My favorite conversation our magazine has ever published is associate editor Da’Shawn Mosley’s interview with preacher, intergenerational mentor, and civil rights activist Ruby Sales. And that’s not just because Sales slipped a couple curse words into Sojo’s largely PG pages (there is a certain mischievous pleasure that comes with hearing a preacher curse). Mainly, I loved the questions Sales posed back to Mosley as she pushed him to imagine himself and his art outside of the paradigms of whiteness and capitalism:
“What does it mean to exist in a militarized state designed to protect the interests of a global elite and decimate our ability to resist and even think critically about the world that we live in? Where is God in all of this?” And this big one: “What does it mean to look at oneself through the gaze of one’s own history?"
I’m not going to try to answer any of those questions here; that would far exceed my word count. But I will pose a few more, illuminated by the articles our editors have read this week:
How does our understanding of “soul” change depending on our cultural background? How much of our self-worth is wrapped up in our job? And how can we break down the false binary of science and spirituality?
Feel free to use those light-and-breezy questions for your Friday date night or virtual happy hour.
1. Ruby Sales: “So What Is It They’re Asking You To Do?”
The civil rights activist talks with Da'Shawn Mosley about technology, history, and finding one's voice. By Da'Shawn Mosley via Sojourners.
2. Making Muffins and Troops for Spiritual Warfare: The Godly Women of Instagram
“Motherhood is central to many nationalist ideologies, since the future of the nation depends on a mythical identity that must be passed down through generations. The rhetoric of white Christian nationalism is no different. Mothers raise God’s army. Instagram is their scrapbook.” By Aimee Chor via Religion Dispatches.
3. ‘God, Please Help Me Make Some Money So I Can Pay Off My Student Loans.’
“For many seminarians, they have had to make a decision between paying their seminary debt and taking care of health care concerns.” By Curtis Yee via sojo.net.
4. Pixar’s Troubled Soul
The most glaring artistic error in Soul is its misprision — its elision, really — of what soul means for black culture. By Namwali Serpell via The New Yorker.
5. Can Faith Leaders’ Vaccine Selfies Rebuild Public Trust?
“God made science and God made scientists, therefore people of faith can use science and scientists to enhance their lives.” By Stephanie Russell-Kraft via sojo.net.
6. The Bison Have Returned
Over 100 years after illegally taking lands on the Flathead Reservation, the federal government returns land and management of bison to tribes. By Mary Annette Pember via Indian Country Today.
7. ‘Safely Open the Doors of Our Sanctuary Churches,’ Members of Congress Urge Biden
The letter urged the president to ensure immigrants taking sanctuary in houses of worship would be protected from deportation. By Mitchell Atencio via sojo.net.
8. You Don’t Have to Love Your Job
Convince people that they are doing something they love, and how can they demand better working conditions? By Jonathan Malesic via The New Republic.
9. How Parler Played to Conservative Christians’ Fear of Censorship
Though Parler has been suspended, the appeal of alternative social media sites remains. By Lexi McMenamin via sojo.net.
10. 60 Days on, India’s Biggest Farmers’ Protest Shows No Sign of Weakening
There are currently an estimated 300,000 farmers protesting at Singhu, which has now turned into a tent city. By Stella Paul via Inter Press Service.
Jenna Barnett is senior associate culture editor at Sojourners. Find her on Twitter: @jennacbarnett.
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