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August 25, 2021

Volume 138, Issue #17

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Features

Fighting for the humanities at church-related colleges

“What good is a Methodist college that doesn't have religion professors?” asks one student.

by Jeannine Marie Pitas

First Person

My hospice nurse’s horse

The mare pulled the meniscus in her knee. This left my nurse with a tough choice.

by Karl Travis

This Seattle church’s stained-glass Jesus was far too White

So a local artist found a creative way to cover him up.

by Sam Luikens

Critical Essay

Mike Duncan’s Revolutions podcast shows how history repeats itself

His ongoing exploration of political instability feels excruciatingly relevant.

by Benjamin J. Dueholm

Interviews

The Revolutions podcast makes history accessible through storytelling

“Podcasting offers a unique medium for improving a person's historical understanding while they're doing the dishes.”

Benjamin J. Dueholm interviews Mike Duncan

Critical Essay

When localism becomes nationalism

At the farmers market, I found something I didn’t expect—White supremacists.

by Rebecca Bratten Weiss

Books

From Dante to Tina Fey, a romp through history with Jesus’ Beatitudes

Blessed are those who read this wise and lovely book.

by James C. Howell

A novel about baseball, wealth, and human frailty

Christopher Beha’s characters find themselves in pits, and the way out is not remotely clear.

by Amy Frykholm

Addressing educational inequity means loving other people’s children

Courtney Martin invites progressive parents to reckon with racial justice.

by Liuan Huska

Lauren Redniss’s Oak Flat is about the conflict over sacred Apache land in Arizona

It’s also about a conflict within the order of the universe.

by Annelisa Burns

Departments

Faith Matters

A father and his dying daughter came to see me. They wanted different things.

Sometimes truth is better than comfort.

by Samuel Wells

On Art

Hope, by Suleiman Mansour

In the art world, he is familiarly called Sliman. Younger Palestinian painters revere him....

art selection and comment by Lil Copan

First Words

When goodness is also lovely

The New Testament has two words for “good.” Knowing the difference between them can help us build a better society.

by Peter W. Marty

From the Editors

The inequity caused by vaccine nationalism is deadly

Why many low-income countries aren’t getting the doses they need

News

Vatican trial opens into financial scandal

A cardinal who allegedly induced an underling to lie to prosecutors. Brokers and lawyers who pulled a fast one over the Vatican’s no. 2 to get him to approve a disastrous real estate deal....

by Nicole Winfield

After lean year, MCC US donations exceed fundraising expectations

Despite the economic upheaval of a global pandemic, generous donors showed their compassion for people in need around the world by contributing $109.8 million to the US office of Mennonite Central Committee’s centennial fundraising campaign....

by Linda Espenshade

Descendants of enslaved people join dig on former Jesuit plantation

Vickie White Nelson, 49, has deep roots in southern Maryland....

by Renée Roden

Mary, mother of Jesus, returns as an icon for pop stars and activists

In recent months, rappers Lil Nas X, Bad Bunny, and Princess Nokia have all helped to spread a craze for Mary, mother of Jesus, by wearing designer Brenda Equihua’s splashy coats that commonly feature the Virgin of Guadalupe....

by Whitney Bauck

A birthday gift: Israeli woman donates kidney to Gaza boy

Idit Harel Segal was turning 50, and she had chosen a gift: she was going to give one of her own kidneys to a stranger....

by Laurie Kellman

People

Co-founder of Muslim civil rights group resigns, cites discrimination

In a June 21 blog post, Farhana Khera, cofounder and executive director of the civil rights group Muslim Advocates, said she had been forced out of her role due to gender and religious discrimination....

by Aysha Khan

People

Stan McKenzie, husband of first female AME bishop, dies at 76

Stan McKenzie, the husband of African Methodist Episcopal Church bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie, died on July 21 in Dallas after a brief illness. He was 76....

by Adelle M. Banks