Reflections from Jay Voorhees
Yesterday, as I was driving home from a quick visit to Missouri, my phone began buzzing as news reports came in about another school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. The story was far too familiar -- a young man entered the school with a semi-automatic rifle and took the life of (as of today) 18 children … Continue reading We have to do better…
Senate Bill 1610 was written to make homeless camping on ALL public property a felony offense. It is likely that if passed this bill will be challenged in the courts as the Supreme Court has previously ruled that being homeless is not a crime. Here is my testimony before the TN Senate Judiciary Committee: Thank … Continue reading Testimony to Tennessee Senate Judiciary Committee on SB1610
It’s a familiar story. Persons without homes in Nashville try to figure out a safe space to stay while they figure out a means to move into stable housing. While the existing sheltering system is available for some, there are others who can’t work within that system. Some of these folks are in couples (who … Continue reading Something has to change…
A couple of days ago, I got a message from my friend Joseph. "Have you signed the petition on permitless carry?" he asked me. I had no clue what he was talking about. Now I will fully admit that gun control laws are not at the top of my priority list for advocacy. While I … Continue reading The TN Legislature up to its normal ways
Last night, we saw the president of the United States stroll across a public park after having both police and military use tear gas and rubber bullets to clear that park of peaceful protestors. There was a curfew at 7 p.m. and it's likely that many in the crowd would have left on their own, … Continue reading Who or what do you worship?
This past Thursday night (January 17, 2019) I sat before a sub-committee of the Metro Nashville Council to be interviewed as a part of the discernment process for election to membership of our new Community Oversight Board, which will work with our police to make sure all are treated equally and with respect. We were … Continue reading Community Oversight Board Interviews
(c) Can Stock Photo / HPW We sat around the table one night, the appointed leaders of the congregation that I served at the time, considering our future. Attendance had dropped from its high point in the 1950’s and while the rate of decline had flattened, we were faced with a church that was rapidly … Continue reading Do we really care about the future?
The city of Nashville has a long legacy of city leaders gathering in back rooms to determine the future of their neighbors. From the Watauga Club downtown to the West Nashville Mafia gathered in a booth at Wendell Smiths to the sheriff and his friends talking in the lounge of an East Nashville funeral home, … Continue reading The Room Where It Happens
I would see her walking down the street, using a red wheelchair as a walker . . . a pushcart filled with everything she owned. I would learn her name was Janice, and she'd been on the streets for a while. She was an elderly African American woman, who was full of herself. One day … Continue reading Dying in the streets….
God of the ages, I don't want to pray this prayer tonight. It's not that I don't want to be with you. I need to hear your voice. I need your comfort. I need to ask "Why?" And I have no problem praying for the wounded, the grieving, and all of us who have been … Continue reading The prayer I don’t want to offer…
I was in a Justice For Our Neighbors meeting last week (an amazing faith-based organization that is providing counsel and assistance on legal issues to immigrants) when I learned about a young lady named Mercedes Gonzalez. Mercedes was brought to the U.S. when she was 2 and has been a successful newcomer to Nashville. She … Continue reading It’s Time to Help Mercedes
I was just reading David Brook's latest commentary suggesting changes that President Obama will have to make during the next two years in the wake of what seems to be coming defeats on Tuesday's elections. In the midst of Brooks's suggestions, a phrase jumped out at me that I've been wrestling with for a while, … Continue reading American Decline: The Issue of Individual or Communal Responsibility
There are more stories about other groups that are part of the paranoia and fear that periodically rear their ugly heads among us to demonize the newly arriving stranger, the "other" in our midst, this time Muslims. And what distinguishes each movement is that charismatic leaders incite the worst in us. via Edward Schumacher-Matos - … Continue reading How Soon We Forget
"As the father of four children, I am absolutely appalled that taxpayer dollars are being used to spread President Obama's socialist ideology. The idea that school children across our nation will be forced to watch the President justify his plans for government-run health care, banks, and automobile companies, increasing taxes on those who create jobs, … Continue reading The End of National Respect – A Letter to Jim Greer
"As the father of four children, I am absolutely appalled that taxpayer dollars are being used to spread President Obama's socialist ideology. The idea that school children across our nation will be forced to watch the President justify his plans for government-run health care, banks, and automobile companies, increasing taxes on those who create jobs, … Continue reading The End of National Respect – A Letter to Jim Greer
This morning, I watched the inauguration of President Obama with 400 neighbors and friends at the Belcourt Theatre in Hillsboro Village. The viewing “party” was sponsored by Nashville for All of Us, the group leading the opposition to the English Only amendment being voted on in Nashville this Thursday. I had been scheduled to speak … Continue reading What I would Have Said
This past April, I had the chance to make a fourteen day trip to Israel. It was a life changing experience, one that I will carry with me throughout my life, and it has connected me with that place, and the people who live there. Sitting over here, thousands of miles away from that place, … Continue reading Pray for the Peace of Gaza
The Davidson County Election Commission voted Monday to call a special election for Jan. 22 to hold referendums on two proposals to change the Metro Charter. Early voting will start Jan. 2. Voters will decide whether Metro should do business in English only, a controversial idea that has taken a long and winding road to … Continue reading Let’s Get Rid of This Thing Once and For All
The Davidson County Election Commission voted Monday to call a special election for Jan. 22 to hold referendums on two proposals to change the Metro Charter. Early voting will start Jan. 2. Voters will decide whether Metro should do business in English only, a controversial idea that has taken a long and winding road to … Continue reading Let’s Get Rid of This Thing Once and For All
I just finished watching a YouTube video that left me shaking my head. It featured persons in Johnstown, PA entering a rally with one of the vice presidential candidates screaming epithets at a group of supporters of the other candidate. The language was coarse, and the sentiments shared played upon all sorts of stereotypes. Although … Continue reading Hate and Disrespect Are Not A Christian Values
Only Wonder Understands 