The Interfaith Alliance of Oklahoma will host a virtual discussion about mental health in the coming days. A "Discussion Panel regarding Mental Health and Marginalized Communities" is set for 7 p.m…
Street outreach teams have been urging homeless individuals to seek shelter in the wake of winter storms that have brought freezing temperatures to the metro area.
The teams’ messaging seems to be working, said Dan Straughan, executive director of the Oklahoma City Homeless Alliance.
Monday, he said, outreach teams have been distributing flyers with a list of shelters and warming station locations. They were also sharing information about frostbite and hypothermia.
Straughan said, most of all, team members are telling people that the current winter storms are vastly different from storms many of the homeless may have experienced in the past.
“A lot of what they are saying is ‘Look, I know you've had winter
Photo: Piti Tangchawalit/Shutterstock
Derrick Z. Jackson, fellow | December 18, 2020, 2:14 pm EDT This post is a part of a series on
As much as the Constitution guarantees religious freedom in the United States, it is hard to imagine a compassionate god approving of freedom that comes with the sacrifice of souls at the altar. And yet, that is what the Supreme Court in essence sanctioned in its recent 5-4 verdict invalidating New York State’s pandemic rules on in-person religious worship.
The conservative majority of justices sided with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and two Brooklyn Orthodox Jewish synagogues that the rules were discriminatory compared to those for secular businesses. The court has since also backed churches against COVID-19 restrictions in California, New Jersey, and Colorado, instructing lower courts to reconsider the cases on the basis of the New Yo