By James Copple 1. Impose universal background checks for anyone buying a gun, a measure that four out of five Americans support. 2. Impose a minimum age limit of 21 on gun purchases. This is already the law for handgun purchases in many states, and it mirrors the law for buying alcohol. 3. Enforce a […]

By James E. Copple Donald Trump’s election to the presidency has generated heat, light and for many, perplexing grief. A lifelong Democrat, Trump wasn’t my candidate. Even so, I’m disconcerted by my feelings of grief – emotions more acute than when Reagan was elected or when the Bushes won office. I vacillate between anger and […]

By James E. Copple What am I missing here? Anyone seeking to be legally married should secure a license from the state, and I mean anyone. Once signed by the state, you are legally married. Marriage is a secular act, comparable to getting a license to operate a business; drive a car; or carry a […]

By James E. Copple There are at least 2.3 million compelling stories to be told in the self-perpetuating vicious cycle of institutional incarceration, narratives that attempt to answer: “Why? What happened?” But maybe the better question would ask: “What didn’t happen? What’s missing?” John and Cecelia have a story, and it’s one that traces the […]

By James E. Copple “We, the people,” is a black veteran weeping at the grave of his white brother. The guilt, frustration and trauma he feels for seeing a comrade killed by an IED. Their story was part of a 60 Minutes segment, and the “brother” was a white man from Texas. Their histories were […]

By James E. Copple Efforts to combat the Ebola virus are in full-throttle, with the regrettable but predictable picking-up-the-pieces in a crisis that is preventable but difficult to sell until worst-case scenarios lead the news. The CDC projects nearly 1.4 million people could contract the disease by the first of the year. Ebola, which is […]

By James E. Copple Alcohol has become a “hot topic” in circles of faith – the absolutes about alcohol consumption that kept us sheltered in the moralistic teachings of our ancestors are all but gone or at least ridiculed, and young people ask, “why not?” Therefore, the issues and consequences of alcohol use are surfacing […]

By James E. Copple   Where are the men? Gender-violence and human-trafficking are issues caused mostly by men but challenged mostly by women. There is a conspicuous silence and lack of interest on the part of Muslim men, government leaders (mostly men) and by men in general. Recent attention to the kidnapping of 276 Nigerian […]

By James E. Copple The death of Nelson Mandela has allowed me to reflect on an era rapidly disappearing in the consciousness of our collective history. Apartheid was one of the many issues that confronted my generation. The war in Vietnam, the Civil Rights movement, “women’s liberation” and apartheid jumped out of the headlines and […]