Commentary

On July 1st, the YMCA welcomed the Act Six Program to the Y. Act Six is a leadership and scholarship initiative providing full-tuition, full-need scholarships to Gonzaga and Whitworth universities, as well as training and support to the scholars throughout their college careers.

Act Six is in its 11th year, starting at Whitworth and expanding to multiple universities around the Northwest.

I am increasingly concerned about two trends in our culture that may or may not be related. This blog is about the first trend — a trend of insisting that people be ‘nice’.  My next blog will address the second trend — incivility — and a possible relationship between the two.

I, personally, experience this demand for niceness mainly in two settings.

4-year-old Tito Jr. visits Fairchild Air Force Base.

Four years ago, my younger sister was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer; she had surgery and chemo and then was in remission. One year ago, we found out that my sister’s cancer had returned. Again she had surgery and chemo, is now in excellent health, and we have every reason to expect her to stay that way for a long time to come — at least until a cure or a much better treatment is found.

 The summer that once sizzled with expectation over the possible passage of comprehensive immigration reform will now fizzle into a five-week Congressional recess. Insiders say the chances Congress will pass sweeping reform this year is just north of nil. Fifty-three percent of voters prefer Speaker Boehner’s piecemeal approach, which would attempt to chop it up into a series of smaller bills.

You matter to someone. You matter to Spokane Seventh-day Adventists.

That’s the message on several Spokane city buses.

The ad has left some scratching their heads.

It seems like the whole world is talking about Reza Aslan’s new book (Zealot), largely thanks to Fox News’ interview with him in which the host, Lauren Green, could not get over the fact that a scholar (who’s Muslim) would write a book on Jesus.

The story has gone viral.