The Common Good

God's Politics

Healing the Wounds of Race

by Jim Wallis 03-18-2008

It has simmered throughout this campaign, and now race has exploded into the center of the media debate about the presidential race. Just when a black political leader is calling us all to a new level of responsibility, hope, and unity, the old and divisive rhetoric of race from both blacks and whites is rearing its ugly head to bring down the best chance we have had for years of finally moving forward.


And that is indeed the real issue here. A black man is closer to possibly becoming [...]

+Continue Reading

Why America Needs the Uncensored Prophetic Voice of the Black Church

by Adam Taylor 03-18-2008

The media frenzy over the remarks of Barack Obama's former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, raise critical challenge to the prophetic role and voice of the black church. These "incendiary" remarks have set off a firestorm in the media, exposing the deep divide that exists on Sundays - America's most segregated hour of the week. This controversy serves as a stark reminder that the problem of the color line that still divides the U.S. and its churches. This often misguided debate obscures the [...]

+Continue Reading

Video: Has the Religious Right Lost Its Way?

by Administrator 03-17-2008

Jim Wallis talks with Tony Perkins (Family Research Council), Harry Jackson (High Impact Leadership), and Sammy Rodriguez (National Hispanic Leadership Conference) about the broadening evangelical agenda. Watch it:

+Continue Reading

My Testimony as a 'Winter Soldier' Witness

by Logan Laituri 03-17-2008

The Cost of War

During the last four days, more than 100 Iraq Veterans Against the War combat veterans, academics, and international guests shared their [...]

+Continue Reading

'War is Always a Defeat for Humanity'

by Alexia Kelley 03-17-2008

The Cost of War

Five years after bombs first exploded over Baghdad with a "shock and awe" display of staggering military might, the Iraq war continues with tragic costs and still-unseen consequences.

First, we mourn and honor the American and Iraqi dead whose lost lives are the ultimate reminder [...]

+Continue Reading

The Weakness of War

by J. Daryl Byler 03-17-2008

The Cost of War

"Can I forgive the people who killed my husband?"

It was perhaps the most practical and personal question asked during a recent meeting of Iraqi civil society leaders who had gathered to advise the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) about its future peacebuilding work in [...]

+Continue Reading

Putting Rev. Wright's Preaching in Perspective

by Diana Butler Bass 03-14-2008

The current media flap over the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama's former pastor, strikes me as nothing short of strange. Anyone who attends church on a regular basis knows how frequently congregants disagree with their ministers. To sit in a pew is not necessarily assent to a message preached on a particular day. Being a church member is not some sort of mindless cult, where individuals believe every word preached. Rather, being a church member means being part of a community of faith-a [...]

+Continue Reading

David vs. Goliath's Loan Shark

by Thomas J. Allio Jr. 03-14-2008

A modern-day version of the story of David and Goliath is quickly unfolding at Ohio's State House. The "Davids" of this story are the faith-based groups, housing advocates, consumer, community action, and other anti-poverty organizations around the state. "Goliath" is the powerful payday lending industry that has grown to more than 1,600 stores and has gross revenues of $2 billion annually. The issue in question is whether Ohio's 12-year-old law on payday lending should be changed to provide [...]

+Continue Reading

'He May or May Not Have Been the Bomb-maker'

by Marianne Kehoe 03-14-2008

The Cost of War

He may or may not have been the bomb-maker.


Did it matter, now that I stood in front of his body, still connected to tubes and vents and drips, but a body that had already breathed its last?


No, it didn't really matter. I stepped to the bed and laid a hand on his still-warm [...]

+Continue Reading

Repentance Means a New Direction

by Jim Wallis 03-13-2008

The Cost of War

On Tuesday, President Bush spoke to the annual convention of the National Religious Broadcasters. In a speech that The New York Times described as "Citing Faith, Bush Defends War [...]

+Continue Reading