Racism’s Less-Visible Violence

At the request of a Baptist campus minister at a major medical school in Alabama, I invited the pastor of an African-American church to discuss the issue of violence. The minister cited a litany of examples. He told of being denied the constitutional right to vote,...

A Rear View of History

A short decade ago, Russian cosmonaut Sergie Krikalev set the record for man’s space endurance at the time and needed more than smelling salts upon returning to Earth. Not only were the cosmonaut’s legs wobbly from his 10-month space mission, but he had to...

A Reason to Rejoice

My earliest recollections as a child were not of Christmas, but of war. I was only 5 years old when Pearl Harbor was bombed 62 years ago on Dec. 7, 1941. Yet, I remember quite vividly the response of a small, rural Alabama community when news came that one of its sons...

Relying on Statistics Can Lead to Wrong Conclusions

A recent health-related episode sent me scurrying to my files for the account of a friend who nearly starved to death in one of the nation’s leading hospitals, because his diagnosis was based primarily on statistics. Two decades ago, the distinguished missionary...

An Antidote to Cynicism

In her history of only 227 years, America has become the showcase of the world in providing liberties that allow the human spirit to soar to the heavens. Those entities in our society that have promoted or enhanced the good of all, such as education, medicine,...