Blog Posts By God's Politics Editor

“Pain reaches the heart with electrical speed, but truth moves to the heart as slowly as a glacier.” - Barbara Kingsolver from Animal Dreams + Sign up to receive our quote of the day via e-mail

Lord, please give us the courage to speak up on behalf of the world's hungry and starving people. Grant us wisdom to speak the words to legislators so that they pass laws eradicating global hunger. Amen Adapted from Meditations and Devotions on the Millenium Development Goals

"Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. Relieve the troubles of my heart, and bring me out of my distress. Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins." - Psalm 25:16-18 + Sign up to receive our social justice verse of the day via e-mail

At the last Festival of Faith and Writing at Calvin College, Brian Walsh interviewed singer / songwriter Bruce Cockburn. The following is the six-part interview. And continue scrolling to get the audio of Cathleen Falsani's 2006 "God Factor" interview with Cockburn. 

"And the one who was seated on the throne said, 'See, I am making all things new.'" - Revelation 21:5 + Sign up to receive our social justice verse of the day via e-mail

“Peace for humanity is not only the absence of war, or the end of violence ... For us Christians, peace is based on a fundamental new relationship between mankind and God. That is why Christ said he brought peace, ‘not as the world gives.’ He brought a different peace.” – Bishop Samuel Ruiz García, known as Don Samuel, a champion of the poor and of the indigenous people in southern MexicoEastern Congo is home to some of the world’s most stunning scenery—and some of its most brutal and unimaginable violence. The relationship between these two symbols of the region is a close one.Part of the call of Christian peacemakers is not only to make peace between people a reality, but also to bring peace between people and the planet. In his work, conservationist Dominique Bikaba recognizes that peace between people and peace with our environment are closely intertwined, and he is seeking to bring about both.Armed groups are waging war in eastern Congo, taking no heed of the grave impact that the conflict is having on the environment around them. The resources of the region are being exploited, to the detriment of future generations. This disregard for the communities of the region is a modern-day salting of the land. It’s a practice well known to the people of Israel in the Old Testament, in which armies would spread salt on the land of their adversaries so that nothing would grow there (see Judges 9:45).The conflict in Congo is being waged on local communities—but Dominique is a problem-solver. He is seeking creative ways to conserve these communities while conserving the environment they inhabit, fostering the inherent relationship between the two. He is “bringing the forest to the community.”

“It isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.” –Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady of the United States from 1933-45“If we just sat with crossed arms, what would happen then?” is the question Denise, a Congolese civil rights attorney, asks us.She has seen the destruction of her home through natural disaster and the pain of thousands of Congolese women who are raped every year. Still, she is faithful with the calling that she has been given—working to prosecute the cases she can to help rape survivors seek justice and find the hope to continue on.Denise knows that to make peace, it is necessary to restrain and often punish the evil that humans do to one another.“The Bible takes evil seriously and clearly says that evildoers should be held accountable for their deeds, and that the state has the legitimate role of bringing to justice those who perpetrate terrible crimes,” writes Jim Wallis in a July 2011 Sojourners’ column, “The Things That Make For Peace.”But Denise’s work does not focus just on the punishment of those who commit rape but on the restoration of the survivors.

"We have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community." - Dorothy Day from The Long Loneliness

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope. Where there is darkness, light. Where there is sadness, joy. Divine God, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to love. For it is in giving that we receive. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life. Amen. A prayer of St. Francis.

"For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them." - Matthew 18:20

“Never think that you need to protect God. Because anytime you think you need to protect God, you can be sure that you are worshipping an idol.” - Stanley Hauerwas

Lord, forgive us for our lack of creativity whenever we try to solve our problems using violence or force. Fill us with your spirit in the times we are afraid, stressed, or angry so that we can create beauty out of chaos. Amen

Updated 5:35: According to KETK in East Texas, the incident occurred as the constable was attempting to serve an eviction notice.Updated 4:00 p.m.: KBTX in Bryan / College Station, Texas is reporting that the suspect in the shooting has died. Updated at 3:35 p.m.: Via KBTX in Bryan / College Station, Texas: Brazos County Constable Brian Bachmann of the College Station Police Department has died as a result of injuries sustained in the shooting. A civilian has also been confirmed dead.College Station Assistant Police Chief Scott McCollum confirmed the casualties in a statement this afternoon. Another member of the police department was shot in the leg and is in stable condition, and a female civilian was also shot and is in surgery, according to McCollum. McCollum said members of the department are still trying to piece together details and a motive for the incident.

"For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, says the Lord, because they have called you an outcast: 'It is Zion; no one cares for her!'" - Jeremiah 30:17

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney announced Rep. Paul Ryan as his vice presidential pick early Saturday morning. Romney is set to officially announce the Wisconsin representative at 9 a.m. in Norfolk, Va.Romney made the announcement via his smartphone app, and his website refers to the duo as the "A" team, saying: "This is the team to beat. This is the team that can restore greatness in America. This is the team that can fix America." Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

"Look! On the mountains the feet of one who brings good tidings, who proclaims peace! Celebrate your festivals, O Judah, fulfil your vows, for never again shall the wicked invade you; they are utterly cut off. A shatterer has come up against you. Guard the ramparts; watch the road; gird your loins; collect all your strength. (For the Lord is restoring the majesty of Jacob, as well as the majesty of Israel, though ravagers have ravaged them and ruined their branches.) - Nahum 1:15-2:2

"The nation... doesn't simply need what we have. It needs what we are." - Edith Stein

Now I love you alone. You alone do I follow. You alone do I seek. You alone am I ready to serve. For you alone have just dominion. Under your sway I long to be. Amen. Prayer by St. Augustine of Hippo

"The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior; you save me from violence." - 2 Samuel 22:2-3

Last Sunday, the Catholic singer/songwriter/poet/theologian Pádraig Ó Tuama (who hails from County Cork, Ireland), took to Revolution NYC's "barstool pulpit," to share stories, poems, and wisdom from the spiritual journey — his, yours, ours. Listen to Ó Tuama's talk inside the blog ... 

"But Ruth said, 'Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die—there will I be buried. May the Lord do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!'" - Ruth 1:16-17

Ralph Singh, director of publications and public relations for Gobind Sadan — "God's House Without Walls," a spiritual community rooted in the Sikh tradition with locations in India and the United States — responds to the mass shooting at a Wisconsin Sikh gurudwara that has devastated the faith community.Sikhism was founded more than 500 years ago in India. Observant Sikhs do not cut their hair, and male followers of the religion wear turbans, which they consider sacred."A Sikh, wherever they go in the world, is committed to building community a community of peace, an inclusive community to stand as an affirmation of what we now call pluralism," Singh says.Listen to what Singh as to say on a video inside the blog ... 

A Joplin, Mo., mosque has again been the target of a "suspicious" fire, according to the Joplin Globe. The Islamic Society of Joplin reported on Monday the second fire this summer — this one engulfing the entire building.The mosque's Imam said the blaze will not keep worshippers from their prayers. From the reports: “This should not stop us from serving God,” said Imam Lahmuddin, the mosque’s religious leader. “We still have to fulfill our obligation. We will do our prayer in other places. If we don’t find a place, we will do our prayers in our home. We cannot miss any of the five prayers.” 

"Jesus said to them, 'The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.'" - John 12:35-36