When I visited Rev. Munther Isaac in Bethlehem, the West Bank, in October, he mentioned that he was previously opposed to liberation theologian James H. Cone. Isaac was trained in theologically conservative teachings, growing up in a conservative church and then leaving Palestine to attend a conservative seminary in the U.S.
“Jimmy Carter’s importance to faith and public life was reintroducing into the public square the principles that animated nineteenth-century evangelicals: concern for the poor, racial equality, peacemaking, human rights and equality for women,” Randall Balmer, professor of religion at Dartmouth told Sojourners. “He did so as an avowed and unapologetic Baptist, which means that he respected the First Amendment and the separation of church and state.”
An Israeli government minister criticized Pope Francis on Friday for suggesting the international community should study whether Israel’s military offensive in Gaza constitutes a genocide of the Palestinian people.
Prophets, by nature of their calling, are not well-liked. They must tell a community or nation what they’re doing wrong. In biblical times, modern times, and Ozian times, people don’t like to be told that they need to change their ways. So when Elphaba is called to disrupt the oppression that many have become complacent with, she is rejected for it.
I want to draw a careful distinction between saying that God can use an earthly event like an election to accomplish God’s purposes in the world and the claim that God — not the majority of American citizens who voted in the election this past November — chose Trump to become president.
Over the course of the HBO series The Penguin, Sofia Gigante transforms from abused daughter of Gotham City mobster Carmine Falcone to a proper supervillain, the head of her own crime family. Sofia has chosen a new surname for herself. By going from Falcone to Gigante, she signals that she’s different from her father. Sure, Sofia’s still committing crimes (like he did) and killing people (like he did), but she's convinced there’s something righteous in her ascension: Her rise to power represents a rejection of the misogyny that’s always plagued her.
What I’ve most appreciated about Downen is that investment in community. To report on abuse in the SBC, Downen had to earn the trust of everyone from powerful, complementarian pastors to radical, queer exvangelicals. His reporting, as we discussed below, is focused on impacts of power and policy instead of being driven by personalities.
In our interview, we discussed how anti-democracy organizing and Christian sex abuse overlap, what reporters need from their communities, and why he treats religious organizations as institutions with power.
On Nov. 19, Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell sat before legislators on Capitol Hill and defended the agency from accusations that it responded slowly to hurricanes in the southeastern United States and skipped homes with President-elect Donald Trump signs on their property.
Earlier in November, Criswell said in a statement that a FEMA employee who had told relief workers in Florida to skip houses with signs supporting Trump had been fired. (Other employees later returned to those homes to offer the opportunity to apply for aid, Criswell testified.) This revelation came at a time when conspiracy theories about hurricanes were rampant.
Perhaps more than any other medium, books can simultaneously sharpen our suspicion and enlarge our imaginations. Sojourners’ best books of 2024 do both with style.
After news broke Wednesday that President-elect Donald Trump planned to nix a policy discouraging immigration arrests in places like churches and schools, Indiana pastor Zach Szmara fielded questions from churches across the country about how to prepare.