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Magazine

Sojourners Magazine: September/October 2017

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On the surface, it's about cake: Is a baker with religious objections to same-sex marriage obliged--by anti-discrimination laws--to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple? But underneath the frosting, it's part of an ongoing debate in the U.S. about the relationship between civil liberties and religious freedom. In this ongoing fight, sides are split down partisan lines, with conservatives champtioning religious liberty and liberals defending civil rights. But what if you care about both? Is it even possible to support religious freedom for all while also protecting the civil liberties of LGBTQ folks and other minorities? In our cover story, Baptist minister and constitutional lawyer, Oliver Thomas takes a look.

 

Cover Story

When religious liberties and civil liberties collide, how do we protect both?
How a Lutheran preschool playground became the setting for a major religious liberty debate. 

Feature

Photo by John Downing/Getty Images
Like many others, I was moved by her compassion and courage. But that's not what really drew me to her. I was drawn by her doubt. 
Jim Richardson/ Flikr.com
The world's family farmers, with their creative capacity to work sustainably with nature, are showing the way forward. 
USAID U.S. Agency for International Development/ Flikr.com
If one does not know the questions smallholder farmers are asking, then one's 'answers' are unlikely to satisfy their needs.

Commentary

The story that often gets overlooked: The Affordable Care Act actually works. 
Trump's plan to sell water systems to the highest bidder is going to cost you. 

Culture Watch

Theater takes on hard questions in a contentious democracy. 
Before she was assassinated in El Salvador in 1980, Sister Maura came to an awful realization about U.S. foreign policy in Central America.
Movies are Prayers: How Films Voice Our Deepest Longings, by Josh Larsen. IVP Books. 
An excerpt from White Awake: An Honest Look at What It Means to Be White by Daniel Hill.
Rawpixel.com / Shutterstock.com
Unpaid organizers create genuinely meaningful support groups--and boost ad revenue.
Miami2you / Shutterstock.com
Four September cultural recommendations from our editors.
Rob Young/ flikr.com
We're living in a time where filmmakers investigate inner complexity and their impact on the lives of others.

Departments

We want to support religious freedom and protect civil liberties...but is that even possible?
Letters to the editor from Sojourners readers
Reflections on the Revised Common Lectionary, Cycle A
Reflections on the Revised Common Lectionary, Cycle A

Columns

Greger Ravik / Flikr.com
We dream of a sensational fight, but have little appreciation for the mundanities of evil.
 Dave Weaver / Shutterstock.com
When will construction begin? Well, that depends on Nebraska. 
Funny business by Ed Spivey Jr.
Hernán Piñera / Flikr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Trump's budget cuts $800 billion from programs for the poor—and has a $43 billion increase in military spending. 
"Bear witness," the peacemaker says. Say the things that happened.