President Barack Obama will be visiting Israel and Palestine in March. I call on you to write to Obama and tell him that if he is coming to engage Israelis and Palestinians in talks that will lead to a just pe ...

The Gospel is public truth, available to everyone, that reveals to all flesh who it is who rules all things by love, who holds all things in the grip of grace, who is making all things new by Christ's res ...

efforts to defeat the Confederates. On Dec. 17, 1862, Grant issued General Order No. 11. “The Jews,” ...

This week, in the run-up to Sunday's Academy Awards ceremony, we've been taking a look at each of the Best Picture nominees, the stories they tell, and the spiritual questions (and answers) they offe ...

Many young people enlist in the armed forces without understanding what they’re getting into. My county is rural and poor; jobs are scarce. Many students who lack money or grades to make college a viable optio ...

This world. It’s so beautiful. And every day, we have the opportunity to relish it. How many days are spent checking off to-do-list items on the backs of receipts? Why do we think we’re so busy all the time? W ...

Our friends and up-and-coming musicians Branches trekked all the way from California and stopped by our office in D.C. last week to play a couple of their songs during their East Coast tour! ...

February 20, 2013 Sojo in the News Jamie Sanderson ...

In Old Testament scripture, the resting place for the dead is called Sheol. While some believe this is the same as hell, there are indications to the contrary. In the ancient Jewish tradition, Sheol is a place ...

When we so disconnect our warriors from the realities of war, what does that do to their souls and to our collective soul? Do we lose sight of the horrible human cost of war? Do we become arrogant in our perce ...

Before Elvis and Chuck Berry and Johnny Cash. Before Aretha and Whitney and Beyonce. Before the blues met gospel and conceived rock ‘n’ roll, there was Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Be ...

This week, in the run-up to Sunday's Academy Awards ceremony, we're taking a look at each of the Best Picture nominees, the stories they tell, and the spiritual questions (and answers) they offer. To ...

U.N. reports on drone strikes in Afghanistan. The U.N. mission in Afghanistan released its annual report on civilian casualties in Afghanistan on Tuesday, finding a decrease fro ...

We can argue day and night about whether fear-based theology is effective, biblically accurate, or even necessary. But it’s worthwhile to consider where our contemporary ideas about hell and Satan even come fr ...

In about three dozen briefs filed in recent weeks, groups ranging from U.S. Catholic bishops and evangelicals to state attorneys general and university professors argue that upholding gay marriage could lead t ...

December 20, 2012 Sojo in the News Greg Horton ...

The fragility of life. The servanthood of love. The (im)morality of war. The fundamentals of mercy and justice. The power of grace and forgiveness. The oneness of creation. The personal (and spiritual) toll of ...

Catholics discuss moral and ethical concerns about drone warfare. Dennis Sadowski at Catholic News Service has a good summary of the moral and ethical concerns about dro ...

Controversy over the domestic use of drones is growing. While we have been focusing on drones as weapons of war – killing by drone – controversy over the domestic use of drones ...

When Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope Benedict XVI in 2005, the surprising choice cast a pall over the liberal wing of the flock and left conservatives giddy with the prospect of total victory. ...

As the 117 Roman Catholic cardinals walk into the Sistine Chapel next month for the election of a new pope, one hopes that they fully recognize the unfolding, dramatic pilgrimage of world Christianity: The dem ...

When disgruntled congregations have left hierarchical denominations such as the Episcopal Church, they’ve often lost property battles as civil courts ruled buildings and land are not theirs to keep. ...

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Just as the winter months tend to bring a mellower, melancholic feel to life, so too can music. And some of this month’s more obscure releases do just that. If you’re looking for an album to check out on a dre ...

The Memento mori ("remember you will die") of Ash Wednesday and of a Holy Lent is not a macabre, dark, or morbid reminder. It is our wake up call to live fully in the moment, to live *today* to its f ...

Control of the U.S. drone program may move from the CIA to the Pentagon. The U.S. killing by drones in countries other than war zones is run by the CIA. This leads to the secrecy ...

As President Obama prepares to travel to Israel and Palestine, we can hope and pray that models such as the ones found along the Okavango River in Namibia/Angola will inspire local Syrians and Israelis beside ...

Many other partners either split up or continue their holy wars. Often, the believer eventually follows the nonbelieving spouse out the church door. SALT LAKE CITY — For years, Matt Duff was an uber-Mormon. At 17, he ran away from home and moved ...

The third season of the megahit PBS series “Downton Abbey” wraps up on Sunday, capping another must-see run of ruin and redemption at Lord Grantham’s stately English manor. Yet some are still left puzzled over ...

Who better to embody the Christ-like compassionate suffering alongside the poor than one who knows the experience first-hand? For the first time in six centuries, the head of the ...

Chicago is weeping from the emotional exhaustion of having to bury too many youth who have been murdered. My city of Chicago, known as the City with Big Shoulders, is now on its k ...

What about all the images of God erased from our lives and families every year through gun violence in the U.S.? Earlier this month, my friend and colleague,  Richard Twiss , co ...

In this fight, the individual with the loaded AK-47 rifle may be only slightly less dangerous than the passive citizen, the average person who may think "something should be done about guns,” but fails to ...

Once we establish that gun violence is "our issue," once we have established solidarity, organization has a platform. Newtown is us, but so is Chicago. A well-known rest ...

The Pentagon is creating a new medal for drone pilots and others not physically in a war zone. Military medals have historically been given for exceptional bravery in combat. But ...

Committee delays confirmation vote on John Brennan while seeking additional drone information. As the drone debate continues, the Senate Intelligence Committee is delaying a confi ...

Former Senator Dick Lugar speaks of Washington partisanship. Like former Sen. Chuck Hagel, Richard Lugar is a moderate-to-conservative Midwest Republican. Lugar was defeated in a ...

This Lent Christians are standing in solidarity with Syrians by joining a rolling fast launched by Pax Christi International. The acute suffering of civilian communities in Syria has been made immeasurably wor ...

America is an arsenal with an open door. And any attempt to close the door is “unconstitutional.” Liberty, one of three basic rights outlined by The Declaration of Independence, is killing the other two. “Libe ...

How about we all just agree to skip Lent this year and just get back together on Easter, okay? A day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! -Joel ...

The bill now heads to the House where it is unclear how they plan to proceed. The Senate passed the Violence Against Women Act, picking up 16 additional Republican support and pas ...

Elaina Ramsey Who controls the airwaves? Find out who is controlling the airwaves—play a rousing game of Medi ...

Elizabeth Palmberg An extended interview with addiction-recovery worker Jim Balmer. Did you like our March is ...

The Editors Modern passages from Oswald Chambers' classic devotional reader My Utmost for His Highest. L ...

Who will be the next pope? With the Pope's unexpected resignation , and consequent endless "Ex-Benedict" memes , millions have taken to the Internet to voice ...

Yet with the stunning announcement that he is resigning as the 264th successor to Saint Peter, Benedict may wind up fundamentally changing the way the church and the world view the papacy. ...

We were anointing our brother’s feet for burial. As I moved the oil over his feet, I repeated the words that Richard’s editor had said to me when we talked earlier that night: “Beautiful are the feet of the on ...

What will happen when the world’s cardinals gather before the splendor of Michelangelo’s Last Judgment fresco in the Sistine Chapel to elect a new pope? Who are the “papabile,” as the Italians say, the “pope-a ...

The president of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod apologized for his role in the “debacle” that led him to publicly reprimand a pastor in Newtown, Conn., for praying at an interfaith service following the ma ...

Pope Benedict XVI will soon become the first pope to resign since 1415, short-circuiting many of the initial stages of electing a new pope. But the Vatican says the transition to a new papacy shouldn’t be all ...