Recent Articles
Fourth Sunday of Lent | A Song of Glad Deliverance
Psalm 32 “Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered…” We all live under the shadow of our culpability, masked by our denial of the true state of things. We live in an illusion about what we’ve done. Maturity is the process by which we shed...
Moving My Ass Horizontally Across The South: A Tribute to Civil Rights Activist Rev. Kenneth Dean
I’m sitting in my new house in the greater Nashville area, asking myself, “If a mentor is a ‘wise and trusted counselor,’ and you found Kenneth Dean to be your wise and trusted counselor, why haven’t you followed his advice? In fact, you just moved 1/120th of a degree...
Stopping the American Purge
Turkish national Rumeysa Ozturk planned to meet friends at an Iftar dinner to break their Ramadan fast. Ozturk never made it. As she walked on the sidewalk in Somerville, Massachusetts, the Tufts University Ph.D. candidate was taken into custody by six masked plainclothes officers.
Film Reflection | ‘Black Bag’
The characters in “Black Bag” are as amoral as any you will find. These officers in the British Intelligence Agency lie, cheat and sleep around, all while attempting a façade of respectability.
Food Tells Our Stories and Gives Us Hope
It’s good for me to step away and detach when possible—hoping with every fiber of my being that something good is left in the world. I’m here to remind you to find and string those moments together. For me, this most often occurs around a lacquered bar top, a well-worn dining room table, or any place where good food and equally good conversation are served.
Support for TikTok Ban Declining as Latest Deadline Approaches
In March 2023, half (50%) of all those surveyed said they supported the removal of TikTok from devices operating in the country. In the most recent survey, taken between February 24 and March 2, 2025, support for the ban fell to 33%.
Belief Behind the Book | “Dismantled” by Lynn Horan
Belief Behind the Book gives readers a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the beliefs—or what I call “the WHY”—behind books written by progressive spiritual leaders.
New Attacks on SNAP Use the Same Old Playbook
The demonization of SNAP recipients is nothing new, and complaints about eligible benefit purchases are only one element of the generations-long strategy to weaken or eliminate the program. Also, the attacks have been bipartisan.
“Should We Ask Him?” : The Shared Language of Dumb Guy Action Films
One of my favorite elements of my language history is the vocabulary of movie quotes my dad and I share. Now that we live in different states, this is even more meaningful. It reminds me that we both value the time and space we have shared.
College Students Continue to Protest Despite Presidential Threats
Earlier this month, the U.S. president announced a ban on “illegal” protests on college and university campuses, threatening to cut funding to any university that allows them. Despite the threat, college students nationwide are engaging in protests.
Alabama Coalition Calls for Ending Statewide Grocery Tax
A coalition of faith-based, community, non-profit, and other civic organizations met at the Alabama state capitol in Montgomery last week to call for reducing the state tax on groceries. The Alabama Arise Action group is pushing for a sustainable plan to eliminate the grocery tax altogether.
From the Archives | Prathia Hall: A Barrier-Breaking Woman Preacher
As a young woman in the civil rights movement, she spoke, preached and prayed with such power that Martin Luther King Jr. once remarked, “Prathia Hall is one of the platform speakers I would prefer not to follow.”
Honoring Women’s History Month by Confronting Sexual Abuse in Faith Communities
Churches have long been places of guidance and hope. However, for many women, these same spaces have also been marked by silence, fear and violence due to sexual abuse and assault.
Segregation Is Back and America Is Back to Where It Started
The Trump administration is known for its bans on abortion, paper straws, gender-affirming care, words, and books. It’s all piling up, so it’s hard for many Americans to see their way clear. Some are asking, “How did we get here?”
‘Faithful Witness Wednesdays’ Highlight Executive Overreach and Implores Congress to Show Moral Courage
During March, Sojourners and the Washington Interfaith Staff Community have hosted “Faithful Witness Wednesdays” to speak against the Trump administration’s executive overreach and call on Congress to exercise moral courage.
Making Golden Calves Great Again
Could it be that Trump and his promises are simply a new Golden Calf, worshipped in a sense, followed by many American Christians impatient for some new future, believing God is “making America great again?”
Third Sunday of Lent | Humility in the Face of God’s Glory
Do you hear voices? There are voices out there proclaiming the glory of God if you’ll pay attention. Can you hear them? The Psalmist heard them, and so will we if we still ourselves enough. In Psalm 19, the psalmist describes two ways in which he heard God's glory...
It’s Hard to Wash Away the Red
The 39th Annual Red Earth Festival begins this weekend in Oklahoma City, OK. The festival celebrates Native American art, dance and culture, creating an immersive experience for anyone interested in learning more about the Indigenous peoples living in North America before the European invasion.
Leslie Jordan Releases ‘Elegy,’ Third Single from Upcoming Concept Album ‘The Agonist’
Sonically, “Elegy” departs from the acoustic vibes of the rest of the album, taking a more cinematic, movie-score tone. Thematically, it draws on the ancient literary motif of the struggles and blessings of brotherhood to paint a picture of a lonely man taking stock of his life.
Living with Faithful Pride
I had the opportunity to hear Rev. Dr. Naomi Washington-Leapheart give a powerful keynote sermon at the Q Christian Fellowship Annual Conference earlier this year. I am certain that if I filled this entire column with only quotes from that powerful sermon, you would...
Victory Gardens Nurture Spirituality and Reaffirm Democratic Ideals
Our strongest spiritual practices always intersect with the call to liberation, love and the ways of God in the world. An act of faithful endurance, tending my garden bridges the gap between the material and spiritual worlds, echoing the history of gardening as both resistance and abundance.
Home is Where and the Power of a Good Scream
Since 2017, Home is Where has been making cathartic, eclectic and intense music. The emo band from Palm Coast, Florida pulls from a variety of influences, including post-hardcore, Midwest emo and country.
‘Are You Qualified to Date?’ : New App Highlights Unhealthy Evangelical Relationship Culture
We need a radical cultural shift in the evangelical world that allows young people to try and try again when it comes to their love lives. Dating is not a sin, but if we continue to teach young Christians it is, there will be lasting effects on their ability to form healthy relationships–both romantic and platonic.
‘I Have Decided to Follow Jesus’: A Bold Political Declaration
Last Sunday, we sang a familiar hymn. It followed the sermon, as it typically does in Baptist churches. But this time, the hymn felt radically different. I suddenly realized that “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus” is a political declaration.
Interfaith Group of Texas Clergywomen Express Support for ‘Life of the Mother Act’
A group of clergywomen and women representing various faith traditions held a press conference in the Texas Capitol on Monday, March 18, to express their support for “The Life of the Mother Act.”
Because of Bananas: Manifest Destiny for the 21st-Century
During the twentieth century, as the U.S. expanded toward Latin America, they became less concerned with acquiring new territory. Those lands contained what was considered an inferior Brown race that could eventually dilute U.S. white purity if they were annexed. Hence, Manifest Destiny morphed into Gunboat Diplomacy, the means of acquiring economies, not territories.
Belief Behind the Book | Anne Kinsey’s “Mosaic Hearts”
Belief Behind the Book is a new feature that gives readers a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the beliefs—or what I call “the Why”—behind books written by progressive spiritual leaders.
Evangelical Accountability Group Concludes ‘Behavioral Misconduct’ by Tim Whitaker and The New Evangelicals
An organization dedicated to accountability for various forms of abuse in churches and other Christian organizations recently released a report detailing behavioral misconduct by Tim Whitaker, the creator and facilitator of The New Evangelicals. The report followed an investigation by Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment into allegations that Whitaker created an unsafe working situation for a contract employee.
Washington D.C.’s Black Lives Matter Mural Demolished but the Ground Still Speaks
Still, George Floyd remains larger than life. The government could remove every mural and monument, but the ground would still speak, beckoning us to say his name: George Perry Floyd Jr.
Americans: Please Take my Name Off Your Money: A (Hypothetical) Letter from the Lord of Hosts
I don’t want to be on your money. I want your connection with me to radically alter your behavior. You keep saying, “In God we Trust,” and that you want the United States to be a Christian country. I’d rather not be associated with that gut rot. It has the stench of human waste in my nose.