Politics & Society
Science fiction writers imagine the way out
Jesus’ parables give us space to see that something else is possible. Writers of new worlds put flesh on these bones.
The border is everywhere
For example, it runs right through a detention center in Mississippi.
Jedediah Purdy’s democratic vision
This formidable yet accessible book should be homework for every thoughtful American.
No justice in New Haven
Journalist Nicholas Dawidoff tells the tragic story of Bobby Johnson and his neighborhood on the poor, Black side of town.
The Word became relationship
Christianity is, finally, a story in which communication prevails over violence.
The power of the Latin neuter
An ancient language offers my nonbinary students something English does not.
The duly elected Black men expelled from a state legislature—155 years ago
The expulsion of Justin Jones and Justin Pearson recalls the Original 33, expelled by Georgia’s anti-Reconstruction White majority in 1868.
Ordinary American stories
Edward Curtis traces two successive generations of Syrian Muslims across small towns and cities in the Dakotas, Iowa, and Indiana.
The White church still owes “Letter from Birmingham Jail” an answer
King’s letter is so soaked in US history that 60 years later we almost forget it was addressed not to the nation but to specific Christian pastors.
Maria Ressa’s fight for democracy in the Philippines
The renowned journalist explores how the authoritarianism and corruption she has been fighting for 35 years are now aided and abetted by the internet.
Restorative justice with Anselm
The satisfaction theory of atonement offers my incarcerated students something the substitution theory does not: a way to make amends and be restored.
April 7, Good Friday (John 18:1-19:42)
Evil uses people’s anxieties, fears, and prejudices to twist good intentions into cruel deeds.
Priyanka Kumar considers the birds
Her elegant memoir is packed with information on the animals and landscapes she observes—and the threats to their future.
The problem with artificial intelligence is us
As long as AI is trained on human behavior, it will tend to replicate our worst flaws.
Kwame Bediako’s Christianity without domination
The Ghanaian theologian offered new methodological approaches in the wake of imperialism.
Philomena Cunk’s 21st-century expertise
Like Drunk History and History of the World Part II, Cunk on Earth is very funny. But the larger joke is that fake news is winning.
Anti-racism’s mission drift
Privileged progressives have turned their attention from structures and systems to sentimentalism.
The language of rights and its limits
My niece Butterfly has me thinking about bodies, love, and responsibility.
Why did conservative evangelicals turn against the environment?
It was mostly politics, argues historian Neall Pogue.