Trunks to Tails By Leonard Adame We tend to think that the seasons will always follow one another like elephants linked trunks to tails, that clouds will always fill up our water bottles, that the [...] Continue Reading
Religion & Philosophy
From the Editor
Expect some changes in the Community Alliance newspaper over the next couple of months. There are several events that are pushing these changes, which we hope will improve the paper and get it into [...] Continue Reading
Letters to the Editor
Book Forthcoming from Boston Woodard I have been a contributing writer for the Community Alliance for about six years now. Editor Mike Rhodes put his faith and trust in me to contribute honest [...] Continue Reading
The Interfaith Social Justice Collaborative Faith Calendar
ISJC Mission Statement: To network and collaborate as we work to serve and promote systemic change for the common good; to educate and inspire one another to positive actions; to model interfaith [...] Continue Reading
Progressive Religion…Is Not an Oxymoron
Religious Nonsense from the Pews, the News and the Capital One of the Community Alliance’s dear friends, Jim Compton-Schmidt, sent an e-mail recently where, in his low-key style, he complained quietly [...] Continue Reading
Church Sanctuary versus NIMBY
It has been more than two months since homeless encampments in the City of Merced were forcibly closed and the “No Camping Ordinance” strictly enforced. Homeless people have been scattered throughout [...] Continue Reading
Progressive Religion…Is Not an Oxymoron
Living in an America I No Longer Recognize I have been feeling for some time that I am living in an increasingly unfamiliar nation. It has reached the point that some days I look in the mirror in my [...] Continue Reading
CREDO: Meet Georgia Linscheid
Georgia Linscheid describes herself as a “thoroughbred Mennonite,” with ancestors from the Old Country who became pioneer farmers in the U.S. Midwest. She grew up in a Mennonite community in Ohio, on [...] Continue Reading
Surprise: Rehabilitation through Spirituality
Earlier this year, John Flock and I, Unitarian Universalists, began participating with Maria Telesco in prison ministry at a men’s state prison. We learned of a small group of men interested in [...] Continue Reading
How Many Scholars Does It Take to Make an Omelet?
If it is true that one must crack some eggs to make an omelet, and I suppose it is, then the times we live in must be the egg industry’s biggest boom to date. When I look around, all I can see are [...] Continue Reading
The Ben Lomond Four (Muslims Targeted During Ramadan)
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) houses prisoners of every faith imaginable: Islam, Catholic, Protestant, Episcopalian, Baptist, Jewish, Mormon, Buddhism, Hinduism, [...] Continue Reading
Meeting Energizes Peace Community
On the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the New York World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the peace movement in our politically conservative San Joaquin Valley got a big boost. One hundred [...] Continue Reading