context

Charissa Laisy 1-14-2015
Insulated superhero. Vector concept courtesy artenot/shutterstock.comm

Insulated superhero. Vector concept courtesy artenot/shutterstock.comm

I went to college thinking political activism was sexy. Living in a large city gave me unparalleled access to protests for countless good causes. Chanting at anti-war marches and getting arrested on behalf of climate change legislation would make interesting party stories, I thought. I quickly hopped on the Occupy Chicago bandwagon, a movement which calls for a more equitable wealth distribution, but whose leaders and participants were largely white college graduates. None of my organizing work focused on racial inequalities, but stayed in the realm of money in politics, equitable banking practices, and climate change.

My journey took a profound turn at an organizing training where I proudly stated I was there because my faith called me to advocate for the least of these. In response, a powerful, albeit brash, leader in Chicago’s movements angrily characterized me as an “activist do-gooder” who was fueled by the need to be a good white person. This label devastated me. I’m outspoken, passionate and willing to lead, I thought, so why can’t people see me as a resource? I took a break from the organizing world feeling disillusioned and miffed.

This attitude forced me to ask myself, why was I drawn to political activism in the first place? What was it that drew me to the movements in which I involved myself? And why was I so offended that someone had questioned my motives?

 

 

Cathleen Falsani 11-03-2011

"God helps those who help themselves," is, unfortunately for Mr. Carney, NOT in the Bible.

Rather it's an oft-quoted aphorism that sounds like it should be in the Bible but isn't. A "phantom scripture," if you will.

Eugene Cho 6-03-2011
After my recent intense post about the rapture that has come and gone, I thought I'd write about a very light topic:
In the tradition of the church, the season of Lent was observed through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.
Ken Fong 3-17-2011
Jesus came to us full of grace and truth (John 1).
Lynne Hybels 2-15-2011

Last week, I received this photo of Maggie, an Egyptian Christian friend who is a documentary filmmaker. When I asked her if I could post the photo on my blog, she sent me this email in return:

Eugene Cho 1-21-2011
It's amazing what one article can do, but one thing that's clear is Amy Chua is going to sell some books. Cha-ching.

Sheldon Good 1-04-2011
Sunday school. It was one of the main reasons I enjoyed church as a child. As a young adult, it sometimes still is. But there's a conversation brewing: Does Sunday school have a future?
Bethany Anderson 12-27-2010

Maria, 7, and Lupe, 3, are our next-door neighbors. For some reason, they have decided they like coming to our house. I'm not exactly sure why, we have nothing that I would consider appealing to a 3- and 7-year-old, but they come ... almost daily. Because of this, and our history with their family over the past few years, we have gotten to know their story quite intimately.

Lori D. Wilson 9-27-2010
For most of us, the term "colonialism" conjures images of palm trees, pith helmets, and mosquito nets.
The controversy over the injustice done to Shirley Sherrod, the African-American woman whose comments on race were taken out of context, misreported, an

When I first heard the announcement to rise for "the presentation of the colors," I didn't understand what that was.

Sheldon Good 5-27-2010
I'm not a college student anymore, but Dr. Rand Paul just gave me some homework.

Aaron Taylor 5-25-2010
In March, I wrote a piece praising the Biblical character Boaz for showing compassion to Ruth, w
Aaron Taylor 4-21-2010
A few weeks ago I wrote a post on my blog entitled Will the Real Gospel Please Stand Up? In the post I
Jarrod McKenna 4-21-2010

This video clip by The Work of The People is going to upset a lot of people.

100421-calvary-or-gallipoli-video

Last week, The Washington Post's On Faith site devoted their weekly Q&A to the debate over social justice which they titled, "Wallis vs.