Author Archives: abfifer

On Papal Apologies

August 3, 2022 – 8:06 pm

The Pope completed a tour to Canada last week that included multiple expressions of apology to Native peoples for the Catholic Church’s role in their forced assimilation. Did it help? Did his apologies “hit the mark” or were they insufficient somehow? Depends on who you ask. Many people wept in response to the Pope’s heartfelt […]

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Pastor Sues Former Parishioners

July 15, 2022 – 5:36 pm

Christians are not supposed to sue one another. If they have disputes, they should work them out privately, within the church, not in public courts. That’s the gist of I Corinthians 6:1-7. Here’s an especially egregious violation of this command: a pastor has filed a lawsuit against former members of his church. One would expect […]

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Apologize Without “Sorry”

July 15, 2022 – 3:35 pm

Sometimes an apology is warranted, but saying “I’m sorry” isn’t the best way to do it. While this phrase should always be considered when pondering an apology, sometimes other phrases will actually be more helpful to the particular situation. Consider this article from a business school professor, Stop saying “I’m sorry” at work–and use these […]

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Free At Last: Expungement

July 12, 2022 – 11:13 am

Free at last! Jesus frees us from the guilt and shame of our sin, but only the state can free us of a criminal conviction. The process is called expungement, and I had the privilege yesterday of seeing a friend’s conviction expunged. Like so many of us, she “did something stupid” long ago, and she […]

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Online Dispute Resolution: Is It Working?

April 28, 2022 – 5:32 pm

Michigan was one of the few states that was ahead of the curve when the lockdown began, because it had already implemented an online dispute resolution (“ODR”) process and trained mediators to mediate these cases in a chatroom-like mode — asynchronous, no cameras required. A good example of a court ODR system is the program […]

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