Joshua Sunday is a Senior majoring in Computer Engineering. He has been doing research in Dr. Slaughter's Bioelectronics Laboratory since last Spring. To learn more about Joshua's research pursuits, read his research profile.
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Joshua Sunday is a Senior majoring in Computer Engineering. He has been doing research in Dr. Slaughter's Bioelectronics Laboratory since last Spring. To learn more about Joshua's research pursuits, read his research profile.
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New data has shown an alarming rise in drug and alcohol overdose among college-age students.
Since 1998, the number of hospitalizations following overdose in 18-24 year olds have risen dramatically.
“…Overdoses involving alcohol in combination with other drugs increased 76%; overdoses involving drugs other than alcohol rose 55%; and those involving alcohol alone went up 25%…overdoses involving prescription painkillers… leapt 122% over the same period.”
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, one in four deaths is due to alcohol, tobacco, or illegal drug use. Education programs are working hard to help students know the facts about drug abuse and avoid addiction entirely (NIDA’s National Drug Facts Week kicks off October 31st).
Barring that, however, programs are increasingly making use of Naloxone, a “miracle drug” that reverses the effects of opiate abuse.
Programs like the Chicago Recovery Alliance are trying to make the drug more widely available in the hopes of saving lives. Critics however, worry that access to the drug will only encourage addictive behavior without consequences.
Do you think this is a good answer to a growing problem?
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Women in Saudi Arabia might be able to vote! Now, if only they could drive themselves to the polls.
For once, a news story about Mongolia.
BBC: An innocuous television station or something more sinister?
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We reported last week about how Clergy Beyond Borders (CBB) has taken the country by storm – visiting over 13 cities in the last two weeks.
The rousing Reconciliation Tour were greeted by Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley at their final stop. USDemocrazy was a at St. Katherine Drexel Church in Frederick, MD to bring you the scoop:
Sunday’s program began with scriptures, music, and prayer from all of the three Abrahamic faiths.
O’Malley offered a short address and proclamation for the organization and praised how the tours promotion of
Deeper understandings of one another, of the dignity of every individual, of the religious traditions of our neighbors, and of the essential unity that we all share.
The keynote address was given by President and Founder of CBB Imam Yahya Hendi, who started out by recounting that
A year ago, cynical voices told us this caravan will not take place.
But after two weeks on the road, Imam Hendi and his traveling band of Rabbis and Reverend had proved the naysayers wrong. The group had spoken with over 6,000 people and covered over 3,000 miles. Hendi reported an “overall positive” reception from the public during the tour, explaining that
people came with warm hearts…[they] are looking for hope, for people to tell them that there’s something good out there.
United Methodist Minister Steve Martin told USDemocrazy that the tour was
a spectacular success! It has gone beyond what a lot of us expected.
Martin recounted a specific moment in Chattanooga, Tennessee, when the group had stopped to deliver their message to a mega-church, not known for its inclusion or tolerance.
However, after Hendi’s message, the crowd leapt to their feet and gave him a standing ovation. The Imam’s message of religious pluralism and harmony echoed with them.
Hendi gave a similar message to the St. Katherine Drexel parish members, as well as the community leaders and other attendees who had gathered for the program on Sunday.
He stressed that the organization is named Clergy Beyond Borders, not Clergy Without Borders because the organization respects and values the specific faiths and traditions that all its members come from. The point of CBB and of interfaith work in general isn’t to water down or erase the distinctions between religions but to build partnerships and understanding across them.
Hendi closed his message by reminding the audience that
The journey of healing America…has just started. We still have a long way to go, to heal America, to heal our neighborhoods, to heal our religions, to heal our houses of worship. But our hopes are up. We are inspired. Our dreams are real. We will overcome someday. Our faith is strong, for with faith we can move mountains and turn walls of separation into tables of dialogues.
At every stop on the Caravan, a large scroll of paper was brought out for attendees to leave their prayers and wishes. Rabbi Gerry Serotta explained that the group hopes to eventually present this scroll to President Obama, whose White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships strongly supported the tour.
Some of the messages left included
Peace, Shalom, Salaam.
My prayer is that one day all the labels will disappear and we will be known as human beings, worshipping and serving God, the creator of us all.
And one participant left a message of gratitude, saying
Thank you very much for coming to us and opening up our minds.
Imam Abdullah Antepli from Duke University spoke with USDemocrazy and explained that the tour’s intent was to provide exactly such an opportunity and offer
timely needed dialogue [about the] urgently required action for clergy to use religion as a tool of reconciliation when it’s usually used for division.
Antepli serves on the Advisory Board for Clergy Beyond Boarders and was along for part of the Caravan. At today’s event, he shared a scripture from the Qur’an, both in Arabic and English.
The most memorable moment of the tour for Antepli was their visit with legislators in Nashville, TN. Antepli said that he could see how torn these leaders were. In their communities, the legislators were seeing the rise of exclusive voices and “seeing how deeply troubling attitudes toward Islam” were.
This interaction caused Antepli to realize
how urgently we need to respond and challenge exclusive voices with peace and love.
The Caravan may be the first of its kind, but Imam Hendi says he knows it won’t be the last. The group is already planning and fundraising for future trips, including one to the Middle East to share their message of interfaith compassion and pluralism.
]]>Isaiah 56:1-8 (NIV)
1 This is what the LORD says:
“Maintain justice
and do what is right,
for my salvation is close at hand
and my righteousness will soon be revealed.
2 Blessed is the one who does this—
the person who holds it fast,
who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it,
and keeps their hands from doing any evil.”
3 Let no foreigner who is bound to the LORD say,
“The LORD will surely exclude me from his people.”
And let no eunuch complain,
“I am only a dry tree.”
4 For this is what the LORD says:
“To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,
who choose what pleases me
and hold fast to my covenant—
5 to them I will give within my temple and its walls
a memorial and a name
better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
that will endure forever.
6 And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD
to minister to him,
to love the name of the LORD,
and to be his servants,
all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it
and who hold fast to my covenant—
7 these I will bring to my holy mountain
and give them joy in my house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar;
for my house will be called
a house of prayer for all nations.”
8 The Sovereign LORD declares—
he who gathers the exiles of Israel:
“I will gather still others to them
besides those already gathered.”
Reflection:
When you strip away all of the rules and regulations, the Sabbath is about a love story between a merciful God and a desperate humanity in need of salvation. It boils down to a celebratory expression of worship, loyalty and obedience to God who is utterly faithful to His people. As a call and response to live righteously, the Lord blesses and rewards those who hold fast to His promises, bind themselves to His way, and minister as His servants. And we are his people, the ones who are truly blessed by God. We have been given a name better than sons and daughters, an everlasting name that will endure forever. He brought us into His presence and gave us joy in His house of prayer. And in faith and obedience, we are being built up as a house of prayer for all nations to come, join in and celebrate together in His salvation and restoration.
Response:
Because God’s salvation has come in Jesus Christ, we can celebrate in God’s true salvation rest. Let’s thank God for our salvation and our lives in Him. Let’s pray that we will continue to hold fast and bind ourselves to Him. Let’s also pray for those we know who have yet to experience this true rest, asking God to empower us to minister to them.
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