Commentary

Kaitlin Curtice 6-01-2018

All over the place in American Christianity, we are asking what is appropriate, what will work and what will not work anymore, how women and people of color are to be treated, what is expected of our male leaders. We are re-wiring things and tearing some things down. We’re making room for a new kind of faith, detaching it from the fear-based faith we were taught as children.

Jim Wallis 5-31-2018

Image via Rebekah Fulton/Sojourners

In the first week of Pentecost, at what became an extraordinary service, thousands gathered at the National City Christian Church to participate in a candlelight procession and vigil at the White House.

Austen Hartke 5-30-2018

Image via Nicholas Kwok/Unsplash

Christian ministries have been a part of the prison reform movement for decades, and Barna polls like the one conducted by Prison Fellowship tell us that 89 percent of practicing Christians agreed with the statement, “It’s important that prison conditions are safe and humane, specifically because I believe every person has intrinsic value and worth.” Our Christian belief that every single person bears the image of God within them informs the actions we take to support each other.

Jamar A. Boyd II 5-29-2018

Metro Davidson County Police inspect the scene of a fatal shooting at a WaffleHouse restaurant near Nashville, Tennessee, U.S., April 22, 2018. REUTERS/Harrison McClary. 

I mentioned these incidents not solely because I’m a black man in America, but because our attention is easily swayed away from these incidents. They are uncomfortable and authentic truths and possible realities for all minorities in America. They are most certainly the fear of most black youth, young adults, persons, and parents in this country. The possibility that you can/could be killed for being ‘Black in America’ is daunting.

People watch a TV broadcasting a news report on a cancelled summit between the U.S. andNorth Korea, in Seoul, South Korea, May 25, 2018. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

The historic meeting was set for June 12 in Singapore, but was cancelled by Trump this month. The U.S. approach to this meeting was concerning. Trump felt that the U.S. did not have to do anything to prepare for the June meeting. He  continues to keep a military presence in South Korea with joint U.S. and South Korean military exercises that have always been a threat and irritation to North Korea. The mere presence of 25,000 U.S. Troops in South Korea heightens the suspicions and anxieties of Kim Jong un and the North Korean people. Trump has become blind to the need for diplomacy.

the Web Editors 5-25-2018

1. Fresh Off Royal Sermon, Bishop Warns ‘Somebody Woke Up Jim Crow’

CNN covers last night’s Reclaiming Jesus Service and Vigil to the White House that drew more than 2,000 people to hear Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, Rev. Jim Wallis, Rev. Dr. Walter Brueggemann, Rev. Dr. Sharon Watkins, and other church elders.

And if you missed it …

2. You Can Watch the Full Video of the Reclaiming Jesus Service Here

Christina Colón 5-24-2018

Image via "Pa'lante"/YouTube

“Pa’lante is a very Puerto Rican mindset,” Kristian Mercado Figueroa, who directed the music video, said. “Be it a family struggling to stay together, or recovering from the hurricane, the Puerto Rican people are strong and they will always stand and move forward.”

Jim Wallis 5-24-2018

As we got the word out to Christians across the United States and beyond about tonight’s Reclaiming Jesus service and candlelight procession to the White House gates (which you can live stream on the Sojourners Facebook page starting at 7 p.m. EDT), I just loved the question that came from some of the people planning to come on Thursday night. “Do we need to bring our own candles?” (For the record, we are providing candles for up to 1,000 participants — and if there are more, candle aps on smart phones or flash lights will suffice!

Eugenia Ji 5-23-2018

Run River North at Union Stage. Image via Eugenia Ji.

"Most first-generation immigrants, especially from Korea, found community in church. And so as children of Korean immigrants, most of us grew up in church. It is very much a part of who we are. We’re not trying to proselytize people or save people, but if we can tell a real story, and it's not always pretty, it's not always good or hopeful — just see album two. As long as we can interact with people listening in a real way, then our job is done."

Jeff Hoagland 5-23-2018

Last week, the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival kicked off with eight weeks of nonviolent direct action every Monday. Movements have long recognized the deep work necessary to build community, and that is why after the mass arrests on Monday, the campaign hosts #TruthfulTuesdays, a series of teach-ins for social justice. As the Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis said at the first one, “Yesterday we were loud. But we can’t be loud and wrong.”

Dani Gabriel 5-22-2018

Image via @lil_bear_photo/Unsplash

"We experience being known in many different ways: in baptism, whether as infants or children or adults, in confirmations, in ordinations, in weddings. We haven't had anything for people who have transitioned to change their name or ask that we use different pronouns for them. Yet this is obviously a really profound shift in who they understand themselves to be. It’s important for the church to affirm that identity, and name it as good."

Stephen Mattson 5-22-2018

Whatever your opinions of President Trump, his actions and words directly contradict what we are told constitutes wisdom, and fulfill the Bible’s definitions of folly. He seems to be lacking joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, or self-control — every fruit of the Spirit.

Peter Borgdorff, Photo courtesy Wes Granberg-Michaelson

We at Sojourners were especially blessed to have Peter’s leadership for 26 years on the board of Sojourners and, before that, Call to Renewal, which we and he helped to found on behalf of the poorest and most vulnerable. That was a deep passion for Peter, for those left outside that Jesus told us to bring inside.

Joe Kay 5-21-2018

Image via Shutterstock/ChameleonsEye

Strikingly, these Evangelical leaders made no public statements about what was right in front of them. They offered no words about the inhumane conditions their Palestinian brothers and sisters endure. They made no attempt to heal the fighting or bring justice to the situation. 

Kent Annan 5-21-2018

Calling people “animals” misses the mark on all of this, even if the comment only referred to gang members. No, we shouldn’t shrug at evil or avoid calling out awful things and people who are causing great suffering — an important part of our power with language. But even in naming evil we’re to be guided by love for the suffering and those who cause suffering. Jesus loved the criminal on the cross next to him on Golgotha. Each person is made in God’s image and loved by God.

One particularly welcome development at the Met Gala was seeing the mail coif associated with Joan adopted by women of colour such as Priyanka Chopra and Zendaya. This move distanced the saint from her recent nationalist and racist recruitment by Marine Le Pen of France’s Front National and reclaimed her as an icon of ferocity for all women.

the Web Editors 5-18-2018

4. David Letterman Just Can’t Figure Out Why He Never Had Women Writers

Letterman brought up the topic in an interview with Tina Fey on his new Netflix show — to not great effect. “If in the previous three decades, Letterman had hired greater numbers of diverse writers, he would have transformed the comedy world. He chose not to, and that’s part of his legacy.”

Richard Mouw 5-18-2018

Palestinian medics and protesters evacuate a wounded youth during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, east of Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, on May 14, 2018. Thousands of Palestinians protested near Gaza's border with Israel as Israel prepared for the festive inauguration of a new U.S. Embassy in contested Jerusalem. Image via RNS/AP Photo/Adel Hana

The most theologically significant prayer at the ceremony, however, was offered by John Hagee, a megachurch pastor from San Antonio. Hagee, a longtime supporter of Israeli policies, thanked the Lord on this occasion “that Jerusalem is and always shall be the eternal capital of the Jewish people.”

Whitney Parnell 5-18-2018

FILE PHOTO: Protesters marching down Market Street are seen reflected in a Starbucks storefront in Philadelphia, a week after two black men were arrested at a Starbucks coffee shop.  April 19. REUTERS/Dominick Reuters

Despite the frequency, I have made the decision to allow myself to feel the anger and pain that comes with every example of community profiling, because desensitization feels far more dangerous to me. While this is just a reality for black and brown people, these examples of back-to-back national headlines help provide justification for our outrage and fear. They demonstrate that nowhere seems safe for people of color, and instances like these happen everywhere — including in our own neighborhoods. What cannot be denied is that there is a common thread behind these encounters: A scared white person. For all who feel threatened by even the mere presence of people of color, I have one simple request: Please stop calling the police on us.

Juliet Vedral 5-17-2018

Director Wim Wenders with Pope Francis. Image via @ThePopeMovie.

"Pope Francis has an enormous capacity to communicate. His words are simple, but clear, and from the heart. He has a great presence that comes from his honesty, his humility, his sense of humor, and his courage."