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Latest Activity

Peter Vander Meulen commented on Marc Peterson's blog post 'Amnesty Intl. "Damaged" by Taliban Link'
Marc, You post this without any comment. What would you like folks to get out of this re-broadcast? What narrative does this fit into? Peace, Peter
1 hour ago
Marc Peterson added a blog post
A senior official deplores Amnesty's links to the Taliban-A SENIOR official at Amnesty International has accused the charity of putting the human rights of Al-Qaeda terror suspects above those of their victims. Gita Sahgal, head of the gender unit a…
4 hours ago
VDB commented on Micah Schuurman's blog post 'Archbishop Elias Chacour'
Last comment (sorry): good and evil are not difficult concepts - at all.
15 hours ago
Ann Kutudis-Kenien joined Micah Schuurman's group
Injustice in Education
There is a huge gap in the quality of education available to those who live in wealthy communities and those who live in poorer communities. This group will discuss the injustices present in the schooling system as well as some solutions.
yesterday
VDB commented on Micah Schuurman's blog post 'Archbishop Elias Chacour'
Micah. It is my impression that neither one of us is convinced by the points made by the other at this point and I believe if we continued this online discussion, we would merely repeat our main points over and over. Clearly we disagree, to say the…
yesterday
Micah Schuurman commented on Micah Schuurman's blog post 'Archbishop Elias Chacour'
Scripture does tell us that there is good and evil. Jesus did address good and evil. BUT, scripture is pretty clear that good and evil are rather difficult concepts. Let me see if I can parse out what you believe about good and evil as it relates t…
on Sunday
Carl A Wingfield is now a member of CRC Justice Seekers
Welcome Them!
on Sunday
VDB commented on Micah Schuurman's blog post 'Archbishop Elias Chacour'
Re: "...if you do insist on hearing my theory as to why I need to keep defending myself in this way, I am willing to post what I actually think is going on here." Yes, please. I am curious.
on Sunday
VDB commented on Micah Schuurman's blog post 'Archbishop Elias Chacour'
As for your request that I site specific language from you that is anti-Jewish, I did that. See my posts below where I include quotations from your earlier posts.
on Sunday
VDB commented on Micah Schuurman's blog post 'Archbishop Elias Chacour'
Micah, to answer your question is like describing water to a fish. You are likely surrounded by this and thus you do not even see it. Here is my answer: Moral Equivalence = defining distinct and conflicting moral behaviors in similar terms. Script…
on Sunday
Micah Schuurman commented on Micah Schuurman's blog post 'Archbishop Elias Chacour'
Also, I don't know what either of you mean by "moral equivalency." What do you mean by that? Are you referring to the fact that I think that we need to respect Islam even though we disagree with several of its doctrines?
on Saturday
Micah Schuurman commented on Micah Schuurman's blog post 'Archbishop Elias Chacour'
People who are openly critical of Israel are often called anti-semitic or anti-Jewish. I have known this for quite some time. For this reason, from the very beginning, I have been VERY careful to ensure that my statements critical of Israel cannot b…
on Saturday
VDB commented on Micah Schuurman's blog post 'Archbishop Elias Chacour'
Micah, I do not live near Grand Rapids. I agree with your suggestion that this comment back and forth dialogue is not serving a good purpose at this point - other than to perhaps clarify and illuminate - and perhaps that is quite important. Perhaps…
on Saturday
Micah Schuurman commented on Micah Schuurman's blog post 'Archbishop Elias Chacour'
Perhaps the three of us could get together over some coffee or tea and talk this out in person. We all live in/near Grand Rapids, right? This shouldn't be too difficult. I mean... if we have time to spend hours reading and posting on this website, i…
on Saturday
Micah Schuurman commented on Micah Schuurman's blog post 'Archbishop Elias Chacour'
First Marc, I have never met with anyone who is a member of the Taliban. The Taliban scare me. They do terrible things. Taliban equals bad. Some of the ultra-orthodox Jews living in the settlements in the West Bank do terrible things as well. They b…
on Saturday
VDB commented on Micah Schuurman's blog post 'Archbishop Elias Chacour'
I stand by my brotherly rebuke, Micah. And I request that the administrators of this site either request that you re-write your remarks or delete them completely. Your remarks are disturbing and beneath the standards of a site sponsored by the Chris…
on Saturday
Hans Kater updated their profile
on Saturday
Marc Peterson commented on Micah Schuurman's blog post 'Archbishop Elias Chacour'
Micah, you are digging farther into the hole. "But, there are some others, ultra-orthodox Jews living in settlement in the West Bank who make the Taliban seem reasonable by comparison. I have met extremists on both sides and there is no doubt in my…
on Friday
Micah Schuurman commented on Micah Schuurman's blog post 'Archbishop Elias Chacour'
Let me repost my statement in its context. Your quote has taken it out of context in a way that makes me seem anti-Jewish. Marc questioned Chacour's statement about the Jews being angry. Here was my response to that: ". Yeah... I was sort of uncomfo…
on Friday
VDB commented on Micah Schuurman's blog post 'Archbishop Elias Chacour'
Re: "There have been a few Christian Arab suicide bombers in the history of the region." Using John Calvin's statements on the definition of a Christian, I suggest that a so-called "Christian" suicide bomber was not - i.e. was never - a Christian.…
on Friday
 

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Blog Posts

Marc Peterson

Amnesty Intl. "Damaged" by Taliban Link

A senior official deplores Amnesty's links to the Taliban-

A SENIOR official at Amnesty International has accused the charity of putting the human rights of Al-Qaeda terror suspects above those of their victims.


Gita Sahgal, head of the gender unit at Amnesty’s international secretariat, believes that collaborating with Moazzam Begg, a former British inmate at Guantanamo Bay, “fundamentally damages” the
organisation’s reputation.


In an email sent to Amnesty’s top bosses

… Continue

Posted by Marc Peterson on February 9, 2010 at 12:28pm — 1 Comment

Micah Schuurman

Archbishop Elias Chacour

Abouna (Father) Chacour is an archbishop in the Melchite Catholic church in Galilee.
He is doing a lot of wonderful things for peace.
He spoke at the January Series and you can listen to his talk here: http://www.calvin.edu/january/2010/chacour.htm
There are still two more opportunities to hear him in person.
1: Wednesday, Jan 27, 3:30-5:00 pm at the Calvin Theological Seminary Auditorium: "What are the things that make… Continue

Posted by Micah Schuurman on January 26, 2010 at 7:12pm — 24 Comments

Micah Schuurman

Documentary on Corporations

You can watch a documentary for free (and legally) here: http://www.hulu.com/watch/118169/the-corporation.
I just watched it for a second time.
Please do not comment unless you actually have watched the whole film.

Posted by Micah Schuurman on January 25, 2010 at 8:29pm — 2 Comments

Peter Vander Meulen

River erosion is worsening in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is basically a river delta the size of Wisconsin. This means that most of its territory is less than 10 meters (30 feet) above sea level; elevations decrease in the coastal south, where the terrain is generally at sea level. With such low elevations and many rivers, water - and flooding - is a major fact of life. About 10,000 square kilometers of Bangladesh's 144,000 total is covered with water, and larger areas are routinely flooded during the monsoon season. But in the last 10 years… Continue

Posted by Peter Vander Meulen on January 25, 2010 at 5:15am

Peter Vander Meulen

Back into web range...

Greetings again from Bangladesh!

A very eventful few days - but without web access until yesterday. As I mentioned in my last post, on Thursday the 21st of January I visited several women's groups in a community of sweepers who have organized (helped by SATHI, a CRWRC partner) to learn about and prevent trafficking. Here is a link to a very short slide show that contains some faces and impressions from that visit.

If this works well, I've got two other short little slide show… Continue

Posted by Peter Vander Meulen on January 24, 2010 at 2:54pm — 1 Comment

Peter Vander Meulen

A few observations on a long day just before another one...

Patrick Palma, TEAR Fund's staff member working on environment and climate related programs here is picking me up in a few minutes for a trip north into rural Bangladesh - so I have 10 minutes.

Visited the sweepers colony. It was an appalling slum 30 years ago. Not much has physically changed - except the population, which has probably doubled from 10 to 20 thousand persons in that time. (The entire population of the country has nearly doubled in 30 years from around 84 million to 150 or so)

B… Continue

Posted by Peter Vander Meulen on January 21, 2010 at 10:01pm

Peter Vander Meulen

When you are watching the kids program "Enjoying Islam with Zain and Daoud" on Peace TV, you know you aren't in Grand Rapids...!

I've spent all day flying the 800 or so miles from Delhi to Dhaka. Fog mostly - and the mother of all traffic jams. It was good to get in early enough to have supper with Kohima Daring, CRWRC's Country Team Leader - and catch up with the Bangladesh news.

The Royal Park is a comfortable. small, mid level hotel, but it has 87 channels on TV. When I lived her in the late 70s there was one or two as I recall. No satellite. No cable. Now 87 digital channels.

I flip channels and stop at 41 - mesmeri… Continue

Posted by Peter Vander Meulen on January 20, 2010 at 2:35pm — 3 Comments

Lot

CLIMATE CHANGE:PLEASE VOTE ADN RATE THIS VIDEO.THANK YOU.

Dear Friends,

Good Day!

I joined in Exchanges Connect Annual Video Contest this year about Climate Change. The prize for the said contest will be joining in International Exchanges Program for 2 weeks. The winner will be chosen based on vote and rate made by the people who watch the video.

http://connectcontest.state.gov/contests/change-your-… Continue

Posted by Lot on January 20, 2010 at 5:03am

Roberto Matus

Wonderful Paradox to live by

A Paradox has among other meanings, the following definition which is taken from the American Heritage Dictionary: "An assertion that is essentially self-contradictory, though based on a valid deduction from acceptable premises".
The apparent paradox found in each of these stataments hold God's truth for our lives, and constitutes the normatives found in Scripture for a full, abundant life:
If you want to be great, you must first humble yourself. If you want to reap, you must first sow. If you w… Continue

Posted by Roberto Matus on January 19, 2010 at 3:32pm

Peter Vander Meulen

Climate change: The view from Bangladesh

Greetings,
I'll be in Bangladesh tomorrow - staying for 5 days or so. I lived and worked here for 7 years in the late 70s and early 80s so it is like going home in some ways. But things have changed dramatically since then and I've got lots to learn and re-learn!

One of the things I hope to do is explore climate change from the perspective of those living in Bangladesh. I'm still in India at Micah Challenge meetings, but if you are interested in this topic, keep an eye on my blog posts.… Continue

Posted by Peter Vander Meulen on January 19, 2010 at 1:44am — 4 Comments

 
 

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