... other way. Would you have preferred a riot, then an angry delegation to Tiberius? In his present testy mood, he'd have listened only to their side of it, and I'd be recalled in disgrace, imprisoned, exiled or invited to commit suicide, while you'd be stigmatized for the rest of your life. It was simply a choice - a choice between us and this mad Jesus. Can't you see that? Be honest Procula!" "Yes, that's probably true," she said. "Well?" Slowly and deliberately she said, "To have acquitted him anyway would ...
... in their communities. Have we become so establishment-oriented that we cannot speak the truth and love in ways that will set the church free from its present sins? Truth tellers are called whistle blowers. Many of them have been ostracized and stigmatized by their own families and communities. Some churches have become bastions and citadels of untruth. The power of the gospel has been liquidated by a prevailing atmosphere of lies and untruths that have become a part of church life and culture. Preachers ...
... and attitudes have in common is that they now talk much more about maintaining health than they do about curing illness. With all the good that has come out of this continuing health-care revolution, it has in some ways managed to re-stigmatize illness. The advent of genuinely scientifically based medicine at the dawn of the 20th-century had reduced illness to a collection of bothersome bacteria and other microscopic marauders. Being sick was no longer anyone's "fault"; it was no longer a sign of ...
... learned that the lack of discipline or achievement in many of their lives is a burden for them, as well as for the larger culture. Like Mary, some of Anna’s fourteen-year-old girls are poor and pregnant outside of wedlock. As a result, they are stigmatized and rejected by the “proper” world. Anna sees one of her tasks as helping these teenage girls see their lives as possibilities and as channels of God’s grace. It’s too bad that in a public school Anna cannot have her girls read today’s text ...
... all learn from the experiences of people who are different from us . . . if we could see life through their eyes. So he began recruiting people to share their life experiences with others. Specifically, he recruited people who were “stigmatized or unconventional”—people who are often marginalized by the larger society . . . people who are the targets of prejudice or misunderstanding . . . people with disabilities . . . people from minority religions . . . people who had grown up in situations of abuse ...
... crazy love”! For those in authority and power around him, he’s become their chief “mad hatter.” They’ve been tracking him for a while. The more he heals and associates with those the powers that be deem the “dregs” of society, the more stigmatized he becomes. His crowd of followers is growing, so much so that they follow him home and entrench him wherever he goes. The Pharisees and other authorities begin to fear what this will mean politically. Will he bolster an uprising? Will he feed them ...