Politics

Apr
15

Are We Any Closer to Achieving Sanctity of Life?

By James E. Copple Co-Director, ACT NOWFacilitator of The President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing A year before the murder of George Floyd, I was in Minnesota facilitating a working group on police-involved deadly force encounters convened by Attorney General Keith Ellison and John Harrington, Director of Public Safety. The working group was charged […]

Nov
09

Nothing can violate my commitment to protecting and securing life through acts of love and compassion. So, if the state chooses to kill me, it is not the end for me; it is only the beginning.

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Sep
03

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 […]

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Apr
15

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 […]

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Mar
11

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 […]

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Sep
25

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 […]

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Jun
09

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 […]

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