Think Globally and Act Locally
The word "GLOCAL" is a combination of the words "global" and "local."
Globalism refers to a loose yet growing philosophy of respect for people and the planet, international solidarity, and open interaction. Globalism at its core seeks to describe a world that is characterized by developing networks of connections that span multi-continental distances, attempting to understand all the inter-connections of the (post) modern world -- and to highlight patterns that underlie and explain them. For more information on globalism click here.
The idea - for us - is to think globally and act locally.
On this page we will highlight events and reports from the North Shore and around the world that will help us to think, pray, and act on social, justice, and environmental concerns. (If you have something you'd like us to display, please email a link to the office.)
Locally:
Globalism refers to a loose yet growing philosophy of respect for people and the planet, international solidarity, and open interaction. Globalism at its core seeks to describe a world that is characterized by developing networks of connections that span multi-continental distances, attempting to understand all the inter-connections of the (post) modern world -- and to highlight patterns that underlie and explain them. For more information on globalism click here.
The idea - for us - is to think globally and act locally.
On this page we will highlight events and reports from the North Shore and around the world that will help us to think, pray, and act on social, justice, and environmental concerns. (If you have something you'd like us to display, please email a link to the office.)
Locally:
- Kokua Hawai’i Foundation
- Kamehameha Schools North Shore Plan
- North Shore Homeless Targeted
- Church is pressuring the owner of Turtle Bay Resort to resolve its dispute with opponents of the resort's planned expansion
- Surfrider Foundation Blog
- It's Your Nature YouTube video featuring Jack Johnson, Rob Machado, Lane Davey, and Matt Costa
- Christian Surfers in touch with Creation by Christine Morente for THE OAKLAND TRIBUNE…
On any given day, surfers hear the call of the waves…Christian surfers are no different, except they say they can feel the overall power of God through the waves and have a higher sense of awareness for the beauty of things while out in the middle of the ocean. (Read more...)
- Keynote Address of the 54th Annual Prayer Breakfast (2006) by Bono ("God is with us when we are with the poor...")
Sometimes we hear better when outside voices speak, voices that hark beyond our personal and/or national comfort zones. If you have not heard the speech by Irish rock star Bono, for example, addressing politicians and other distinguished guests at the 2006 Annual Prayer Breakfast in Washington D.C., view it or read it here.
- What’s Really Behind Creation Care? by Dan Nejfelt for “Off the Bus” blog on the Huffington Post, August 20, 2007
Wednesday's Washington Post featured an article about evangelical Christians' growing concern with global warming and, more generally, environmentalism. The article explained the development mostly in terms of political maneuvering amongst leaders, …[b]ut there's more to evangelicals' commitment to environmental stewardship, also known as creation care, than power-brokering elites. (Read more...)
- The evangelical leaders' letter to President Bush on Israel/Palestine continues to be of interest to many. (Read more...)
- What are Microfinancing Loans?
While microfinancing loans have been around since the 1970s with the start Accion and has gained a lot of momentum with Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank.
There are some agencies using the web to bring lenders and borrowers together. So how do you be a banker to the world? Kiva was recently featured by Nicholas Krustof in the New York Times. You can check out the press page at Kiva's website.
You can read up on this yourself:
- Microfinance Gateway
- Microfinance FAQs
- Millions for Millions: The New Yorker talks about microfinancing
- What is Microfinancing?
- The Good News and Bad News about US Income, by Bret Kincaid
Good news: The Congressional Budget Office just released Changes in the Economic Resources of Low-Income Households with Children.” Looking at low-income U.S. households with children from 1991 to 2005, the CBO concludes that the income of the bottom 20% of these households increased percentage-wise more than any other quintile. Good news! The report also verifies the critical importance of government policies, such as the earned income tax credit, for helping low-income households increase their income. (See Ron Haskin's opinion piece in the Washington Post.) The bad news is that these households still receive a disproportionately much smaller part of the total income pie than their top-income counterparts. And another CBO study this year shows the yawning gap between rich and poor in the U.S.
- Evangelical Leaders Outline Principles for Global Warming Policy, by Rusty Pritchard
Last week, leaders with the Evangelical Climate Initiative called on public officials to draw on Biblical perspectives to address the challenge of climate change facing the United States and the world. Federal policy must care for the most vulnerable, assure national security, protect personal freedom, and take advantage of market mechanisms, evangelical leaders said in a document of principles that "should guide government officials as they establish policies at the federal level to begin to solve global warming." (Read more...)
- Commencement Address Given by John Perkins: Fix What’s Broken! By Deborah Walker
Read about the commencement speech given by John Perkins at Nyack College and Alliance Theological Seminary in Nyack, NY. (Read more...)
- Fixing the Blindspot, an interview with Muslim journalist Mustafa Akyol, by Benjamin Wiker
Akyol is passionately concerned with establishing better Christian-Islam relations. (Read more...)
- Talking to Iran: A video on PBS
A PBS news team recently accompanied a groundbreaking delegation, co-sponsored by MCC, to Iran. Can this delegation of mostly Christian leaders defuse the standoff and reopen the lines of communication between America and Iran? Watch the video here.
