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April 20, 2022

Volume 139, Issue #8

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Features

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and the monster of Whiteness

Unmasking and slaying our Promethean desire for mastery

by Whitney Wilkinson Arreche

Myanmar’s civil war has continued unabated for 60 years

How could a Buddhist country have one of the worst human rights records in the world?

by Chris Mabey

Readers Write

Scrap: Essays by readers

We gave our readers a one-word writing prompt: “Scrap.”

First Person

John Boswell’s faith lit up a generation

My brother’s work paved the way for many LGBTQ Christians.

by Patricia Boswell

First Person

I went to the first McDonald’s in Russia for the bathroom

As the Soviet Union crumbled, the West sent French fries.

by Amy Frykholm

Books

Giving women a voice at the seder table

Poet and liturgist Marcia Falk attempts to correct the gender bias of the traditional Passover Haggadah.

by Mordechai Beck

For Simone Weil, philosophy was not merely academic

Robert Zaretsky offers a vivid picture of how truth telling made Weil’s life complicated.

by Charles Scriven

How harm reduction is winning the war against drug overdoses

Maia Szalavitz tells the story of a strategy that replaces criminalization with empathy.

by Erica Poellot

The mirror world under the sea

Millions of unknown species in our oceans inhabit a universe of storytelling and dreaming.

by Jeffrey Johnson

Departments

Faith Matters

Communion tears

In my 15 years as a pastor, I’ve seen a lot of watery eyes at the table.

by Isaac S. Villegas

First Words

Tears are a gift from God

They put us in touch with essential things that we know to be dear or wrong.

by Peter W. Marty

On Art

Sunflower, Marigold, Red Winter Berries (viburnum branch), by Tania Yurchenko

Among the ways many in North America are seeking to support Ukraine is by supporting its cultural work: Ukrainian artists, writers, and keepers of cultural and historical artifacts. One such artist is Tatiana (Tania) Yurchenko....

art selection and comment by Lil Copan

Screen Time

Robert Pattinson gives us the Batman we need

He carries the hesitant masculinity of Twilight’s Edward Cullen in his body.

by Kathryn Reklis

From the Editors

What kind of faith should Ketanji Brown Jackson have?

We seem to want public figures with inconsequential beliefs.

News

Faith-based coalition helping with Louisiana storm recovery

Louisiana residents trying to recover from more than a year and a half of weather disasters are benefiting from a unique faith-based coalition formed to help with recovery and rebuilding efforts in storm-ridden Lake Charles....

by Joey Butler

People

Religious historian, Muslim womanist Debra Majeed dies at 68

Religious historian and Muslim womanist Debra Majeed died on March 20 from complications following surgery. She was 68....

by Dawn Araujo-Hawkins

People

Gospel star LaShun Pace dies at 60

Gospel singer LaShun Pace died March 21 at age 60. Her family told local news outlets in Atlanta that the singer had been on renal dialysis for five years and died of organ failure....

by Dawn Araujo-Hawkins

People

Clifton Daniel III resigns from Cathedral of St. John the Divine

Clifton Daniel III, dean of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, has announced his resignation, effective June 30, after five years of leadership....

by Dawn Araujo-Hawkins