Today's newsletter continues with Part 2 of "A Social Justice Vocabulary", focusing on the connection between living well and acting justly, and Part 2 of the Tri-Valley-to-Oakland Corridor, focusing this time on Dublin and Livermore.
The newsletter also has an article about the Livermore Homeless Refuge and one providing links to video and audio presentations related to Mental Health and the Church.
A resource has been found that will provide data about the Tri-Valley-to-Oakland Corridor for the project started on April 10 and continued in this issue of the newsletter. It also contains a report about Marin County that can serve as an example of what can be learned about the TTO Corridor.
Please also note that the Mayor of Livermore will host a Summit on Homelessness on Wednesday, April 30, 9:00 am to 1:00 pm at the Crest Blanca Ballroom at the Robert Livermore Community Center, 4444 East Avenue. Members of the public are encouraged to attend.
|
|
A Social Justice Vocabulary - Part 2 - Acting Justly
Chapter 3 of Severine Deneulin's book, Wellbeing, Justice and Development Ethics, has the title "Acting Justly" and the subtitle "Relations and responsibility". These topics are discussed here.
Responsibility. In Amartya Sen's view the concept of agency is important from a moral perspective not only because people need to be able to make plans and carry out actions but also because people need to feel responsible for their actions. Martha Nussbaum in her book, Love's Knowledge, uses the phrase "communal self-knowledge" meaning the understanding any group of people has of itself: their common concerns, their disagreements, their general awareness of each other's lives. From knowing one another we come to be aware of each other's purposes and each other's sense of responsibility for the well-being of others. We come to see the need for each of us to act responsibly.
Relations. Deneulin says, "The opportunities people have to live well (capabilities) are inseparable from what people do, how they act towards each other and their environment. Living well and acting justly go together." We need to learn to be perceptive about our relations with each other, to help each other, and find enjoyment in our interactions. The capability approach, Deneulin says, "becomes a language with which to assess how people relate to one another and what types of relations and institutional arrangements ... best expand their wellbeing".
Justice and Public Reasoning. In his book, The Idea of Justice, Amartya Sen says, "we can have a strong sense of injustice on many different grounds and yet not agree on one particular ground as being the dominant reason for the diagnosis of injustice". Sen is a strong advocate for reasoning but on questions of justice it is often worthwhile to try to assess the comparative advantages of different possible social arrangements. The capability approach offers a framework for making such comparisons.
Deneulin quotes Sen as saying, "When we try to assess how justice can be advanced, there is a basic need for public reasoning, involving arguments coming from different quarters and divergent perspectives". She remarks, "Of course, disagreement permeates public reasoning processes, and people do not readily engage with other people's perspectives and try to see the world from their point of view." The media can be very helpful in "enabling everyone's view to be heard".
Deneulin cites the book, An Uncertain Glory: India and Its Contradictions, which Sen co-authored with Jean Dreze, Those who are highly privileged have "immense power" to "shape what is discussed in the media and what gets priority in policy" and thus thwart public reasoning. "A capability view of justice needs therefore to take account of the wider economic, political and social structures in which individuals and groups operate", Deneulin notes.
The Common Good and Living Justly
Deneulin says, "Children need relationships for their physical and emotional development. These relationships can be based on mutual love and self-giving or based on contempt and self-interest. The type of relationships in which children grow will significantly affect their cognitive and emotional ability. Taking affiliation beyond the family level, the type of government and political structure in which children grow also structures, for better or worse, the capabilities people have to live well."
One's own good is never pursued alone. We live in a social world. We interact and interrelate with each other in myriad ways. We are interdependent for our well-being, for virtually every aspect of our lives. As Deneulin states, "there are structuring conditions for living well and ... these lie in the quality of relations between individuals, whether at the economic, social [or] political level, and between individuals and nature."
Back to the top
|
|
Mental Health and the Church: Video/Audio Presentations Now Available
On March 28 Bishop Kevin Vann of the Diocese of Orange and Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren joined forces to address a growing crisis in our country -- the lack of adequate care and attention for those who suffer from mental illness.
The two leaders hosted the inaugural "Gathering on Mental Health and the Church" bringing together national experts, pastors and individuals to discuss how to better equip church leaders to provide effective care, how to educate families and how to encourage those who suffer with mental illness.
Bishop Vann and Pastor Warren developed a close relationship following the death of Warren's son from suicide in 2013.
A playlist of 26 video and audio presentations from the conference is now available here featuring pastors, academics and psychiatrists hosting panels on a wide variety of topics including:
* The Role of the Church in Mental Health
* Helping the Helpers: Crisis Management for Church Staff
* Christianity and Depression
* Troubled Families: Support for Loved ones Affected by Mental Illness
* Suicide Prevention: Saving Lives one Community at a Time
More on the story is available from the Orange County Catholic.
Original text copied from California Catholic Conference website
|
|
Upcoming Events
Saturday & Sunday, April 26 & 27, All Masses
Rice Bowl Collection
Both churches
Sunday, April 27, 6:00 P.M.
Holocaust Remembrance Day
Ruth Gasten will speak, Congregation Beth Emek, 3400 Nevada Court, Pleasanton. More info
Wednesday, April 30, 9:00 A.M. - 1:00 P.M.
Summit on Homelessness hosted by Mayor of Livermore
Crest Blanca Ballroom, Robert Livermore Community Center, 4444 East Avenue, Livermore. More info
Back to the top
|
|
|
|
|
The Livermore Homeless Refuge
Four churches in Livermore have joined forces to provide a clean, dry, warm and safe refuge for homeless people from November 1 to April 30, whenever the weather forecast is more than a 20% chance of rain or less than 40 degrees temperature. This year the Livermore Homeless Refuge has operated 152 days out of the 180 days beginning November 1. Operation of the Refuge is done entirely by volunteers. On a typical night 20 homeless men and 5 homeless women are provided for, all age 18 or older.
The Refuge provides sleeping bags, pillows, blankets and mats for use by the homeless as well as donated socks, underwear, other items of clothing and toiletries. For three week periods on a rotating basis Vineyard Christian Fellowship, Asbury United Methodist Church and Holy Cross Lutheran Church provide sleeping space as needed Monday through Friday. Trinity Baptist Church offers showers and breakfast every Friday morning. First Presbyterian Church provides sleeping arrangements on Saturday and Sunday nights and food prepared by their congregation.
A barber comes once a month to give free haircuts. Two volunteers provide bicycles, when needed, while another volunteer fixes bicycles weekly. Two dentists volunteer their services when needed.
Women with children are served by two separate organizations, Tri-Valley Haven, which particularly serves female victims of domestic violence, and Shepherd's Gate.
Another separate organization, Open Heart Kitchen, serves hot meals once a day on weekdays.
Sources of Information
California Homelessness Reporter, link
California Homelessness (from the Hoffington Post, Apr. 21), link
Information about homelessness copied from the Livermore Homeless Refuge website, PDF file
Back to the top
|
|
Actions by Citizens for a Caring Community
|
|
Brief Links
God in America (FRONTLINE and American Experience's landmark six-part series exploring how religious beliefs have shaped the course of American history), link
Faith and Justice (weekly blog posts from Thomas Reese, SJ, Senior Analyst for NCR with numerous comments), link
RELEASE: Recommendations for Common Core Assessment Implementation (from the Center for American Progress, Apr. 17), link
Common Core State Standards Assessments: Challenges and Opportunities (Report by Morgan S. Poliko, assistant professor of education at the University of Southern California's Rossier School of Education), link
Tri-Valley High School Data (from Around Dublin Blog site), link
Tri-Valley Regional Occupation Program (ROP), link
Tri-Valley Learning Corporation: Who We Are, link
Tri-Valley Learning Corporation: About Us, link
Locked Up in America - two FRONTLINE programs: one about solitary confinement broadcast Apr. 22 and the second called "Prison State" on Apr. 29, each is or will be available online, Apr. 22 link and Apr. 29 link
|
|