by Richard P. Olson | Nov 2, 2022 | Opinion
There is one “-ism” that seems to receive less attention than the others: ageism. In her book Another Country: Navigating the Emotional Terrain of Our Elders, Mary Pipher suggests a connection between ageism and xenophobia, writing: “In America, we are xenophobic...
by Richard P. Olson | Dec 3, 2020 | Opinion
Ten thousand people in the U.S. turned 65 today – and yesterday and tomorrow. They enter the largest population of older adults that has ever existed. Consider this: In the 20th century, the years of life expectancy for white males in the U.S. grew from 47 to 70; for...
by Richard P. Olson | Sep 10, 2018 | Opinion
When Mitch Randall recently wrote about the need to care for hurting ministers, I deeply resonated with firsthand and secondhand experiences of those hurting needs. I pastored congregations from the late 1950s through the late ’90s. Then, I taught in seminary,...
by Richard P. Olson | Apr 30, 2018 | Opinion
The third North American Baptist-Muslim Dialogue at the American Baptist Assembly at Green Lake, Wisconsin, took place on April 16-19. What and why is that? A little backstory is needed. On Oct. 13, 2007, 138 Muslim scholars and other leaders signed “A Common...
by Richard P. Olson | Mar 28, 2018 | Opinion
In reflecting on the question of interfaith relationships, I must acknowledge that I have the most experience and feel the most urgency in the relationship among the three Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Though I took a seminary course in...
