TheSocialEdge.com

by Gerry McCarthy

Diana Hayes is an Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at Georgetown University, Washington. She was the first African American woman to earn a doctorate in sacred theology from the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium.
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by Gerry McCarthy

Michael Toms is the co-founder, executive producer and principal host of New Dimensions Radio –which is heard on 350 stations in the United States. He has spent 30 years covering social change and global transformation issues.
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by Gerry McCarthy

Charles Marsh is a professor of religion at the University of Virginia and Director of the Project on Lived Theology. He is a graduate of the Harvard Divinity School and the author of numerous books, including: Reclaiming Dietrich Bonhoeffer, God’s Long Summer, and The Last Days. He is currently working on a book entitled A Time for Silence: Longing to be Quiet in a Nation of Noisy Believers.

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by Gerry McCarthy

Alexander Shaia is an educator, spiritual director, author, psychotherapist, and professional speaker. He’s also the founder and director of the Blue Door Retreat in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

     Shaia has a doctorate in clinical psychology. He travels internationally and conducts retreats and seminars on Quadratos, Christian Spirituality, rites of passage, and Jungian Sandplay therapy.

     His new book, Beyond the Biography of Jesus: The Journey of Quadratos (Book 1) was published by Cold Tree Press. Book 2 will be published this summer. I reached him in Orlando, Florida.

Gerry McCarthy: You’ve talked about fundamentalisms on the left and right in Christian denominations today. Can you speak to me more about this?

Alexander Shaia: Today both sides of the continuum are flattening the message of Jesus Christ down to one aspect. One side is passionately focused on the literal words in the scriptures. The other side is concerned about history, and the re-creation of the first century and Jesus’ original words. Quadratos uses both perspectives, but toward a new end. The Gospels were not intended to be about a dead philosopher, but a risen Jesus the Christ.

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by Gerry McCarthy

Miriam MacGillis is a member of the Dominican Sisters of Caldwell, New Jersey. She lives and works at Genesis Farm, which she co-founded in 1980 with the sponsorship of her Dominican congregation.

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Risa Shuman is the Senior Producer of Saturday Night at the Movies on TVOntario. She graduated in 1973 from York University with an Honours Bachelor of Fine Arts degree majoring in film. Shuman has worked at Saturday Night at the Movies for almost 28 years.

We continued our monthly conversation when we met in Toronto recently.

Gerry McCarthy: One movie you’ve screened before is Goodbye Columbus with Richard Benjamin and Ali MacGraw. It was made in 1969, but it still holds up. Is it a film you like?

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by Gerry McCarthy

George McGovern is a former U.S. Senator from South Dakota and the 1972 Democratic Presidential Candidate. In 1997, he was appointed by President Clinton as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food And Agriculture. In 2001 he was appointed United Nations Global Ambassador on World Hunger. He’s also a recipient of the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom....

by Gerry McCarthy

Mark Feeney has been a reporter, editor, and reviewer for The Boston Globe since 1979. He’s written for numerous publications, including: The New Republic and The American Scholar. He is also a lecturer in American Studies at Brandeis University.

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by Gerry McCarthy

Angela Bonavoglia is a nationally recognized writer on Church reform. Her work has appeared in The Miami Herald, The Chicago Tribune, The Nation, Ms., Cosmopolitan, Redbook, and Newsday.

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by Gerry McCarthy

Richard Layard is a leading economist who believes that the happiness of society does not necessarily equate to its income. Currently he is Professor Emeritus at the London School of Economics.

     Layard is also founder of the Centre for Economic Performance at The London School of Economics. Since 2000 he has been a member of the House of Lords.

     In 2005, Layard’s book Happiness: Lessons From a New Science was published in hardcover by Penguin. Last year it was released in softcover by the same publisher. The book continues to remain relevant, and is cited by more economists and policymakers.

     The following interview with Layard appeared in the December 2005 Issue of The Social Edge. I reached him by telephone in London, England.

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by Gerry McCarthy

Martha Nussbaum is a philosopher and Professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago. She has taught at numerous universities including: Harvard, Princeton, Oxford, Brown, and Stanford.

     Nussbaum has been the recipient of many awards and honorary degrees. This past spring she received a Doctor of Laws from the University of British Columbia. She has also written over 12 books, including: Upheavals of Thought, Hiding From Humanity, Women and Human Development, Cultivating Humanity, and Sex and Social Justice.

     Nussbaum’s new book Frontiers of Justice: Disability, Nationality, and Species Membership was recently published by Harvard University Press. I reached her in Chicago to speak about the book.

Gerry McCarthy: In Frontiers of Justice you write that: "Ideas shape the way policymakers do their work. That is why, from its very inception, the capabilities approach has contested the idea of development as economic growth, insisting on the idea of ‘human development.’ Re-conceiving development as ‘human development’ does influence the goals that policymakers pursue and the strategic ones they choose." Are you hopeful more North American politicians will re-conceive development as human development? Could this lead to a reduction in poverty, an improvement in education, and a better health care system in the U.S.?

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by Gerry McCarthy

Fran Ferder is the co-director of Therapy and Renewal Associates (TARA), a ministerial counseling and consultation center in Seattle. She is a licensed clinical psychologist in Washington and Oregon and a part-time faculty member in the School of Theology and Ministry at Seattle University. A native of Salem, Oregon, Ferder is a member of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration.
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by Gerry McCarthy

Sasha Abramsky is a journalist who has written for numerous magazine and newspapers, including: The Los Angeles Times, The Nation, Rolling Stone, The Atlantic, The New York Times, and the London Independent. He is a graduate of Balliol College at Oxford University, and earned his masters from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.

     Currently Abramsky is a Senior Fellow at the New York City-based Demos Foundation, which is a national non-partisan public policy organization. His new book Conned: How Millions Went to Prison, Lost the Vote, and Helped Send George W. Bush to the White House was just published by the New Press.

     I reached Abramsky in Sacramento, California, where he lives with his wife Julie Sze and their daughter Sophia.

Gerry McCarthy: Early in Conned you write about the historical roots of disenfranchisement in the U.S. You explain that: "Felon disenfranchisement, in other words, is not a mere side effect of misguided social policies or strategies of law enforcement. Rather, pruning the voter rolls has been, in the view of a significant portion of the American power elite since the end of the Civil War, a good in and of itself." Do you think there’s more recognition of the importance of putting this issue in historical context?

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by Gerry McCarthy

Mark Jordan is the Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Religion at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. He’s the author of several books, including: Ethics and Sex and The Silence of Sodom: Homosexuality in Modern Catholicism....

by Gerry McCarthy

Garry Wills is the author of many acclaimed books, including: What Jesus Meant, Papal Sin, and Why I Am Catholic. All of these works were New York Times bestsellers.

     In 1992, Wills won the Pulitzer Prize for his book Lincoln at Gettysburg. He’s also been the recipient of the National Book Critics Circle Award and the National Medal for the Humanities.

     In addition to studying for the priesthood at one time, Wills also taught Greek at John Hopkins University for many years. Currently he’s Professor of History Emeritus at Northwestern University. His book What Paul Meant was recently published by Viking. I reached him in Evanston, Illinois.

Gerry McCarthy: In your chapter "Paul and the Troubled Gatherings" we learn that where once Paul had excoriated Peter for insisting on the food code, now he tells Romans to accept it out of regard for tender consciences. Later you add that: "Paul would have been far better off if he had taken this stand at Antioch. But he should be credited with the fact that he reached it in time. One of the ways he teaches us is by learning himself. We find out what Paul meant by seeing how he eventually came close to what Jesus meant." This is something we miss when reflecting on Paul isn’t it?

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by Gerry McCarthy

Kay Hymowitz is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor of City Journal. The author of Ready or Not: Why Treating Children as Small Adults Endangers Their Future and Ours, she has written for numerous publications including: The New York Times, Dissent, Tikkun, and The Washington Post. Hymowitz currently lives in Brooklyn with her husband and three children....