Portland, Oregon - Daniel Solomon

Oregon: Portland
Human-Animal Reconciliation
Daniel Salomon, Coordinator

You can contact Daniel by email.

We are offering services in two areas: 1) an intercessory prayer ministry for pet owners, whose pets are sick, near death or who have died, and 2) an intercessory prayer for the animal movements and various public animal issues. This will include going to people’s homes or other locations to pray for them and their animals. And it will include praying for the animal movement as part of our daily activities.

Our coordinator is an ethical and religious vegetarian and militantly against hunting for population control who also believe that animals have eternal souls and a relationship with God. Our coordinator is a committed, lifelong Christian animal activist and environmentalist.

We would like to focus our animal related ministry, providing services and opportunities which have not yet been currently addressed by the Christian animal rights movement that we feel are necessary for growing the movement.

A Special Thanksgiving Praise/Worship Service To Honor God's Creation Presentation
November 11, 2012 event with downloadable PDF

More about Daniel, his education, work and vision...

June 2017 - Daniel is quoted extensively in Sunaura Taylor's recently released book Beasts of Burden in a chapter titled "On Ableism and Animals" (see pages 4-9).

June 2017 - Lady Truss Orchid Citizen Science Team Project at Hoyt Arboretum. This sign will be placed at the stand where locally rare lady truss orchids were discovered on the grounds.

Daniel's work was featured in the June 2017 Hoyt Arboretum Friends Newsletter that you can read here.

May 2017 - Mosses, Lichens, and Liverworts Presentation (PDF) Images include:

Spring 2017 Presentation - A Practical Application of Lichenology for Urban Livability - Lichens as Canaries in the Coal Mine (PDF).

From February 2016-February 2017, Salomon served as Gate Lodge Host for the Pittock Mansion Historical Estate in Portland's Forest Park.

As of Thanksgiving 2016, Salomon debuted as a liturgical reader in his local Catholic parish.

October 19, 2016 Presentation, "Mosses, Lichens, and Liverworts" (PDF).

September 19, 2016 issue of the Catholic Sentinel contains a story on our workshop, Caring for our Common Home with Mercy. If you didn’t see it in the paper edition, here is a link to the online version. There’s also an accompanying video. 

September 2016 - Hoyt Arboretum Class on Mosses, Lichens and Liverworts

These plants are vitally, ecologically important in sustaining the web of life...

Instructor, Daniel Salomon, holds a MA in Research as well as a Graduate Certificate in Science and Religion. His undergraduate work included biology and environmental studies. He is an accomplished author of six books on the environment. He is a Hoyt Arboretum citizen scientist, herbarium archive assistant and tour guide.

Read A Practical Application of Lichenology for Urban Livability---Lichens as Canaries in the Coal Mine AND Mosses, Lichens and Liverworts Workshop.

Submitted Testimony on Height Limits August 7, 2016 - see PDF.

As of Easter Eve 2016 Salomon was baptized, confirmed and given first communion and is now officially a member of the Roman Catholic Church taking the name Daniel-Francis.

March, 9, 2016, I taught a 3-hour workshop on lichens, mosses and liverworts at the Hoyt Arboretum in Portland, Oregon.

• Some Ideas for Lichen - Presentation (PDF)
• Some Ideas for Lichens, Moss and Liverwort Workshop - Handout (PDF)
• Mosses and Lichens workshop (Powerpoint)

March 2, 2016

I officially became a board member of the Interfaith Disability Network of Oregon on March 2, 2016.

February 14, 2016

Daniel was elected for an Easter 2016 baptism/confirmation into the Roman Catholic Church by the Bishop of Portland.

December 3, 2015

Daniel participating in 3rd Annual Eco-ability Conference
Free online seminar

November 29, 2015

Daniel became a Catechumen in the Roman Catholic Church.

August 4, 2015

Daniel helped save a Cedar of Lebanon in his neighborhood of Goose Hollow with his fellow neighbors under Portland's tough new tree protection law which also protects trees on private property (Title 11).

July 26, 2015

Daniel was mentioned in a July 26,2015 Inquisitor article entitled "The Americans With Disabilities Act Celebrates 25 Years."

July 24, 2015

Daniel was interviewed by Amelia Templeton of Oregon Public Broadcast on July 24, 2015 - "Portland Celebrates Key Disability Rights Law With An Open Mic." Listen here...

June 9, 2015

Good News! Outcome of the Block according to the Northwest Examiner:

"When their neighborhood association was unresponsive, they formed an independent organization to block construction of a Athletic Club parking facility in violation of the zoning code and past agreements. They knew it was an uphill fight, so they raised $40,000 in preparation to appeal a City Council decision. Instead, the council took their side, upholding the long-range land-use policy plan for the area and causing the MAC's development partner to withdraw the application. Having won the battle at City Hall, they also elected allies and sympathetic individuals to their neighborhood association board at its annual election last fall."

This new organization, Friends of Goose Hollow (FOGH) were given an award for their citizenship in 2015 by Neighbors Northwest, the umbrella citizenship association.

Daniel participated in the 2015 Portland Audubon Society Birdathon and raised $60 in pledges for the organization.

May 14, 2015

Title: The Plants and Plant-based Organizations of Israel

Hoyt Arboretum citizen scientist, archive assistant and tour guide Daniel Salomon will be giving a public lecture and will field questions on the Plants and Plant-based Organizations of Israel based on Salomon's most recent six-week extended stay in Israel in the Winter of 2015 on May 14th 2015 at the Hoyt Arboretum Visitor Center from 7-8pm. The lecture will include a slide show and passing around real-life plant materials, field guides and reference books which Salomon personally brought back from Israel. Some attention will also be given to the plants of the Bible, the native and invasive plant species of the Israel, the importance of learning the Latin names of plants and how to harness a systematics understanding of plants to better interpret the plants of the Bible, as well as Israeli efforts to conserve, preserve, restore and steward the plants of Israel and their ancestral habitats.

See PDF - Original presentation on May 14, 2015 and revised version presented on June 25, 2015 Presented At the Hoyt Arboretum

See PDF - Bible Quotes of the Cedar of Lebanon in the Hebrew Bible 

April 25, 2015

As part of the Hoyt Arboretum Friends annual fundraiser "Forage in the Forest: An evening of dance, discovery and detectables" on August 1, 2015 two souvenir vouchers were auctioned off as part of an auction package entitled "Private Tour of Hoyt Arboretum for 4 with the Curator and Executive Director" where the herbarium vouchers were marketed as "Take home a piece of the arboretum's history with two herbarium vouchers." The entire auction package was auctioned off for $600. 21 herbarium vouchers have been sold.

Daniel's brainchild of selling herberium plant vouchers as a fundraiser for the Hoyt Arboretum in Portland, Oregon has been officially implemented by the Arboretum's staff and volunteers. They are now available for purchase.

Red flowering Currant

Magellan Barberry

As of May 27, the Hoyt Arboretum has sold 10 plant vouchers and counting as a fundraiser for the organization.

April 18, 2015

Daniel will be presenting a lecture/discussion on Douglas Firs as part of the Wilderness International 2015 Creation Care Summit on April 18th, 2015 at Eastridge Convent Church in Clackamas, Oregon, 14100 SE Sunnyside Road. The event is free for students and open to the public. A $20 registration free includes morning refreshments and lunch. You can find more information and register online at Wilderness International. See PDF for an outline of his presentation.

February 7, 2015

• Committee Chair for the Environment Committee for the Friends of Goose Hollow (FOGH)

November 20, 2014

• As of November 20th, Salomon has mounted 100 plant samples for the Hoyt Arboretum Herbarium, as a Hoyt Arboretum Herbarium Assistant for the year of 2014. 

October 7, 2014

• Daniel was invited by Dr. Dan Brunner to be a seminary class speaker in his graduate level Christian Earth Keeping Course at George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon on October 7, 2014. Daniel spoke and facilitated a discussion about the theological anthropology themes in his various books related to animal theology and disability studies. Daniel was awarded an honorarium by George Fox University for being a seminary class speaker.

October 2014

• Winner of Hoyt Arboretum's Renaissance Man for 2014

September 2014:

• Co-founded the Disability Christian Caucus and Interest Group through Society for Disability Studies (SDS)
  Blog page
  Facebook page

July 2014:

• Recently joined the International Transformation Resilience Alliance (ITRC), a new new ecopsychology organization dedicated to helping individuals, vulnerable populations, mental health organizations and political activists cope with the human costs of climate change.
• At the Hoyt Arboretum, I am now a trained achieve assistant in their herbarium and I am currently being trained to become a citizen science by the Hoyt Arboretum's resistant botanist where I am doing restoration ecology research on protecting, preserving and restoring an uncommon orchid species stand recently discovered on arboretum land.
• My SDS conference went very well however and environmental/animal issues are now on the radar scream for the entire Society for Disability Studies (SDS) conference, being the theme for the entire conference this year, although there is still much that needs to be worked out in terms of collaboration.

June 2014:

• I am planning to attend this year's Society for Disability Studies (SDS) 2014 Annual Conference in Minneapolis, June 11-14.

• I will be a presenter in another panel this year: Session 4. Thursday June 12 3:30-5 PM. " Eco-Ability's Web of Disability, Ecological, and Animal Justice and Liberation." I will be presenting a paper, "Disability, Sustainability and the Nonhuman World: Toward the Greening of Disability Studies and the Cripping of Deep Ecology."

• I will be promoting my book Confessions of an Autistic Theologian: A Contextual, Liberation Theology at the New Book and Poster Session an d Reception on Thursday, June 12, 5-6 PM.

• I will be leading an interest meeting for "Meeting of Christians of SDS" at 7-7:45 PM on Thursday June, 12.

April 2014 - Daniel has recently been invited to the EMO's Interfaith Network for Earth Concerns for the State of Oregon and has joined Wilderness International (WI) and Friends of Goose Hollow (FOGH).

August 2013 - Daniel begun volunteering at Portland's Hoyt Arboretum teaching environmental education.

Daniel has a Master of Arts degree in Research from Andover Newton Theological School, as well as a Graduate Certificate in Science and Religion, with a concentration in Religion and Ecology, from the Schools of the Boston Theological Institute. He grew up Jewish, but converted to Christianity later in life. He is currently a non-denominational Christian. 

As a 37-year old male living with Asperger’s (a neurological condition) Daniel has a special sensitivity to animal life.

He has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Liberal Studies from Salisbury [State] University, in Maryland, with concentrations in Biology, Environmental Studies and Conflict Analysis/Dispute Resolution, in addition to a Naturalist Certificate from the Au Sable Institute of Environmental Studies, in Michigan. He has also taken courses in animal ethics and animal behavior science.

Daniel's project "Animal Interest Group" has been included in Society for Disability Studies (SDS) November 2013 Newsletter.

Daniel has written

• "Annotated Bibliography on Climate Change Science" by Daniel Salomon - February 2014 - See 3-page PDF
  
  
• Getting to Solidarity: One Autistic Animal Activist's Struggle to Resolve the Conflict Between the Animal Rights Movement and the Austic Pride Movement - Paper presented at 2013 Society for Disabilities "disability and animals" - PDF
  
  Some neurotypical (non-autistic, non-disabled) animal activist-scholars have unfortunately used logical fallacies to refute famous autistic animal welfare scientist, Temple Grandin, who is a Professor of Animal Science at University of Colorado-Fort Collins. Instead of challenging Grandin’s ideas and practices, they have used her diagnosis as an “easy out” to easily discredit her. Such a tactic has been personally and professionally marginalizing, stigmatizing and alienating to members in the radical animal movements who are on the autism spectrum. Not everyone in the autistic community shares Grandin’s welfarist views on animals. I am one such person.
  
• “Animals and Disability,” Orlando 2013. “Getting to Solidarity: Towards the Adjudication of the Conflict between the Animal Rights Movements and the Autistic Pride Movements.” [Please do not distribute without the expressed permissions of the author---this material is copyrighted!]

  This paper will respectfully, sympathetically, generously engage the various animal movements to rethink the relationship between the autistic pride and animal rights movements, from the perspectives of ethics, critical social theory, political activism and conflict resolution. 

  Read entire outline of this presentation - PDF
  
  
• Confessions of an Autistic Theologian: A Contextual, Liberation Theology, available for Kindle through Amazon and available in paperback through Amazon.

  In a timely new release, Salomon revisits political polarization, compassion fatigue, even Girardian Theory, making the case that religious leaders absolutely must include neurodiverse humanity in religious life as spiritual equals, carefully listen to the spiritual voices of neurodiversity and accommodate neurodiverse individuals, if organized religion is going to have positive, life-affirming relations with the neurodiversity barricade at all.

  In Salomon’s long awaited autism story, Salomon addresses directly how his autistic Christian ecological identity informs his activism, scholarship, method of theological reflection and spirituality. Salomon bases his “serious and radical” critique of normal society on the planetary crisis and institutional animal cruelty, attempting to reconcile disability justice with the planetary agenda, in the process.

  Salomon demonstrates that in the long-run, including neurodiversity and disability justice on the planetary agenda will help accelerate non-disabled efforts towards sustainability, justice and nonviolence.

  Salomon offers a practical framework with concrete guidance to the various disability and faith communities alike from a Christian liberation theology perspective, which will help realize a world worth living in, for everyone.

• Have Mercy On Me, An Ecological Sinner: How The God of the Bible Helped Me Rise Above Compassion Fatigue and Not Give On The Ecological Struggle, available for  Kindle through Amazon and available in paperback through Amazon.
  
  Editorial Review by Kevin Koch, Professor of English at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, and author of The Driftless Land: Spirit of Place in the Upper Mississippi Valley (University of Southeastern Missouri) 2010): "I enjoyed reading your book. I particularly liked the interdisciplinary approach of discussing the deep theological roots of a reverence for nature, along with solid scientific information about the challenges facing the environment today."
  
  This book was mentioned in the newsletter for the Society of Disability Studies under "Member's News" - http://disstudies.org/about/newsletters/spring-2012-newsletter/#_Member_News
  

  Daniel wrote a Glossary to help define terms and give background infomation to make his book more accessible to his readers that can be found here:
  http://www.shelfari.com/books/27033223/Have-Mercy-on-Me-An-Ecological-Sinner-How-the-God-of-the-Bible-H?amatc=kdp-c 

  Discovering History & Nature At Ein Gedi: Daniel's sister wrote an article about their pilgrimage together in 2009 in Ein Gedi National Park in Israel which is mentioned in Have Mercy On Me, An Ecological Sinner.  

• "Animal Rights and Autism Pride: Let’s Heal the Rift" in the October 2010 issue of The Scavenger
• Christian Environmental Studies: an Educational Module with Syllabuses and a Sample Lecture (Kindle - Amazon.com, hard copy Create Space version - Amazon.com)
• Creation Unveiled: The Implications of Girardian Theory on Environmental and Animal Issues by Daniel A. Salomon, Jenny Wollenweber, and Philip Bosserman (Amazon.com, Kindle Edition, 2010), available at Amazon.com, Kindle.store
• Wounded Healer
• Human-Animal Reconciliation: Franciscan Faith-based Interspecies Communications and Its Implications for Wildlife Management (Amazon.com) (see the All-Creatures review of this book)
• "From Marginal Cases to Linked Oppressions: Reframing the Conflict between the Autistic Pride and Animal Rights Movements" in the April 2010 issue of Journal for Critical Animal Studies
• A Eulogy to a Parakeet: Mordecai’s “Soul’s Journey onto God”
• "An Ecological Survey of Deer Ridge" (read PDF here)

Conferences/Presentations:

• Abstract, Natural Areas Conference, October 18, 2016, Davis, CA.
  Tu, M., Riggs, E., Nicholson, M., Alongi, D., Brooks, L., Carr, P., Ficken, P., Kuhn, U., Pollock, K., Salomon, D., Schapira, Z., Schreiber, B., Skadsen, E., Skinner, M., Sweeney, A. and R. Wexler. 2016. Engaging citizen scientists to research best management practices for increasing the abundance of Spiranthes romanzoffiana, a locally rare orchid, in Hoyt Arboretum, Portland, Oregon, U.S.A.
  
  See Engaging citizen scientists to research best management practices for increasing the abundance of Spiranthes romanzoffiana Cham.
  in Hoyt Arboretum, Portland, Oregon, U.S.A. (PDF)

• Comments on West Quadrant Plan, January 18, 2015
  I completely support the recommendations of the West Quadrant Plan Minority Report which advocates for a more critical review of the current height bonus policy and FAR transfer policy, preservation of the distinctive character and human scalability of each of Portland’s neighborhoods like Goose Hollow, concentrate tall buildings along the north-south transit corridor and at freeway viaducts, set height limits based upon realistic foreseeable market demands and contextualized to the specific conditions of a given neighborhood instead of a one-size-fits-all formulaic approach and create more affordable housing opportunities. Read PDF here.

• Jefferson 14 Apartments Testimony, December 11, 2014
  Recommendation for the Portland Design Commission Hearing on the Jefferson 14 Apartments on December 11, 2014. Testimony regarding architectural recommendation for a Jefferson Street apartment proposal in Portland, Oregon as part of my work with Friends of Goose Hollow (FOGH).  In my testimony I advocate for livability and sustainability in my own Portland neighborhood of Goose Hollow. It has already been submitted and is now part of the public record. Also, I am now the founder and chair of the environment committee for the Friends of Goose Hollow (FOGH). Read PDF here.

• Block 7, December 3, 2014
  Oral Testimony by Daniel Salomon for the City Council of Portland (read PDF here)

• Block 7, October 1, 2014
  Oral Testimony by Daniel Salomon for the City Council of Portland (read PDF here)

• Block 7, October 1, 2014
  Oral Testimony by Daniel Salomon for the City Council of Portland and Goose Hollow Foothills League (GHFL) (read PDF here)

• Block 7 Testimony, April 29, 2014
  In-person testimony presented to Goose Hollow Foothills League (GHFL) and that may be presented at a public hearing in Portland sometime in May 2014. (See PDF here and see pictures taken by Carol Gilden here.)
  
  
• Block 7 Testimony, January 17, 2014
  I am against the MAC proposal to turn Block 7, a Goose Hollow open green space and community pocket park on MAC land into a parking garage and apartment high rise because the MAC’s proposal is ecologically devastating (Goal 8.9, Objective G) (read PDF here and see pictures here)
  

• A Natural History of Non-Flowering Plants - Guided Tour by Daniel Salomon at Hoyt Arboretum, Portland, September 2, 2013

  Tour guide Daniel Salomon will lead a special guided tour of the Arboretum on Labor Day, Monday, September 2 that focuses on the natural history of non-flowering plants.

  In Plant Systematic courses, non-flowering plants - like conifers and palms - and primitive plants - like mosses, horsetails and liverworts - are often glossed over. However, these primeval plants are integral members of the temperate rainforest bioregion of the Willamette Valley, where the City of Portland and the Hoyt Arboretum are located.

  Come take a guided saunter around Hoyt to learn, see and experience for yourself the fascinating natural history, evolutionary systematics and ecological place of non-flowering plants both native to Oregon and from around the world. The tour will end at the arboretum's beautiful, peaceful Redwood Deck for those interested in quiet solitude and cultivating a sense of place. 

• Annual Society for Disability Studies (SDS) conference, June 27, 2013, Orlando FL
  "Animals and Disability" (3:30-5:00pm)
  Abstract: This panel examines the intersections of critical disability studies and animal studies. Stephanie Jenkins argues that contemporary moral theory is premised on an ableist and speciest conception of the subject. She proposes that disability studies and critical animal studies share a common interest in developing a robust and expansive understanding of moral considerability beyond the limits of species-typical performance criteria. Haylie Swenson examines the 14th century British poet John Gower's work as a site where the human/animal binary is both affirmed and subverted. Through this subversion, Gower's poetry opens up new venues for exploring the experience of non-nomate human and animal bodies. John Derby analyzes the relationship of ableism, speciesm, and partriarchy in Foucault's Madness and Civilization. He argues that, for Foucault, a discourse of animality-patriarchy worked to marginalize and inflict violence on the mentally disabled. He claims that art provides a space to formulate alternatives to this violent discourse. Mara Green examines her relationship to her disabled pitbull, Phoebe. This relationship serves as a starting point to examine the relation of species-membership, race, class, gender, and ability. Through her study, she examines how the "good life" for both Phoebe and herself is negotiated and redefined over the course of their inter-species relationship. Together, these papers show that disability studies and animal studies can be jointly applied to provide a powerful analytic framework for understanding contemporary and historical problems.
  Presenters: John Derby, “The Discourse of Animality-patriarchy: Representations of Madness and Mad Art” - E. Mara Green, “The Phoebe Meditations: Pitbulls, Disability, and the Good Canine Life”  - Daniel Salomon, “Getting To Solidarity: Towards the Adjudicating of the Conflict Between the Animal Rights Movements and the Autistic Pride Movements”
  Moderator: Sunaura Taylor
  Room: Lake

• "Disability and Animals" panel member at the Society for Disability Studies (SDS) conference, June 20-23, 2012, Denver CO.

  Animals and Disability: Building Collaborations

  Single Sentence Panel Abstract for program (25 words):

  • This panel will explore intersections between disability studies and animal advocacy and will focus on the challenges and possibilities of building collaborations between the two fields.
  • Panel Abstract
  • Animals and Disability: Building Collaborations, will focus on the many serious complications the disability and animal advocacy communities have faced in building mutual collaborations and alliances. While critiquing aspects of the animal advocacy community this panel will also show how much these two fields have in common and how much they could challenge and support each other. Presenter Daniel Salomon reframes the existing conflict between Autistic Pride and Animal Rights organizations in a manner that shows the potential for collaborative alliance between these groups. Deanna Adams explores the history of behavior modification as it has been applied to the natural world, animals, and persons with disabilities; highlighting that behaviorism must be understood through an approach that considers the links between its practice on humans and animals. Presenter Breeze Harper examines how white and middle class able bodied consciousness constructs the taken for granted value system within mainstream veganism and animal rights; a value system that equates 'going vegan' with creating 'able and productive' bodies, while simultaneously equating omnivorous consumption with 'disabled' and 'unproductive' bodies. Lastly, presenter Sunaura Taylor asks what disability studies can offer animal rights? Her presentation will argue that these two fields have an immense amount to offer each other. By arguing that disability and animal injustices share common oppressions, Taylor asks us to consider how we can begin to "crip animal rights." Harold Braswell, who helped organize this panel, will moderate. Together, these papers show that disability studies and animal studies can be jointly applied to provide a powerful analytic framework for understanding contemporary and historical problems.

Research interests:

• Animal theology
• Ecotheology
• Science and Religion
• Franciscan Studies
• Girardian Theory
• Disability Studies

Personal life missions:

• work towards human-animal reconciliation
• study God-world relationships
• foster Christian-secular environmentalist/animal rights dialogue
• popularize the Christian environmental/animal rights perspective
• honor the Earth, yet worship Yahweh
• try to do God’s will for God’s Creation

Long-term goals:

• start a trade journal for animal theologians, written by and for people in the animal theology field
• start an in-person support group in the Portland, Oregon, area for Christian vegetarians with the goal of creating a sense of community, building relationships and providing networking opportunities
• offer environmental consulting services to use faith-based interspecies communications techniques to deal with wildlife and other animal pest problems that will also involve gathering more evidence to support his nonviolent wildlife management praxis recovered in Human-Animal Reconciliation: Franciscan Faith-based Interspecies Communications and Its Implications for Wildlife Management (Amazon.com, Kindle Edition, 2008) (see the All-Creatures review of this book)) as well as honing in on techniques for being more effective in this endeavor
• ultimate dream...to start a Master of Arts Program in Christian Environmental Studies, as outlined in Christian Environmental Studies: an Educational Module with Syllabuses and a Sample Lecture (Amazon.com, Kindle Addition, 2008).

Contact Information

You can contact Daniel by email.