Sojourners’ roots go back to followers of Jesus in 1971 bearing witness to “a society cancerous with racism, exploitation, repression and war,” and “characterized by economic surplus and spiritual starvation.” They called themselves “Post-American,” resisting the insidious intermingling of nationalism with Christian faith. At Sojourners, we still pledge allegiance to the one who suffered and died at the hands of an unjust state.
“America is not special,” as Jarvis Williams told our editor in chief Betsy Shirley in this month’s cover feature. Williams, a leader in pro-democracy and racial justice work and a former pastor, pushes against the myth that divine favor spares the United States from problems that the rest of the world grapples with. “Human fragility is the condition of the human community,” he said. He encourages people of faith who feel overwhelmed to act locally first, even amid great strife. And Wes Granberg-Michaelson offers soul support, reminding us that we “will need inward spiritual grounding that can make a practical difference in political engagement, social action, and outward witness.” Together, as Williams said, our little pinpricks of light will become “enough to give light to a dark world.”
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