the Web Editors 11-22-2019

4. Pete Buttigieg on Faith 'As a Source of Unity' and Its Role in the 2020 Election

We have a form of kind of cheap nationalism that uses the idea of nationality to tell a lot of people that they aren’t your neighbor--even if they literally are your neighbor.

Cathleen Falsani 11-22-2019

In his Neighborhood of Make-Believe, with simple hand puppets with complex internal lives such as Daniel Striped Tiger, Prince Tuesday, and Ana Platypus, he did something profound. Rogers and his collaborators on the show listened intently to children, created routine and a safe, sometimes magical place where they might be understood, affirmed, and cherished.

For those of us who perhaps didn’t always get the emotional support we needed at home, it was a gift that helped shape who we are as adults, parents, and grandparents.

Holly-Anna Peterson 11-22-2019

Being baptized at the Trafalgar Square protest site was not a publicity stunt for me. I had been Christened as a child, but still, receiving adult baptism was a choice I didn’t make lightly. I reaffirmed my baptismal vows at Extinction Rebellion because I needed God right beside me.

Simran Jeet Singh 11-22-2019

Dr. Serene Jones serves currently as president of the historic Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York — the first woman president in the institution’s 183 years of existence. Among her many illustrious achievements, Jones also served as president for the American Academy of Religion, the world’s largest association of scholars in the field of religious studies. Jones grew up in Oklahoma with her family, which she describes as “progressive and deeply Christian.”

Podcast   11-21-2019

Jim Wallis, in conversation with William Matthews and Allison Trowbridge, explores the themes of Chapter Nine, “The Discipleship Question” from his new book Christ in Crisis: Why We Need to Reclaim Jesus.

Jim Wallis 11-21-2019

What does discipleship look like?

I was in Tuscon, Ariz., this week for the final day of the trial of Scott Warren, a volunteer who helps migrants in the desert. He was charged with a felony for “harboring” and assisting “illegal aliens” with a potential sentence of 10 years in prison. I gave a statement outside the Tucson courthouse and then joined a group of clergy flooding the courtroom as the closing arguments were presented and the jury was sent out to make their decision.

Some 120 prisoners are currently on death row and two were executed this year. Fifteen were executed in 2018, the highest number for a decade, including 13 former members of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult, who had been convicted of carrying out sarin gas attacks on the Tokyo subway.
Simran Jeet Singh 11-21-2019

Mark Charles describes himself as a dual citizen of the United States and the Navajo Nation. He is making history this year by becoming the second-ever Native American to run for president of the United States of America. I recently heard Mark speaking at the Aspen Institute about how white supremacy infiltrated Christian theology to justify colonialism, oppression, and genocidal violence. I also read his recent book on this topic co-authored with Soong-Chan Rah titled Unsettling Truths: The Ongoing Dehumanizing Legacy of the Doctrine of Discovery.

Liz Lwanga 11-21-2019

Sustainable fashion is a rapidly growing movement. Honoring the labor, expertise, and material resources used to make clothes is also an essential way for people of faith to honor God. So how do we do that effectively? Thankfully, the solution starts no further than your closet. Here are five ways to dive in and begin embodying Christ’s righteousness in your relationship to your clothes.

An Arizona jury on Wednesday found a human rights activist not guilty of harboring two migrants who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, after the U.S. government prosecuted him for giving them food, water, and shelter in the desert.