the universal human search for meaning, wonder and values in the face of the implacable mystery of our existence - why are we here at all?
Do human beings ever have certainty in postulating answers to life's great questions?
Are our religions a human response to such mysteries rather than a divine revelation, as still believed by many?
Religions meet psychic, social, philosophical, ethical and political needs.
Does the universe exhaust all of life's meaning,
or might there be another dimension to life that completes its meaning?
Today's global citizens can draw, critically, on a resource of wisdom and spirituality garnered over countless centuries as
well as add judiciously to it.
Such a global resource has been created through our experiences of success and failure in living authentically; through our
capacity to make good relationships as well as our failure to do so - with each other, with other living creatures, with our
planet and universe, and with the transcendent mystery that some believe completes the meaning of life.
RESHAPING THOUGHT
"The revolutions that count come silently, come first in the heart...
Revolutions of this magnitude do not overturn a system and then shape it.
They reshape thought, and then the system overturns without the firing of
a single cannon. Revolutions such as this dismantle walls people thought
would never fall because no wall, whatever its size, can contain a
people whose minds have long ago scaled and vaulted and surmounted it."
(Heart of Flesh, p.172, Joan D. Chittister)
LIBERATING UNDERSTANDING
It is liberating to have an understanding of the scriptures of the
major world faith traditions which allows me to say:
"that is what people
claimed thousands of years ago to be right or to be the will of their god,
but what they believed then does not constrain how I think today ".
To my mind, it is
part of the dignity and responsibility of being human that we
have to work out our moral conclusions and theological convictions, however provisional, for ourselves.
Please feel free to contact me: preferably at
tiripo at gofree.indigo.ie or else by signing my guestbook.
(1) There is an ineffable reality at the heart of life whose essence is unconditional goodness and love.
(2) The universe is part of a bigger purpose than just itself."
Uncertainty is Trust's shadow(2010)
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY
As coordinator of the Zimbabwe group of Amnesty Ireland I am pleased that at last there is some real hope that
press freedom may be restored in Zimbabwe and that independent media may be able to operate freely without fear of prosecution. I was pleased that our issue of The Daily News
in Exile received international coverage. As well as expressing soldiarity with independent journalists who have worked under repressive
media laws, our campaigning was an attempt to raise awareness and to help transform Zimbabwe
into a society where the dignity and human rights of each citizen are promoted and respected. Go to
The Daily News in Exile
A ROSE IN SOLIDARITY WITH WOMEN HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS
Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) is a grassroots women's organisation campaigning in Zimbabwe. Leaders and members from WOZA
regularly take to the streets to hold the government of Zimbabwe to account
for its failure to meet their basic needs and are confronted by a repressive and brutal state. WOZA was founded in Zimbabwe in 2003. Their symbol is a Rose.
Their mission statement is: The power of love is stronger than the love of power.
WOZA give out roses on St Valentines Day to the public and to the police. Roses were given out in Dublin on St Valentines Day 2008 to express support for WOZA.
See
http://www.amnesty.ie/amnesty/live/irish/resources/article.asp?id=14932&page=14869
In November 2009 Magodonga Mahlangu and Jennifer Williams, leaders of WOZA, received the the RFK Human Rights Award at a ceremony
in Washington, USA, in the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights.
BRINGING RELIGION TO LIFE
Are not religions a response to the universal human search for meaning, wonder and values in the face of the implacable mystery of our existence - why are we here at all?
Do human beings ever have certainty in postulating answers to life's great questions?
Are our religions a human response to such mysteries rather than a divine revelation, as still believed by many?
Religions meet psychic, social, philosophical, ethical and political needs.
Does the universe exhaust all of life's meaning,
or might there be another dimension to life that completes its meaning?
Today's global citizens can draw, critically, on a resource of wisdom and spirituality garnered over countless centuries as
well as add judiciously to it.
Such a global resource has been created through our experiences of success and failure in living authentically; through our
capacity to make good relationships as well as our failure to do so - with each other, with other living creatures, with our
planet and universe, and with the transcendent mystery that some believe completes the meaning of life.
RESHAPING THOUGHT
"The revolutions that count come silently, come first in the heart...
Revolutions of this magnitude do not overturn a system and then shape it.
They reshape thought, and then the system overturns without the firing of
a single cannon. Revolutions such as this dismantle walls people thought
would never fall because no wall, whatever its size, can contain a
people whose minds have long ago scaled and vaulted and surmounted it."
(Heart of Flesh, p.172, Joan D. Chittister)
LIBERATING UNDERSTANDING
It is liberating to have an understanding of the scriptures of the
major world faith traditions which allows me to say:
"that is what people
claimed thousands of years ago to be right or to be the will of their god,
but what they believed then does not constrain how I think today ".
To my mind, it is
part of the dignity and responsibility of being human that we
have to work out our moral conclusions and theological convictions, however provisional, for ourselves.
Please feel free to contact me: preferably at
tiripo at gofree.indigo.ie or else by signing my guestbook.
Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) is a grassroots women's organisation campaigning in Zimbabwe. Leaders and members from WOZA
regularly take to the streets to hold the government of Zimbabwe to account
for its failure to meet their basic needs and are confronted by a repressive and brutal state. WOZA was founded in Zimbabwe in 2003. Their symbol is a Rose.
Their mission statement is: The power of love is stronger than the love of power.
WOZA give out roses on St Valentines Day to the public and to the police. Roses were given out in Dublin on St Valentines Day 2008 to express support for WOZA.
See
http://www.amnesty.ie/amnesty/live/irish/resources/article.asp?id=14932&page=14869
In November 2009 Magodonga Mahlangu and Jennifer Williams, leaders of WOZA, received the the RFK Human Rights Award at a ceremony
in Washington, USA, in the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights.
BRINGING RELIGION TO LIFE
Are not religions a response to the universal human search for meaning, wonder and values in the face of the implacable mystery of our existence - why are we here at all?
Do human beings ever have certainty in postulating answers to life's great questions?
Are our religions a human response to such mysteries rather than a divine revelation, as still believed by many?
Religions meet psychic, social, philosophical, ethical and political needs.
Does the universe exhaust all of life's meaning,
or might there be another dimension to life that completes its meaning?
Today's global citizens can draw, critically, on a resource of wisdom and spirituality garnered over countless centuries as
well as add judiciously to it.
Such a global resource has been created through our experiences of success and failure in living authentically; through our
capacity to make good relationships as well as our failure to do so - with each other, with other living creatures, with our
planet and universe, and with the transcendent mystery that some believe completes the meaning of life.
RESHAPING THOUGHT
"The revolutions that count come silently, come first in the heart...
Revolutions of this magnitude do not overturn a system and then shape it.
They reshape thought, and then the system overturns without the firing of
a single cannon. Revolutions such as this dismantle walls people thought
would never fall because no wall, whatever its size, can contain a
people whose minds have long ago scaled and vaulted and surmounted it."
(Heart of Flesh, p.172, Joan D. Chittister)
LIBERATING UNDERSTANDING
It is liberating to have an understanding of the scriptures of the
major world faith traditions which allows me to say:
"that is what people
claimed thousands of years ago to be right or to be the will of their god,
but what they believed then does not constrain how I think today ".
To my mind, it is
part of the dignity and responsibility of being human that we
have to work out our moral conclusions and theological convictions, however provisional, for ourselves.
Please feel free to contact me: preferably at
tiripo at gofree.indigo.ie or else by signing my guestbook.
(Heart of Flesh, p.172, Joan D. Chittister)
"that is what people claimed thousands of years ago to be right or to be the will of their god, but what they believed then does not constrain how I think today ".
To my mind, it is part of the dignity and responsibility of being human that we have to work out our moral conclusions and theological convictions, however provisional, for ourselves.
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