Author name: Rama Ramanathan

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Among famous slaves, Harriet Tubman’s my #1

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Harriet Tubman was a 5-foot short, black, poor, illiterate, epileptic, divorced, remarried, and widowed, non-pacifist Christian who, in the 91 years of her life, was born into slavery, traded as a slave, hunted as a runaway, and called Conductor, Black Moses, Spy, General, Nurse, and Mother Tubman.
She conducted hundred of people out of slavery into freedom on the underground railway. She recruited and inspired hundreds of black men to fight in the American civil war (1861-1865) over slavery.

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A story of German migrants

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In this article I speak about German-speaking people who migrated from Europe three centuries ago. I discuss why they left, how they chose where to go, how the British government and public responded to them, and a survival strategy they adopted. I end by pointing out some key themes which can help us think about our responses to refugees. I provide three links to related resources and a link to a song recorded by Bangsar Lutheran Church.

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Public Theology: Be neither church in excess nor in defeat

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The evangelical churches decided to raise money and, together with others, acquire a rescue ship and run a rescue mission. They operate with the hashtag #wirschickeneinschiff (#wesendtheship). A bishop speaks for them – and so the media write about the scandal of death on the high seas. The constant supply of bodies keeps the moral scandal on the radar.

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Ezra 1:1-11 The God who counts pots and pans

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In this short post, I address the issue of biblical counts of pots and pans, Jeremiah’s ‘inaccurate’ prophecy of 70 years of exile, and the tension between human agency and God’s sovereignty. I consider what the Jewish historian Herodotus said about why Cyrus invited the Jerusalemites to “go home” and pose a question about appealing to Bible texts in matters of public policy.

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Christian response to refugees in Malaysia

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As Christ-followers, as members of a minority community in Malaysia, how should we respond to refugees? What do theologians, immigration officers, police, RELA members, social workers advise? What ‘special treatment,’ if any, can refugee members of a faith community (e.g., Christians, Muslims) reasonably expect from members of the same community in Malaysia?

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Why don’t we “use the Bible Jesus used?”

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Using as launching pad the (Greek language) Septuagint translation of the Hebrew scriptures prepared by Jews in Egypt two to three centuries before Christ, this article introduces readers to the challenges of translation. It includes an example of translating a Malay idiom into English and examples drawn from the two English versions dated c. 500 years apart (KJV and ESV).

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