U.S. President Donald Trump takes the oath of office from U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2017. Photo by Carlos Barria/Reuters
Are we a nation of immigrants or of ethno-nationalists? Do we believe in “American Exceptionalism” or “America First”? Do we prioritize narrowly conceived national interests over enduring American values? Should we lead and preserve the international order, or simply compete with craven superpowers like China and Russia? Will we compassionately open our doors to the world’s “tired, poor and huddled masses yearning to be free,” or will we tell them to go back to the “s***hole countries” they come from? Put starkly, are we a nation “under God” or under Trump? We must choose.
Thousands of women gathered at the National Mall in 2017. Image via JP Keenan/Sojourners.
I marched because I serve a Master whose yoke is easy, whose burden is light. Labor rights are essential to the health and well-being of the country, both economically and spiritually. The decline of the middle class is a result of the decline of union membership and influence. Appointing as Secretary of Labor a CEO who opposes overtime pay and increasing the minimum wage is an attack on working people.
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For Augustine and his followers, attention was a rare and valuable experience, perhaps even more than for us since they associated it with the divine. One might expect that as a result they should have simply dismissed distraction. But they didn’t.
“You are bringing politics into the church!” That is a frequently heard comment when pastors and community leaders bring things like MLK Day commemoration services into their churches. I asked the gathered audience at the Millbrook Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Monday night if they had ever heard that question before. I was honored to give the keynote address for their MLK Day 2018 service — which was filled up with leaders and members of local Christian Reformed Churches and students and faculty from Calvin College. Heads were nodding yes in response to my question all over the congregation.
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"When a black man gets shot and killed on the side of the road for doing nothing other than being black, and no one says anything about it but maybe some black people for a little while, and then it goes away, the church has not done enough. It has done nearly nothing."
How did religious liberty come to mean nearly the opposite of what its founders intended?
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From rural, residential life to news cameras to FBI investigations, I, Tonya is a sweeping view of an America that has barely changed since 1994, and certainly hasn’t improved much. It’s a film about how, in the words of screenwriter Steven Rogers, “America wants someone to love, but they also want someone to hate.”
FILE PHOTO - President Donald Trump addresses a joint news conference with Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg in the East Room of the White House. Jan. 10, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
Donald Trump’s hateful words spoken in the Oval Office have been now been heard around the world and may be among the most ugly and harmful words to ever come from the White House of the United States of America. The people of America and around the world have heard that Trump asked, “Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” The “shithole” countries named were those in Africa, as well as Haiti and El Salvador — places from which he didn’t want more people to come to America. Instead he said he would like more people from “places like Norway.” The message, about the color of skin the people Trump wants and doesn’t want in America, was clear.
May we hear others’ stories — what makes them sad or strong / Till — listening — we find friendship, with love our common song
Times have also changed for my country of birth. Last year, the Colombian armed conflict with the guerrillas officially ended with the signing of a historic peace agreement overseen by the UN. The economy is booming. The Colombian president, Juan Manuel Santos, won the Nobel Peace prize last year for his tireless efforts for the peace process — the first Colombian citizen to win the award.
Maybe Trump could take some advice from “shithole countries.”
The relationship between a Southern Baptist black man and a Jewish mystic can teach us a lot today about how to work across divides, and how to become one in the face of hatred and racism.
A new interactive investigation from Al Jazeera uncovers a dirty money trail in Ukraine.
5. Your City Has a Gender, and It’s Male
Why city designers are increasingly thinking about the female perspective.
Jesus has left your church when a woman is assaulted, but only men are allowed to speak publicly about it.
During the late 19th century, unbelief and indifference to religion, especially the U.S.‘s dominant religion of Christianity, became more acceptable in public opinion. This was especially true among educated elites because of the combination of two phenomena. On the one hand, new scholarship called the origin and history of the Bible into question. On the other, evolution suggested that a divine being was not needed to explain the world’s development.
Image via Reuters/Mario Anzuoni
I hope we stop spreading the dangerous myth that abuse and harassment doesn’t happen among Christians.
Eric L. Motley, former special assistant to George W. Bush and current Executive Vice President of the Aspen Institute, shares on the hard knocks and treasures of growing up in a largely poor African-American town during the height of the civil rights era in his memoir Madison Park: A Place of Hope. In the memoir, Motley chronicles his journey from a rural town founded by freed slaves in Alabama to navigating the political terrain of the White House. Motley recounts formative and disappointing experiences around the issue of race and highlights some of the small-town heroes that poured into his life as a child. The memoir provides a thoughtful reflection of how faith and radical love within a tight-knit community can significantly impact a person’s life.
Motley recently spoke with Sojourners about his story.
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, right, with his trainer Alex Guerrero on Feb. 5, 2017. Damian Strohmeyer via AP
Guerrero, a former missionary turned charismatic fitness guru, is Tom Brady’s miracle man, credited with allowing the star quarterback to play at a top level into his 40s. The two have teamed up to spread the Gospel of TB12 — in a best-selling book and TB12, a lucrative training and fitness brand. In TB products and promotions, Guerrero shares almost every moment of Brady’s life — what he eats, how he exercises and rests, how he mentally prepares for games. He’s even godfather to Brady’s son.
Of course, the two political parties are not morally equivalent; it makes a great difference how we vote, as we will have the opportunity to do later this year. The Republican Party’s political sellout to Donald Trump — and the lack of a clear moral alternative by the Democrats many people of faith are excited to support — leaves many of us feeling politically homeless.
Image via Osservatore Romano/Handout via Reuters
The pope spoke of “faithful creativity” in responding to a rapidly changing world. The job of a theologian is to show people what lies at the heart of the Gospel.
Image via RNS / Wikimedia Commons
Sure, there are loud voices that seem to feed into certain conclusions about what religious people think about science and scientists. (Consider creationist Ken Ham’s attempts to discredit the theory of evolution.) But, as with any issue, the loudest or most prominent voices are not necessarily the most representative.