Author Archives: Nathan Day Wilson

By next year, more than half the world’s population, 3.3 billion people, will for the first time live in towns and cities, and the number is expected to swell to almost five billion by 2030, according to a United Nations Population Fund report released yesterday. Will it be you? Nathan Nathan Day Wilson

Jean Vanier suggested that “The more we become people of action and responsibility in our community, the more we must become people of contemplation. If we do not nurture our deep emotional life in prayer hidden in God, if we do not spend time in silence and if we do not know how to takeContinue reading “Time for Contemplation”

With many others, I lobbied Congress in 1996/97 to pass legislation enabling the creation of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) for children of poor working families. With the enabling federal legislation in place, my colleagues and I turned our attention to state legislatures. I was director of the WV Council of Churches atContinue reading “Let’s Insure All Children”

With many colleagues, I lobbied the federal government in 1996/97 to pass legislation enabling the creation of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for children of poor working families. After its passage, my colleagues and I turned our attention to state legislatures. I was director of the WV Council of Churches at the time, andContinue reading “Support Children’s Health Insurance”

Sudan’s oil revenue continues to fuel the genocide in Darfur by providing funds that support the perpetrators of atrocities. Through its mutual funds, Fidelity has been a major investor in oil companies that operate in Sudan, and it continues to increase its holdings. Fidelity could stop investing funds in companies that are fueling the genocideContinue reading “Make a difference for Sudan”

Early last fall, our then 6 year-old daughter was given a journal that had a page inviting her to write a prayer to God. She wrote, “Dear God, how do you get self-control when you are trying to be funny?” Not a bad question. Nathan Nathan Day Wilson

Foreign Policy and The Fund for Peace just released their joint 2007 failed states index. Now, first of all, I include myself in the camp that has trouble with the term “failed state” for both empirical and value-based reasons. However, when the term is defined — as it is using specific measures in the FPContinue reading “Failed States Index”

Tolerance is a good and necessary virtue for a peaceful society; for us religious types, however, tolerance is never enough. Tolerance does not remove our ignorance of one another, lessen our stereotypes or do anything to chip away at our walls of division. To get at that, we need to actively seek understanding. Lots ofContinue reading “Seeking Understanding”

There’s an informative, though a bit alarming, commentary in the latest “Security Watch” published by the International Relations and Security Network about China’s growing nuclear weaponry and philosophy toward using it. Titled China’s changing nuclear posture, Harsh Pant from King’s College writes, “the Chinese political and military leadership is gradually revising its nuclear posture andContinue reading “China Nuclear Weapons”

As I’ve written and said before, even though I spend more time (right now) with religious and ethnic identity as predictors of conflict, resource scarcity is a bigger concern for me. Yesterday,the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said as much by emphasizing in particular how a future scarcity of oil and gas could leadContinue reading “Predicting conflict”