Caught in a culture war, this multiracial family navigates a predominantly White evangelical world
by Sarah Pulliam Bailey https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2021/06/01/evangelical-christian-race-southern-baptist/
When a paradigm fails
For many of us, faith is our map of reality, our map of the universe. It tells us where we are, where we’ve been, where we’re going, where to turn. But as soon as our trusted map stops matching reality, we feel disoriented. We have no idea where to turn, what to do, how to
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Growing Up White In The Segregated South: Forbidden Friendship
by Dr. Jeff Burns https://www.patheos.com/blogs/jeffburns/2021/06/growing-up-white-in-the-segregated-south-forbidden-friendship/
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Lovers of Peace Must Organize
from Red Letter Christians https://www.redletterchristians.org/lovers-of-peace-must-organize/
Lovers of Peace Must Organize Read More »
The one where I lose some F R I E N D S
by Vanessa Ryerse https://www.vanessaryerse.com/post/the-one-where-i-lose-some-f-r-i-e-n-d-s
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Diametrically Opposed Belief Systems
If it was puzzling to me how, in spite of the presence of God and the Bible there could be such racism, I was comforted to learn that I was not the only one. The history of this hypocrisy. Throughout history, the pro-slavery and anti-slavery proponents argued their case for their points of view. The
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We have a moral obligation
In the debate over climate change, does it not make logical sense to take out a life insurance policy on the planet? If there is any chance that the prevailing science is right about climate change, as the vast majority of climate scientists suggest, then we have a moral obligation to do what we can
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Evangelical Christians must rethink their reflexive support for Israel
By Greg Khalil from Telos. Four reasons evangelicals are reluctant to support equality for Palestinians and Israelis publicly. https://religionnews.com/2021/05/27/evangelical-christians-must-rethink-their-reflexive-support-for-israel/
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What are you going to do about it?
To understand my evolution as a reconciliation leader, you must first understand that I began my journey sincerely believing that if I could convince evangelical Christians that reconciliation was not some politically motivated agenda but a biblical calling rooted in Scripture, they would pursue racial justice. For years I tried to be biblical enough, nonthreatening
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The language we need does not yet exist
I want at once to break down the association of “bad = dark” and “good = light” because of the way our stupid human brains will equate this to people and their skin. Like so many things about issues of race, the language we need does not yet exist; there is a paradigm void that
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Corporations’ outsized power
But the departure from our past is visible not only in rising inequality and resultant pessimism – it is also apparent in the institutions that increasingly define our nation. Corporate conglomerates are replacing local and craft economies in almost every sector, including agriculture. America’s rugged individuals struggle against the loss of identity, autonomy, and mastery
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Reconciling our Differences by Modeling the Incarnation
from The Reformed Journal https://reformedjournal.com/reconciling-our-differences-by-modeling-the-incarnation/
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Is it just your journey, or is it our journey too?
The church I served for twenty-four years in the Washington, DC, area was full of people like you. Many were raised Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, or Pentecostal but dropped out either because their questions were unwelcome or because the church’s answers were unsatisfying. But over time, life outside of a faith community was also
Is it just your journey, or is it our journey too? Read More »
A short history of the long conservative assault on Black voting power
https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/08/politics/black-voter-suppression/index.html
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When the cost of error is too high, the wise hedge their bets.
If, for ideological reasons, we cannot agree that human activity contributes to climate change, then we should consider it pragmatically, through the lens of risk-reward analysis. Even if we cannot prove the veracity of human-caused climate change, the most prudent approach is to act as if it is true. This is because if it is
When the cost of error is too high, the wise hedge their bets. Read More »
They can’t identify as Christians any longer
I’ve traveled around the country working at the intersection of progressive politics and religion for the past decade and met countless activists bogged down by un-Christlike conservativism prevailing in our public square. Headlines in the media about conservative Christians doubting climate change or supporting a wall on the southern border defy a third-grade Sunday school
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When was the last time you solved a problem by talking about people who weren’t in the room?
Think about everyday experiences outside of politics – in your family, neighborhood, workplace, or the voluntary associations to which you belong. In settings of that sort, when was the last time you solved a problem by talking about people who weren’t in the room? Almost certainly the answer is “Never.” That kind of talk is
The church must talk about justice
Now more than ever, those who care about the reconciliation command of the cross must speak up and out about injustice and must go about the work of dismantling the structures of this injustice and combating the harmful, even deadly result of this country’s unchecked legacy of systemic inequality and discrimination. The church must talk
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Racist
Because I know the R-word freaks everybody out, let’s go about defining it too, because I mean something very specific when I use it. Racism refers to a system of hierarchy based on the belief that one race is superior to all others. Most often, and as is definitely the case in the United
Prosperity at a cost
Were Alexis de Tocqueville to travel to America once again – further on in our national story – what might he find? Would America fulfill its promise of balancing individual liberty with the common good? Would equality of opportunity be realized, and indeed produce prosperity for all? And would shared cultural values, respect for democratic
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Falling Upward
Back in 2011, Richard Rohr wrote a book called Falling Upward. Richard, a warmhearted Franciscan brother, Catholic priest, insightful teacher, and bestselling author, is founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation, and I am honored to call him friend, mentor, and colleague. Falling Upward resonated with hundreds of thousands of readers because it told