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By: Rev. Terry Mason, Director of International Development
How has your personal story shaped who you are and what you believe? It may be a more significant factor than you realize. When you are aware of the story and it is positive, we often take for granted the strength that our narrative provides for our lives. This is true for individuals as well as societies.
The Story Abandoned
Have you ever felt lost…not in a physical way, but in regard to your life purpose and direction? If so, you are not alone. We live in an age where the core values and beliefs that upheld societies for generations are being stripped away, often at frightening speed. This leads to a sense of anomie or normlessness. Wikipedia describes normlessness as “a social condition defined by an uprooting or breakdown of any moral values, standards or guidance for individuals to follow,” while the online Miriam Webster dictionary defines anomie as “personal unrest, alienation, and uncertainty that comes from a lack of purpose or ideals.”
By: Ilse Strauss, News Bureau Chief
Thirteen years after the opening shots of the Syrian Civil War rang out on March 15, 2011, the devastating conflict came to an abrupt finale—against all odds and all in just over a week. Damascus fell to a coalition of rebels led by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) on December 8, 2024, ending Bashar al-Assad’s 24-year rule and more than 50 years of Assad family dominance.
Few in Syria seemed to mourn the end of the Butcher of Damascus or his family’s legacy. Al Jazeera all but fondly described Assad senior, Hafez, as “a sociopath in a well-tailored suit” who slaughtered Syrians by the thousands, crushing any seed of opposition before it could sprout into resistance. When Assad junior took the helm in 2000, hopes were initially high that he would do better. Yet Assad junior one-upped his father on mass incarceration, torture, extra-judicial killings and atrocities against his own people. History will remember him as the dictator who governed Syria as a totalitarian police state and repressed peaceful protests against his regime, ultimately sparking a civil war in which half a million people were killed and six million became refugees. And then, when Assad saw the writing on the wall, he covertly fled to Moscow, leaving those who did his bidding to face the music.
National Director of Bridges for Peace USA, Patrick Verbeten and Planned Giving Manager, Andy Benedick talk through recent Israel events and how your year-end donations and planned gifts can sustain our impact in 2025.
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