Dr. Valerie Elverton Dixon is an independent scholar who publishes lectures and essays at JustPeaceTheory.com. She received her Ph.D. in religion and society from Temple University and taught Christian ethics at United Theological Seminary and Andover Newton Theological School.

Posts By This Author

On Glenn Beck and the Restoring Honor Rally (Part I)

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 08-31-2010
When the nation is the object of one's highest concern; when national documents are considered holy scripture; when the nation's founders and historical figures are lifted to the status of demi-god
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The Legacy of Martin Luther King: From 1963 to 2010

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 08-26-2010

[Editor's Note: In anticipation of the anniversary of the March on Washington on August 28, 1963, God's Politics will feature a series of posts on the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King.

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Loving in Spirit and in Truth: In Support of the Cordoba House (Part II)

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 08-18-2010
Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a courageous and intelligent woman. Born in Somalia, she immigrated to the Netherlands in 1992. She served in the Dutch parliament from 2003- 2006.
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In Support of the Cordoba House (Part I)

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 08-17-2010
In the story of Jesus' conversation with the Samaritan woman at the Well of Sychar, we see a man and a woman from two different tribes that hate each other.
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The Dangers of Just Peacemaking

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 08-09-2010
Just peace theory holds that peace can only come when the basic needs of people are met. This need includes health care.
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President Obama on "The View"

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 08-02-2010
President Obama visited with the five hosts of the ABC daytime talk show "The View." People complained. He should have gone to the Boy Scout gathering.
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Shirley Sherrod's True Revelation

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 07-22-2010
The controversy over the injustice done to Shirley Sherrod, the African-American woman whose comments on race were taken out of context, misreported, an
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Glenn Beck, Wrong Again

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 07-20-2010
Once again, Glenn Beck has waded into theological waters beyond his depth.
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God's Provision in a Recession

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 07-09-2010
A few summers ago, my son brought a little white plastic birdbath to my dad's house and set it up in the back yard. Dad kept the birdbath clean and filled with water.
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Robert Byrd, Truth, and Peace

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 06-29-2010
Truth is a two-edged sword that cuts both ways. We may wield it against an enemy with great satisfaction. However, the truth also cuts us, and does so with a fare-thee-well.
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For the Widows and the Orphans

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 06-23-2010
Today is International Widow's Day. It is a day set aside to consider the lives of the more than 245 million widows worldwide. It is a day to consider the lives of their children.
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Jesus in My Father's Garden

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 06-18-2010
My father is 82 years old, and for most of his life he was an avid gardener and fisherman. He lost interest in the garden after my mother died. This year I told Dad that I wanted a garden.
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President Obama Cannot Please Everyone

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 06-14-2010
Commentary on President Obama's response to the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico says that he has not been tough enough on BP, that he has not shown
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Silent Prayers and a More Than Perfect Game

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 06-04-2010
There are times when there are no words. There are times when it seems that there is no hope for humankind, that our blindness to the things that make for peace is willful.
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Memorial Day: Giving Our Full Measure of Devotion to Peace

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 05-28-2010
mdurson / Shutterstock

Photo via mdurson / Shutterstock

This Memorial Day, let us see and believe the just peace vision and give the full measure of our living devotion to bring into being a world where war is no more.

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Christian Anti-Logic and Immigration Reform

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 05-21-2010

The issue of illegal immigration in the United States requires an anti-logic of radical love. (The anti-logic I propose is not fallacious logic. The distinction is a topic for another essay.) Christianity is a counter-intuitive religion.

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Lena Horne's Bright Shining Light

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 05-10-2010

Lena Horne is gone, but she remains a bright shining light.

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Mother's Day Gifts

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 05-06-2010
Usually when Mother's Day comes, we think of the women in our lives who nurture, teach, rear, and comfort us.
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Praise the Lord and Fire Away

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 05-01-2010
What does holy scripture have to do with weapons of war? Not much.

The U.S. military has 300,000 Advanced Combat Optical Gunsights (ACOG), with more on the way, and—as you may have heard—every one of them manufactured before this February had “JN8:12” inscribed at the end of the serial number. The markings, which were put there by the manufacturer, Michigan-based Trijicon Inc., refer to the Bible verse in which Jesus says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

According to the Trijicon Web site, the ACOG is made “for use in low light or at night.” The technology includes crosshairs or other aiming grids “using fiber optics which collect ambient light”—thus the scripture references to light. Other Trijicon gunsight models featured references to 2 Corinthians 4:6 (in which God makes “light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God”); Matthew 5:16 (in which Jesus urges all to “let your light shine before people, that they may see your good deeds and praise God in heaven”); and Revelation 21:23 (in which the New Jerusalem “does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp”).
In the Bible, the “light of life” refers to creation and to eternal life. In Genesis, its creation is what brings order from pre-existing chaos. Light also signals an end to oppression; Isaiah 9:2 says, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who live in a land of deep darkness, on them light has shined.”
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Goldman Sachs' Excremental Deals

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 04-29-2010
They were described using the first word on George Carlin's list of the seven words you cannot say on television.
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