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

Oh Lord, Won't You Make Me Rich So I Can Pay More Taxes!

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 04-18-2011
The gospel according to the movie True Grit (2010) is as follows: "You must pay for everything in this world one way or another.

Terry Jones: We Have Lost Our Brother

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 04-04-2011
In a blog posted on God's Politics on September 14, 2010, I wrote that I rejoiced that Pastor Terry Jones had

A Duty to Love in a Time of War

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 03-30-2011
When President Obama addressed the American people and the world on the military operations in Libya, he spoke of a responsibility to act.

This Lenten Season is For Me

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 03-09-2011
Every Lenten season I give up something, usually chocolate. I sometimes fast for several hours during the day. Sometimes I read an extra book or two, usually on peace theory.

Our Budget Must Hold Fast to the American Dream

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 03-01-2011

Democratization: Another Mountain to Climb in Egypt

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 02-15-2011
There is a Haitian proverb that says after every mountain, there is another mountain.

The True Meaning of Investing in our Future

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 01-31-2011

Before the 2011 State of the Union address, Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41276794/ns/msnbc_tv-hardball_with_chris_mat..." target=

Our Persistent Reach for the American Dream

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 01-17-2011
We set aside a national holiday to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. because he welded an ethos of agape love onto the founding principles of the United States.

Praying and Fasting in the New Year

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 01-03-2011
Biblical wisdom teaches that there is a time for every purpose under heaven. The holiday season is a season of feasting and of celebration.

In Memory of Richard Holbrooke

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 12-20-2010
Some people in the world are large. They occupy a large space, cast a large shadow, reach for large and lofty goals.

The Story of One Unemployed Man

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 12-02-2010
He has been working since he was a teenager. He graduated from high school, went to college, graduated, got a good job with a good company, married, had children, and bought a house.

Thanksgiving Alone is Not Lonely

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 11-25-2010
It had been a busy semester and the Tuesday before Thanksgiving I arrived back home from an exhausting American Academy of Religion meeting.

Glenn Beck's Offensive Attacks on George Soros

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 11-15-2010
And the hits just keep on coming.

Obama's Remarks to the Indian Parliament and Just Peace

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 11-12-2010
One goal of just peace theory is to make war obsolete. The idea is to establish justice, in all of its various iterations, so that peace will prevail.

Not Happy with the Results? Hallelujah, Anyhow

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 11-03-2010
I am not happy with the results of the 2010 elections. I think the elections turned on misinformation, anger, and fear.

Voting in Honor and Solidarity

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 10-28-2010

When my children were young, I took them with me to vote. Before we went into the polling place, I said to them, "We vote because somebody died so we could have the right to vote." Now I think the reason we vote is because somebody lived so we could have the right to vote.

Social Justice is Not Totalitarianism

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 10-04-2010

Give 60 Seconds of Prayer for Peace

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 09-20-2010
It is the time it takes to say the Lord's Prayer three times. Sixty seconds. One minute. On September 21, 2010, U.N.

We Have Our Brother Back

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 09-14-2010
I rejoice that Pastor Terry Jones and his church have decided never to burn Qurans.

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

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 09-01-2010

Glenn Beck is wrong on so much: wrong on social justice and liberation theology. His logic is often flawed. He is much too prone to use Nazism as an inappropriate analogy for what happens in contemporary America. He is one of the most divisive voices speaking in the United States today.