Monthly Archives: March 2011
Feeding the market for American mythology
By Alan Bean Two articles grabbed my attention this morning. The first deals with fairy tales about the Christian origins of America; the second addresses civil war fairy tales (hint: it had nothing to do with slavery). Every trained historian, regardless of personal ideology, knows that America was founded … Continue reading
Tulia and the spell of mass incarceration
By Alan Bean This is the text of a speech delivered at a Friends Committee on Legislation of California banquet in Whittier, California, March 26, 2011. When I arrived in Tulia in the summer of 1998, I didn’t know very much … Continue reading
Tulia-style drug bust draws suspicion in Wichita Falls
The good folks in Wichita Falls, Texas are celebrating the arrest of 44 drug kingpins, with four or five additional arrests waiting in the wings. “It’s a good number of arrests, but the reality is there are probably still five-times … Continue reading
Caring for the stranger
By Alan Bean Deuteronomy 10: 12-19 “So now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you? Only to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your … Continue reading
The fine art of testilying
By Charles Kiker The ninth of the ten commandments: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:16) In his “Grits for Breakfast” blog, Scott Henson has a recent post (March 16) on “testilying” raised to new heights … Continue reading
Filed under Criminal justice reform, police corruption, Texas
Why Evangelicals Hate Jesus
This article requires no introduction or explanation, so I’ll shut up and let you read. Comments welcome. AGB Why Evangelicals Hate Jesus Phil Zuckerman. Professor of Sociology, Pitzer College in Claremont, CA. Dan Cady, assistant professor of history at California … Continue reading
Filed under "Social Justice", economics, Faith, Kingdom of God, mercy, spirituality
Perry fiddles while Texas burns
By Alan Bean “This is an engineered crisis—a thing that was done on purpose by people who do not mean well for our community, our city, our state or nation.” Jim Schutze Texas is facing an estimated $27 billion deficit. … Continue reading
Filed under common peace consensus, education, Race, Texas, the politics of race
The drug war is a long way from over
When the Wall Street Journal endorses the growing shift from mass incarceration to rehabilitation and diversion programs, something is in the wind. But let’s not pop the champagne corks too quickly. Politicians are beginning to understand that long prison terms for drug offenses have … Continue reading
They built it, but nobody came: private prisons face bleak future
For decades now, private prisons have been thrown up across America, often at the expense of the taxpayer, on the assumption that the policy of mass incarceration would eventually supply the needed bodies. As I relate in Taking out the Trash in … Continue reading
Quinn signs Illinois death penalty ban
Pat Quinn did it! The death penalty is dead in Illinois! (If you would like to congratulate the Illinois governor, Amnesty International has a nifty little form to fill out.) Illinois becomes the fourth state to abolish the death penalty–the … Continue reading
Filed under Criminal justice reform, death penalty, innocence, mercy, The politics of crime
