Magazine
Sojourners Magazine: January 1994
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Feature
An interview with children's artist, philosopher, and tap-dancer Tomie dePaola
An interview with children's artist, philosopher, and tap-dancer Tomie dePaola
Commentary
Still reeling from the U.S.-backed contra war, Nicaragua's road to recovery is a rocky one.
After carefully reading the pope's latest encyclical, venerable German theologian Bernard Haring said he "looked forward hopefully to leaving the church on Earth for the church in heaven."
I have to admit, it's nice to wake up in the morning without half expecting the White House to launch another intervention in a Third World country or proudly announce another cut in a domestic social program that will make people in my neighborhood even poorer.
The recent launching of MTV's Latin American network, MTV Latino, marks a new
era in communications characterized by the concentration of control over the world's
media outlets into the hands
Earlier this year I was present at a series of U.N.-sponsored national
reconciliation conferences addressing the Somali conflict.
Columns
Well, that's some magazine so far, eh? Malevolent global corporations, the bleakness of Nicaragua, and the Holocaust. What is this, National Public Radio? I've seen more laughs in a jar of mustard.
The widespread popular discontent that so defined the 1992 election campaign continued unabated into the first year of the new president's term. It would not have mattered who won.
A full moon. A plunge in temperature. Transylvania County, North Carolina. Conditions were just right for Halloween...
MY 1994 NEW YEAR'S resolution - to break loose from serious menu ruts by planning further ahead - has already led to more time at a favorite activity: paging through cookbooks.
Culture Watch
Warrior Marks, the recently released Alice Walker-Pratibha Parmar collaboration, continues the exploration of female genital mutilation begun in Walker's Possessing the Secret of Joy.
Battles over culture will, for the near future, become increasingly central to political debate in this country.
As this is written, The Great Depression - produced by Henry Hampton's
Blackside Inc., the team behind the epochal Eyes on the Prize series - has just
started its four-week run
Departments
The U.S. government took hundreds of thousands of square miles from native
people. In a recent ceremony in Alaska, the church gave a small portion of that
land back.
AS A UNITED METHODIST, I was excited to see the excerpts of a pastoral letter
from the United Methodist bishops of Appalachia (June 1993).
For some religious leaders, spending hundreds of dollars for Christmas
gifts - ostensibly to honor the birth of one who had "no place to lay his head"
- is not merely ironic, it's sinful.
SOJOURNERS GIVES two examples of "radically different" interpretations of the Constitution ("A Matter of Justice," by Julie Polter, November 1993).
While many denominations across the globe have opened the door to the
ordination of women, none have taken as resolute an action for equality as the
Lutheran bishops of Sweden.
I FIND SOJOURNERS a nuisance to read. I'm retired now, but I made my
living in the publishing field for many years.
Members of "Simple Living" start their activism at home.
The old one sits with limp hands, closed eyes.
She is gone, out there singing softly
And making love to God.
The Mennonite Central Committee is launching a project to rid northern Laos of unexploded bombs dropped by U.S. planes during the Vietnam war.
Money Matters
How do Christians respond to consumerism, the global economy, housing issues,
and food crises?
I AM ENCOURAGED by your effort to look at the world in a different way. You
express in your words and action a desire to be guided by the Spirit.
ONE OF THE IMPORTANT things to remember in any inclusive language discussion regarding God is that it's not only a theological issue, but a language - a human tool.