How ironic that for all the protests going on about unemployment these days there is a parallel, if less shrill, debate happening in our agricultural sector involving what to do about a shortage of wo ...

Before I met President Obama, I was always cynically independent when it came to politics. Like a lot of other young people with different views on different issues, I never considered myself to be either a D ...

Last weekend, former Senator Charles Percy of Illinois passed away. Along with former Sen. Mark Hatfield of Oregon, who died a month ago, they represented the last vestiges of an era of moderate Republicans ...

Mark O. Hatfield's political witness shaped a whole generation of students, teachers, pastors, and social activists in the evangelical community and beyond. Mark O. Hat ...

<p>Over lunch last week, during the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict's <a href="http://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/index.php/learning-and-resources/educational-initiatives/fletche ...

This has been a difficult year in Ohio. This has been a difficult year in Ohio. For a state that lives and dies with the Ohio State Buckeye football team, the allegations surround ...

<p style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://blog.sojo.net/2011/05/16/a-song-and-reflection-on-immigration-and-the-border-town/" target="_self"></a> I was recent ...

Reading the recent headlines of immigration news has hardly been uplifting, with multiple state legislatures attempting to pass <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/01/29/arizona-style-imm ...

In a northern Kabul neighborhood in December, I met with the director of the Afghan Women's Skills and Development Center, a non-governmental organization working to enhance the basic skills and ca ...

President Barack Obama's decision to veto the February 18 U.N. President Barack Obama's decision to veto the February 18 U.N. Resolution calling Israel to account for it ...

<p style="text-align: left;">On May 30, 2009, a terrorist attack in Arizona ended the lives of two U.S. citizens -- a Latino man and his 9-year-old daughter. On Ma ...

Today, the new 112th Congress convenes. Today, the new 112th Congress convenes. Among the new rules for this Congress adopted by the incoming Republican majority is that in th ...

The House acted last night with boldness and leadership to pass the <a href="http://blog.sojo.net/tag/dream-act/" target="_blank">DREAM Act</a>. Th ...

In this <a href="http://blog.sojo.net/tag/advent/" target="_blank">season of Advent</a>, we in our Christian churches speak often about how this is a time of waiting and prepara ...

<p><a href="http://blog.sojo.net/tag/food-and-faith/" target="_blank"></a></p> [ Editors' Note: This m ...

<p><a href="/sites/default/files/images/banner_farmworkers1.JPG"></a></p> [ Editors' Note: In November, Sojourners w ...

On Wednesday, November 17, the <a href="http://www.change.org/national_coalition_to_end_domestic_minor_sex_trafficking" target="_blank">National Coalition to End Domestic Minor Sex Tr ...

<p><a href="http://blog.sojo.net/tag/conscientious-objection/" target="_blank"></a></p> This week, the Truth Commission on ...

<em>"We need immigration reform "We need immigration reform Perhaps we should also have Perhaps we should also have advocates encourage politicians ...

I am not happy with the results of the 2010 elections. I think the elections turned on misinformation, anger, and fear. I am not happy with the results of the 2010 elections. I th ...

With just a few days effectively left in this session of Congress, as a grassroots organizer I feel like I'm in the middle of a political thriller, the movie preview for which would include that d ...

In the last few weeks, the DREAM Act has become a source of hope for many and a source of debate and speculation for others. In the last few weeks, the DREAM Act has become a sour ...

Yesterday, like most mornings, I spent 33 minutes on the elliptical trainer in my apartment exercise room. As a way to distract myself and multi-task, I watched the morning news. ...

President Obama is keeping hope alive for <a href="http://blog.sojo.net/tag/comprehensive-immigration-reform/">comprehensive immigration reform legislation</a> this year. ...

I'd say Barack Obama's long and often tenuous honeymoon with progressive Americans took what looks like a lethal blow in spring 2010. I'd say Barack Obama's lo ...

I'm not a college student anymore, but Dr. Rand Paul just gave me some homework.</p> I'm not a college student anymore, but Dr. Rand Paul just gave me some homewor ...

When is a law not a (real) law? When there's zero penalty for breaking it. When is a law not a (real) law? When there's zero penalty for breaking it. There is a great de ...

NASA released a new image yesterday that shows a large column of oil heading from the Deepwater Horizon rig site in the Gulf of Mexico out into the open ocean, a startling and heartbreaking indicat ...

In a frank admission a year ago, Senator Dick Durbin put it bluntly: "Frankly, the banks run this place." Perhaps they deserve to. After all, they pay enough for the privilege. ...

<p><a href="http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=magazine.contents&amp;issue=soj1006"></a>In this month's Sojourners, <a href="http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action= ...

Watching a disaster unfold on the news is always heartbreaking, but when it occurs in your hometown and you are far away, it can be debilitating. Watching a disaster unfold on the ...

<p><a href="http://ryanrodrickbeiler.smugmug.com/Protests-and-Rallies/May-Day-Immigration-Rally-2010/12041094_aXpkQ#855070806_wCQFN"></a>There's a scene in the film <a href= ...

Early Saturday evening, three friends and I headed out to Chicago for dinner at a favorite restaurant in our old neighborhood (Pilsen). Early Saturday evening, three friends and I ...

In a recent <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/23/opinion/23brooks.html"><em>New York Times</em> column, David Brooks</a> laments the loss of the political center. ...

<em>Why do you always forget us? Why do you forsake us so long? Why do you always forget us? Why do you forsake us so long? Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may ...

The law signed today by Arizona Gov. Brewer is a social and racial sin, and should be denounced as such by people of faith and conscience across the nation. The law signed today b ...

From the borderlands perspective, it has been a week of momentous steps both forward and back for immigrants. From the borderlands perspective, it has been a week of momentous ste ...

A legislative victory by opponents of immigration has had the unintended consequence of forcing the deportation of almost every U.S. citizen to their country of ancestral origin. ...

According to Robert Pear's recent article in <em>The New York Times</em> (<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/29/health/policy/29health.html">"Coverage Now for Sick C ...

On March 23, 2010, President Barack Obama signed into law the most comprehensive health reform legislation in decades. On March 23, 2010, President Barack Obama signed into law th ...

I get asked often how I can stay in the crazy business of trying to change and shape public policy. I get asked often how I can stay in the crazy business of trying to change and ...

<p><a href="http://www.ryanrodrickbeiler.com/Protests-and-Rallies/Immigration-Reform-March-for/11589736_fEmWi#816763105_zEaZz"></a>More than 200,000 people descended on Washington, ...

On Saturday when the House of Representatives passed the health-care reform bill and on Tuesday when President Obama signed it into law, many of us who have been advocating for health-care reform s ...

<p><a href="http://www.ryanrodrickbeiler.com/Protests-and-Rallies/Health-Care/10104725_XrdU4#693999782_w46kY"></a>We all know how much the media love conflict, and they have fallen ...

<p><a href="http://www.ryanrodrickbeiler.com/Protests-and-Rallies/May-Day-Immigration-Rally/8116193_7PzaR#530299533_pYZW5"></a> On Sunday, a major <a href="http://changetake ...

President Obama has postponed his trip to Guam, Indonesia, and Australia to work for the passage of health-care reform. President Obama has postponed his trip to Guam, Indonesia, ...

<p><a href="http://www.ryanrodrickbeiler.com/Protests-and-Rallies/Health-Care/10104725_XrdU4#693990437_H8wF9"></a>As I watched our president present his plan to pass the health refo ...

<p>My alarm went off at 5 a.m. today. As I sat up and unzipped my sleeping bag, a gust of Oklahoma wind bitterly ushered me into a new day. Drops of rain splashed my face, extinguishing the last few embe ...

<p>Recently Glenn Beck made <a href="http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/03/08/glenn-beck-urges-listeners-to-leave-churches-that-preach-social/">some comments</a> about leaving a chur ...

<p><a href="http://www.ryanrodrickbeiler.com/Protests-and-Rallies/May-Day-Immigration-Rally/8116193_7PzaR#530254746_CFpJb"></a>The window is closing on comprehensive immigration ref ...