Politics & Society
A time to endure
As we approach another Trump presidency, I’ve been thinking a lot about Ecclesiastes.
Jesus is Lord. No political leader is.
Maybe the kingdom of God isn’t like a king—maybe it’s like those who resist a king.
Cecil Williams kept his ear to the ground
The longtime pastor of Glide Memorial Church was involved in nearly every major social justice movement in the Bay Area for 60 years.
True crime at the div school
In 1991, religion scholar Ioan Petru Culianu was murdered at the University of Chicago. Was this killing related to his controversial mentor, Mircea Eliade?
Conspiracies of goodness
When I fear a dystopian future, I hold on to stories of everyday resistance.
When the doctrine of discovery became law
Steven Schwartzberg shows how the 19th-century arguments for Native American expulsion went against the intentions of the framers of the Constitution—and how they remain with us today.
Bridging the ideological divide
It isn’t easy to lower the temperature of our political discourse. But there are people working to help us have better conversations.
What happened to the American dream in the 20th century?
David Leonhardt tells the story in the language of economic analysis.
Can we save democracy in the United States?
I grew up in Taiwan and Argentina. Here’s what I know about authoritarianism.
Wisdom from Augustine in an election year
Our so-called Christian politics have been captivated by the liturgies of the earthly city rather than the city of God.
Voting is important. It isn’t sacred.
Casting your ballot means voicing a preference—not a moral conviction or deep, spiritual alignment.
What does solidarity mean at the border?
It’s not about electoral politics—not when both major parties embrace the policies that are oppressing people.
Black Christians’ competing solidarities with Israelis and Palestinians
Divergent biblical interpretations and shared histories lead to different answers to the same question: Who are “the oppressed”?
Vegetables that are fearfully and wonderfully made
My friend left me his CSA share for two weeks. It changed the way I look at labor.
A Lincoln parable
Civil War historian Allen Guelzo documents Lincoln’s faith—not in God but in the American experiment.
Against killing children
We have become a society of people who cannot prevent our own children from being killed in their classrooms—and who do not much mind the killing of other people’s children by weapons of war.