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Adam Russell Taylor I am relieved: Despite threats of potential voter intimidation or even violence, this year’s midterm elections went remarkably smoothly and peacefully. This is thanks in no small part to the heroic efforts of many different groups of people, including lawyers, poll workers, election officials, and more than 700 poll chaplains who offered a moral presence at voting sites around the country. Though some votes are still being counted, most of the election deniers who lost their races last Tuesday are conceding their losses without stirring up conspiracy theories about voter fraud. And I’m grateful: For me, the most encouraging result of the midterms is how voters rejected candidates who denied the results of the 2020 election. When I settle down to eat my fried turkey and sweet potatoes next week, I’ll be giving thanks for every person who cast their vote in defense of democracy and against election denialism, which was arguably the biggest loser in this year’s election results. But while voting has ended, the need for sustained civic discipleship has not. After all, voting, while essential, is just the starting point when it comes to following the mission Jesus outlines in his initial sermon in Nazareth to “bring good news to the poor … and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19). Civic discipleship recognizes that in our democracy — imperfect as it may be — fulfilling Jesus’ call to bring God’s reign of justice, righteousness, and inclusive love closer to earth requires that we are actively and at times courageously engaged in our politics. The marriage of our civic participation with being followers of Jesus is rooted in the conviction that our deep civic engagement is because of our faith, not despite it.
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Our Latest ‘TÁR’: If an Artist Moves Mountains, But Does Not Love, She Is Nothing (by Joe George) In TÁR Cate Blanchett stars as a brilliant but maniacal orchestra conductor. Can Elon Musk Fit Through the Eye of a Needle? (by Tyler Huckabee) It’s clear that Jesus’ relationship with wealth was adversarial; we ignore his exhortations against wealth at our own peril. ‘Wakanda Forever’ Is Mired in Grief (by JR. Forasteros) The Black Panther sequel misses that grief is not an obstacle in the work of justice. In Brazil as It Is in Texas? (by Liuan Huska) Brazil has a lot to teach the U.S. about fighting Christian nationalism. |
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From the Magazine Incarnating the Cotton Patch Gospel (by The Editors) Clarence Jordan lived out the gospel through radical activism in the South during the civil rights movement. His life is a testament to practicing what you preach. |
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Tracking the Tyrant Muse: Poems Against Hate As a virus spread through the world, the virus Hate has infected humans for ages. Anderson tracks the tyrant muse from a Nicaraguan prison through Ukraine to Bosnian soccer fields, beyond the apartheid wall at Bethlehem to the Holocaust ground of concentration camps as poems seek the Light of justice. We Can All Find Hope in Climate-Adaptive Farming “World Renew, a disaster relief, community development, and justice non-profit organization, has a long history of working with farmers like Fernando in communities hit hard by climate change. This peace and justice work is rooted in the belief that access to food is a fundamental human right,” says Rebecca Combs, Director of Marketing and Communications in a new article from World Renew. “While the passage of two thousand years has tempered the expectation that Christ’s return will happen in our lifetime, Christians today must still heed Paul’s charge: Stay woke, stay ready, and stay resistant.” says theologian Chanequa Walker-Barnes. |
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