Politics & Society
After every election, I turn to Tolstoy
His challenges to the left and right alike are devastating and timely.
The grace of apocalyptic imagination
As the depth of the climate crisis is revealed, our despair grows. But God hovers at the edge of doom.
Music for the apocalypse
Growing up, I never understood the book of Revelation. Then I started listening to Black Sabbath.
Evangelical reckonings
Randall Balmer, David Gushee, and Tim Alberta diagnose what’s gone wrong.
The tropes that birth the hero
It is admirable that Bonhoeffer endeavors to highlight Black life. But one must be careful that the Black life of one’s representation is not playing in the dark of caricatured Black people.
Advent in the squatters’ camp
As a human rights worker during Argentina’s Dirty War, I learned to read the signs.
The new Bonhoeffer movie isn’t just bad. It’s dangerous.
By egregiously misreading Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s moral crisis, it primes viewers for violence.
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”?