To catch up on the great posts I’m reading online and to get a sneak preview of next week’s candidates, check out my new Around the Blogosphere board on Pinterest.
Best Interview. “A Big Heart Open to God,” the exclusive interview with Pope Francis by Antonio Spadero, S.J. in America. An in-depth profile of a beloved man of God, and a huge coup for our country’s oldest Jesuit publication.
Best Counter Argument Based Solely on Facts. “Have the People Spoken?” by Rick Reilly at ESPN.com. If you listened only to a handful of vocal sports writers, politicians, and Native American activists, you would think the Redskins name-change debate was settled. But knowing the history of the word, how the team got the name, and the opinion of the vast majority of Native Americans, you would be wrong. This is a far more complicated issue than you’ve been led to believe.
Last week, Jonathan Ferrell, a former Florida A&M football player who recently moved to the Charlotte, N.C., area to be with his fiancée, had a horrible car crash. The 24-year-old broke out the back window to escape and walked, injured, to knock on the nearest door for help. Now, Ferrell is dead. The neighbor he asked for aid called 911 (“He is trying to kick down my door,” she cried on the phone), and one of the responding police officers shot the unarmed Ferrell 10 times.
Ferrell, who was African-American, may have been too hurt, too in shock, to remember to whistle Vivaldi to signal he was a victim and not a threat.
Biggest Contradiction. “Hating the Poor but Loving Jesus?” by Craig M. Watts at Red Letter Christians. “Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.” (Matthew 25:45) Jesus’ words, not mine.
And after a short hiatus, the Internet’s favorite puppets are back!
Funniest Video. “Product Testing” by Glove and Boots (via YouTube).
“They might not be crap, but today we find out if they are!”
Writer of social justice, spirituality, and poetry. Researcher. Coach. Evidence-based believer in the power of sport as a tool to promote social change.