Author Archives: abfifer

Liberty University Conflict

April 19, 2021 – 6:56 pm

We were sad to see yet another lawsuit between Christians: Liberty University has sued its former president, Jerry Falwell, Jr. After resigning from the presidency last fall, Falwell sued the University for defamation, but he dropped that suit in December; now the University has sued him for breach of contract. Rather than file these very […]

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Another Dimension to Forgiveness: Caste

April 2, 2021 – 10:23 am

I have written several posts about forgiveness where the victim, who happened to be black, has publicly forgiven the offender, who happened to be white. I thought it was especially impressive because black people in America have more to forgive. After reading Isabel Wilkerson’s powerful book, Caste (Random House: 2020), I see another dimension to […]

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Church’s Responsibility to Its Own

March 26, 2021 – 11:34 am

No church wants to face what Crabapple First Baptist Church faced last week: news that one of its members had murdered eight people on a shooting spree. The church needed to determine its response, and communicate it not only to its own congregation but to the community and the world. Not easy to do while […]

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Are Mediator Statements Confidential Too?

March 12, 2021 – 4:23 pm

Confidentiality in mediation typically refers to communications made by the parties and their attorneys. What about statements made by the mediator? Are those confidential? And if so, what should a mediator do when a party publicizes a statement allegedly made by the mediator in mediation, especially if it’s inaccurate? This happened to a mediator colleague […]

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James Cameron, Hero

December 16, 2020 – 1:40 pm

I’m fascinated by stories of forgiveness, and I just discovered another one that needs to be told: the biography of James Cameron. When he was 16, he and a couple slightly older friends decided one night to pull a carjacking. His buddies gave him a gun. But when he approached the young unsuspecting couple sitting […]

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